Mefites with periodontal disease: Your experience, please

October 23, 2013 9:46 AM

If you have had periodontal disease where the infectious process was controlled but prior disease resulted in bone loss and therefore a loose tooth, was it painful? I.e., is the condition of a having a loose tooth due to minimal bony attachment painful in itself, in the absence of inflammation?
posted by HotToddy to Health & Fitness (4 answers total)

Generally speaking, periodontal disease is not very painful (which is why treatment is not sought as widely as it should be).
A loose tooth will likely have spongy tissue around it, tissue that is not very resistant to things getting trapped between it and the tooth, leading to inflammation and sometimes pain.
A loose tooth will move under the pressure of biting or chewing. Sometimes this will result in further tearing of the remaining periodontal ligament, leading to the tooth becoming even more loose, but this is not generally painful.
In short, based on 20 odd years of clinical experience, loose teeth in themselves are not painful, and patients don't seek relief for the condition of looseness based on pain as much as based on loss of function.
posted by OHenryPacey at 10:06 AM on October 23, 2013 [1 favorite]

In my experience as a person with chronic periodontal disease, it's not painful in and of itself, but it's pretty much impossible to gauge pain related to periodontal disease without taking into account the pain related to inflammation from food getting caught in there. Unless you're taking nutrition via a gastro-tube, it's impossible to separate the two, because you've gotta eat.
posted by juniperesque at 10:37 AM on October 23, 2013

Also, you will get more bone loss and lose the tooth. Once that occurs it's too late to get bone grafts and an implant.
posted by Obscure Reference at 11:20 AM on October 23, 2013

Oregano oil has been helpful, added to the water-pic and toothpaste, one small drop per application , eye-watering powerful antibiotic GRAS for everyday.
posted by hortense at 2:29 PM on October 23, 2013