Worried about my gum disease.

[Neil_of_wales]

Hi everyone.
I am new to this forum, and am 41 years old. But have been quite stressed out about the state of my mouth the last few months. I am aware I suffer with gum disease as u have not visited a dentist in 17 years, and I have at least 4 snapped teeth and 1 dropped wisdom tooth. but its got so bad now that all my gums bleed with ease, either by brushing them or even rubbing either the back or from the of them with my finger quite soft. Also very strangely when I get a quarter of a cup of water with a teaspoon of salt dissolved and I swish it around for 50 seconds, the salty water will make some of my teeth gush out blood. This happens all the time as well.

Its got to the point now as well where there is white mushy stuff coming out of my gums that smells worse than poo, its a foul stench. Very similar to the stuff that builds up on tonsils during tonsillitis. I get it when swirling my mouth put with water. Now today I've noticed a red patch has developed on the inside of my top gum behind my top teeth, I'm not sure if that should be a cause for concern.

I quit smoking 2 months ago but drink most nights, I now brush my teeth twice daily and use a ginivitis mouth wash along with salty water.is this severe gum disease, or is something else wrong here? I am worried as surely gum disease is never this bad, do I have an infection ? please give me some good news because I am so stressed its causing problems between me and my giirl friend.

 

[honestdoc]

The only way to diagnose gum disease is to take full mouth x-rays to evaluate the bone levels and complete full mouth gum probe to check gum attachments. The lower the numbers on the gum probe the better indicating healthier, tighter gums.

Not visiting for 17 years can present neglected conditions. Hopefully you don't have the fear of the dentist. If you don't see the dentist, nobody can diagnose and treat your teeth and gums.

 

[Neil_of_wales]

Thanks for the reply. The reason I haven't visited the dentist in so long has been down to financial costs, and struggling to find a dentist that will take me on as a patient. Also now with covid 19 dentists here in the UK are only seeing patients who are deemed an emergency.

Looking at my pics and going on what I've told you, would ypu say this sounds like severe gum diaease ? Bacteria in my gums and snapped teeth, and salty water making the water turn red just dosent seem right. I think that red patch might be a cut from some criaps I had earlier in work today, but I'm not sure. I've attached a pic of the red patch

 

[honestdoc]

I see the red patch. I'll tell you why I can't give you an accurate diagnosis. In my 23 yrs of being a dentist, I've seen many gums that look like yours and the bone is in good shape. Also I've seen just as many gums like yours and the bone is in bad shape. I don't have x-ray vision to see internally so what I'm seeing doesn't really count. For your info, gums will heal great if your bone is good. If your bone is bad, you lost permanent attachment that the bone cannot regain. For a rough guess because there are some genetic components, how are your parents' teeth and gums? If they have dentures at an early age, chances are your bone levels may not be good.