My Periodontal Disease Progression
My Perio Protect Review attracted so many replies from readers, dentists, hygienists, periodontists, and even some haters. I read every single comment and have taken some of your advice to heart. But it’s been a few years since I quit using Perio Protect. Here is how my periodontal disease progression is going now.
Did I make the wrong decision?
*I’m not a medical professional. I’m just a frugal Gen X working mom with advanced periodontal disease who’s trying to keep her teeth without breaking the bank.
A few years ago, I stopped using Perio Protect. But how's my periodontal disease progression now? This is my battle with gum disease and how I'm fighting back! Click To TweetManaging Gum Disease
Since stopping the Perio Protect in 2018, I found a new dentist and had been doing a decent job managing my periodontal disease progression.
Every 6 months I was getting professional perio-maintenance cleanings and practicing good brushing and flossing techniques at home.
I was doing a decent job of managing my periodontal disease.
My teeth were still loose, but my gum pockets were steady 3s and 2s. Not amazing, but a vast improvement from 4-6 gum pockets I had before.
The last cleaning I had was in November 2019 and I was set up to go back in 6 months like a good girl.
The Pandemic Ruined Everything
But then right before my next appointment, the horrendous pandemic hit.
And being the hypochondriac that I am, I was paranoid to leave my house, much less visit a dentist’s office.
When Covid hit, I was too scared to see the dentist.
Let me tell you, this took a huge toll on my gums and oral health!
The tartar was building up so fast and my gums were puffy, inflamed, and starting to hurt.
By October 2020, it had been almost a year since seeing the dentist and I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer.
So I sucked it up and made the appointment.
Bad News From My Dentist
My gums are still actively infected and my pockets were all between 3-6 as seen here:
My Gum Pockets 10/2020 – almost a year since seeing the dentist. The red indicates active infection.
As expected, I had to have ANOTHER deep cleaning.
My insurance covered laser deep cleanings, so I went with that option. As far as deep cleanings go, it was not unpleasant. In fact, I definitely recommend it.
But even after the deep cleaning, I still had an active infection in my gums. So the dentist insisted that I speak with the Periodontist about my advanced gum disease.
The Periodontist’s Opinion
I was paranoid about what he was going to say. I thought for sure it would be the worst news.
Do I have to have bone graft surgery? Do they have to pull out all my teeth?
In my head, I was picturing the pain from surgery and from the bills. Both thoughts were terrifying.
I was afraid of what the Periodontist was going to say.
But his prognosis wasn’t as bad as I expected.
He gave me two options:
1. Osseous or gum flap surgery.
He said this would not help my teeth mobility issue, but would basically give my gums a clean slate and make the perio-maintenence go smoother.
It sounded painful and expensive.
These are my real teeth. You can see how recessed my gums are. The bottom front teeth are loose!
2. Perio-maintenance every 3 months.
While my gums and teeth are bad, he thinks that maybe we can get it under control with more frequent cleanings and just monitor the movement in my teeth.
To me, this sounded like the best choice.
I mean, why should I pay thousands of dollars for something temporary that would cause major grief if it’s not absolutely necessary?
My insurance only covers cleanings every 6 months. But to me, it’s worth it to pay out of pocket for the additional quarterly visits if it will save my teeth.
I’m going to give this a shot!
My 3 Month Perio Maintenence Cleaning
In January 2020, I was due for my first 3-month cleaning. I was looking forward to seeing if my pockets improved from the last time.
But when the hygienist took measurements she said some pockets improved but others got worse.
REALLY?!
You can see them here:
My Gum Pockets 1/2021 at my 3-month cleaning. Are you f*cking kidding me?!
Needless to say, I was discouraged and felt defeated once again.
I started thinking back to my Perio Protect experience.
Even though the Perio Protect didn’t help with my loose teeth, it did help with the tartar and improved my gum pockets. But it was just so gross and freaking expensive.
Waaahhh!!!
Perio Protect Alternative
Just as I was considering going back to the Periogel, one of my dear readers reached out to me and said they were inspired by my Perio Protect Review and gave me some interesting news!
They actually created a Perio Protect alternative called Perio-Care Gel and asked if I would be interested in trying it.
Perio-Care is a more affordable alternative to PerioGel
I still had my expensive Perio Protect Trays lying around collecting dust, so I said sure, why not?
Maybe this will help me up my periodontal health game, right?
But what exactly is Perio-Care and how does it compare to PerioGel?
Here’s the breakdown
PerioGel Vs Perio-Care
Perio-Care uses the same 1.7% Hydrogen Peroxide formulation found in PerioGel, but it is available in a larger size for less money. Plus you can use them with ANY dental trays!
I also find that the Perio-Care gel is not as thick as PerioGel. You only need to apply a tiny amount, so 1 tube lasts a really long time!
And guess what else?! It doesn’t taste gross!
The minty taste is a game-changer!
Unlike Perio-Gel, which tastes positively nasty, Perio-Care has a fresh minty flavor that makes it enjoyable to use!
That’s half the battle right there.
How do you use Perio-Care Gel?
1. Hold your tray(s) with the teeth-side down.
2. Apply a thin layer of Perio-Care gel inside each tray. You only need a tiny bit.
Place a really thin layer of Perio-Care in the trays.
3. Place tray(s) onto teeth. Spit out any excess Perio-Care gel that may leak out of the tray(s) following placement in the mouth.
4. Wear tray(s) daily for 10-15 minutes or as directed by your dental professional. Tray(s) must be worn for a minimum of 10 minutes per treatment session to achieve clinical benefits of the Perio-Care gel.
Wear the trays for 15 mins a day.
5. Once tray(s) have been worn for the allotted time, remove, and rinse mouth out and/or brush teeth to clear remaining Perio-Care gel.
6. Rinse your tray(s) with cold water and then let them dry.
7. Wait at least 1 hour before using any other oral treatments.
8. Get on with your life
Where can you buy Perio-Care Gel?
Perio-Care Peroxide Gel is available directly at the Perio-Care website and Walmart!
So Now What?
Hopefully with regular use of the Perio-Care gel, along with quarterly perio-maintenance visits to the dentist, we’ll start to see an improvement.
I guess only time will tell!
I hope that gel works for you. I know that I have been avoiding the dentist ever since the pandemic started, I just can not get over having someone in my face for that long right now, simply too dangerous for someone with underlying conditions. Blessings!
I’m glad to hear that your gum disease wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be! I hope your cleanings and Perio care will help keep things improving.
wow….. this sounds awful! Hopefully the gel will work for you in the long term as yeah, it certainly is a scary thought having to have bone graft surgery!
Sounds really interesting . Dentist so expensive here i get scared when i get pain. THanks for sharing
I hate to go to the dentist. My sister has something similar and her pockets are improving too. Good luck to you!
Because of COVID-19, we had limited time for our dental appointments. Periodontal Disease should be taken seriously. I hope you are ok now and wish you recover soon.
Very interesting. I will have to check this out, thanks!
Gum disease is no joke and can lead to so many health problems. I am glad that you went to the periodontist and are now on the mend!
I haven’t heard of this disease before until now but I’m glad it’s not as bad as you thought it was. Hope things get better for you and see improvements.
Thank you very much for sharing lots about this issue and disease and I should be prepared and be aware of it. 🙂 – Knycx Journeying
Any updates on the new gel you are using? An improvements on your gum pockets?
I’m ordering the periocare gel and some trays right now from Walmart—thank you So much for taking the time to share so much detail. You’re a blessing!
Great review! I just started the perio trays…Can you say “PRICEY?” I know YOU can. I read all the available info before proceeding. I go to my detist regularly so my issues were caught early. No bleeding gums, loose teeth…just some deeper than normal pockets. I have friends that have false teeth and I DO NOT WANT TO GO THERE! AND thanks for the update on the gel at a lower cost! Of course my dentist never mentioned that!
So what’s the latest?
Nothing much to tell. I’m just going in for perio-maintenence every 3 months and we are monitoring the progress. And I avoid apples! 😀
Periodontal disease is a lifetime disease. Sounds like you have been a dedicated patient. Treating the bacterial infection in your mouth can affect your whole health. Periodontal disease has been found to affect your organs and even brain. While it is frustrating to put in the work and not see new bone growth, know that regenerating bone is very rare even though it has been shown in some cases it is very rare! I work with periodontal disease on a daily basis snd it is a frustrating disease it is not a one and done disease it requires a lifetime of treatment. The thing I love about perio protect is the ability for the patient to treat the pockets at home. I would not give up on it even if you only do it once a day along with quarterly cleanings and interproxomal brushes daily. Don’t give up even though it is frustrating you’re helping more than just your mouth. Good luck and know that as dentists and hygienists we’re on your side and we just want to help you.
I am very proud of you. I have the same problem but did not take care of it like you and now I am in really bad shape. I am thinking of doing Perio-Care and/or Perio Protect to try to kill the microbes in the pockets and then laser deep cleaning. I have so many regrets. I am more worried about saving my heart and brain from gum disease then saving my teeth.
I would really like an update – to know if the Perio Care is helping, at all. And to hear if you’re still able to avoid osseous surgery. I have horrible pockets, also avoided the dentist during the worst of Covid, and am trying to both save my teeth and my money.
I am still avoiding osseous surgery. But I’m getting perio-maintenance quarterly to stave it off!
I tried the perio care…its gross also, and it doesn’t whiten my teeth as well as the periogel. Kinda’ weird since they appear to have the same ingredients??? Otherwise I’m doing fine, steady 2-3 pockets for the last year, with much better tartar issues
I used the trays about 4 months. I was supposed to use them 3 times a day for 15 minutes each time. I struggled with 3 times and basically was only getting around to it 2 times a day. I switched dentists and the new one hasn’t said anything about my gums or bone loss, I’m wondering if it was a scam to make money. The trays and 4 tubes of Periogel were $1,100. Now I am thinking about using them again, so I read your article and will have to give Perio Care a try. I’m concerned that the old dentist didn’t say anything about the antibiotic. I only had to put the gel in with no medicine. I’ll update my post in a couple months after use.
GREAT POST AND JOURNALING! Sorry to hear about your struggles. A thought from one of the best dentists on the planet: from one of your pics of your bottom teeth where you’ve had a lot of recession, it appears you have great hygiene and a VERY thin biotype of BOTH bone and gingiva: I can see the roots of your lower teeth through your gums. It’s not as uncommon as you’d think, especially on females. My guess is that if you put a transilluminator light (like a phone light but isolated to a single tooth) behind your teeth while looking into a mirror in a dark room you would notice craze fractures in some of your teeth from clenching. In my world/mind, there are “rat chompers” (clench but don’t grind: get abfractions, craze lines, cracked teeth for crowns), “cow grinders” (grind side to side but don’t clench much: get shortening teeth and flat spots: i’m a cow grinder and i’ve been wearing a night guard since 21 years old), and the other bunch that don’t have our issues. If i am correct and you had a night guard made in your early twenties, you would have avoided most of the recession down there. I recently put a lady in dentures who had severe recession, mobile teeth, etc….and NO tartar anywhere. She had been through 3 bone recontouring surgeries before I met her. One of my best friends uses protein shakes (more calcium = more tartar) AND has just a tiny bit of recession AND concavities on his roots (so they are not round cylinders: try flossing a tube that has the shape of a kidney bean: you’ll miss all the concavities and tartar bacteria eats bone). I did one of his perio maintenance visits (every 3 months like clockwork), and STRESSED HEAVILY the value of a waterpik to clean those areas. He’s faithful with the waterpik and hardly has any tartar to be removed. So, consider clenching/bruxing and a waterpik. If I’m right on the clenching and craze lines, get a custom night guard made and wear it at night. It won’t fix anything, but if made right it will spread out and balance biting forces to reduce trauma/tipping of teeth with thin bone around them. Cheers, Dr H (H Dentistry, Parachute, CO)
Sorry for the late reply. I truly appreciate your observation and insight. I do clench and have a few cracks on the surface of my teeth. But wear an Invisalign retainer at night, so I don’t know if I can also wear a night guard. However my hygienist says the retainer helps with the mobility as well. I’m still going for perio maintenance every 3 months and I’m getting 2s-3s now. It’s a vast improvement!
Do you still use Perio-Care?
Not at this time. My dentist said my bone loss is so severe that if I don’t get the surgery now, it’s going to be too late. Sooo I am just going to get the surgery.