Dental: Anyone had scaling & root planing done for early gum disease?

[TurboClaudia]

I finally went to the dentist yesterday after not going for over a decade, and of course, I have so much tartar build up at the base of my teeth that they recommended I have scaling and root planing done to scrape and clean the tartar off.

This scares the crap out of me! Losing my teeth scares me even more, so of course I will have it done, but for those of you who have had this done, what should I expect? Is it very painful? I'm expecting that my mouth will be sore for a few days: how long were you sore? I'm also breastfeeding our three month old babe -- should I have any other concerns?

On a slightly funny, slightly weird aside, the hygienist was a little too excited about doing this cleaning... :nervous

warmly,
claudia

[MelKnee]

I had the root planing done last year. The dentist gave me novicaine so I didn't feel a thing. I wasn't any more sore than after a regular cleaning and scraping.

It is time consuming. They did it in 4 appointments that lasted about an hour each.

[malamamama]

I had it done on two teeth not long ago. It wasn't painful at all and was maybe a little sore the first day, but nothing more than a regular cleaning. I actually wondered if they did anything different, for the extra money charged
How many quadrants are they doing for you?
Arnica could help for any pain that might occur.

[sunnylady303]

I realize we are way after the fact but...I am in the same exact situation. How did it go? Is this the best thing? Are there other alternatives? Anyone know?

[malamamama]

6 months later, my pocket was down to a normal size....I think it is definitely a good idea to get the "crud" off the teeth....