jaw bone recession- anyone else experience? worried!?

[ashirah]

I have had receeding gums for years and a year ago was told that my jawbone is receeding and if it's not stopped I will lose my teeth. I took a supplement regularly but today I realized I can wiggle my front teeth so am going to the dentist next week to have it looked at. I have heard that pregnancy and birth effect dental health- have any of you experienced jawbone loss from this? (I have a 13-month-old) Some people tell me it's possible, others say it's unrelated. I eat good food and am healthy, except my teeth which have always been problematic. I am familiar with Weston Price's work, with eating local and organic, including wild foods in my diet, excercising and I brush and floss regularly. The only thing I can think of is to cut back on sugar, which I definitely could (and will) do.
Any stories of similar experiences or advice would be welcome!

[dds07]

sounds like you have periodontal disease. This is actually a hyperinflammatory disease where your body overreacts to bacterial plaque on your teeth. Part of this response causes bone degeneration around your teeth. How old are you? It is not as common in people under 40ish. You may have a more rare form called "aggressive" periodontitis. Do you brush and floss every day? Have you always? Are there hard deposits on your teeth? Do you have relatives with perioodntal disease or who have lost teeth at an early age? It is largely hereditary. Pregnancy can cause an exaggerated response to plaque and bacteria on your teeth. Wiggly teeth may mean that it is fairly advanced, but especially with aggressive cases, there are good options for treatment including scaling and root planing (deep cleaning) as well as antibiotics, bone grafting, etc. Grafting is not always possible, but when it is, it can really help. You may also have an issue with how your teeth come together (your bite-called "occlusion"). Adjusting your occlusion and/or using a bite guard can help with that.

Additionally, you can go to www.perio.orgto learn more about periodontal disease and its treatment. PM me if you have more questions. Obviously, I haven't seen you and can't give an accurate opinion on your condition, but I'm happy to help with definitions, tx explanations, etc!!

HTH!!

[Snapdragon]

I have tons of experience with jaw bone loss- ie periodontal disease.
In short ( cause I am tired) I lost a lot lot of bone to it.
The solution is to get deep cleanings at the dentist- and then keep teeth clean after that- learn how to brush and floss properly.
The bertain kind of bacteria gets caught under the gum and eats away at the bone. They need to numb the mouth and clean it out and then keep it clean.

There is a lot of fear stuff and I had really bad surgeries that ended up cutting away more gum and bone. But in the end I learned the deep cleanings and keeping the bacteria clean is what matters.