I have just had my dentist diagnose Periodontal Disease. What happens next? I am terrified of losing my teeth!
First thing to say is: you are already doing the right thing.
Researching and informing yourself is a key step to understand how to manage your condition. So well done for reaching out.
This path has been trodden by many millions of people with successful results in the past, so we know how you are feeling. But don’t panic.
Your dentist or Periodontist will need to assess what stage your condition is at, and its likely rate of change over your lifetime so far. They will discuss the likely future forecast.
It is important that you know you will never “cure” the problem or reverse the harm it has done already but you can (and with the right advice and motivation) be able to manage it to stop further irreversible damage.
The initial plan is almost always:
- Address all possible factors which could make/ have made you susceptible
- Treatment visits (sometimes called Root Surface Debridement).
As you will see repeated in many other answers here:
Your Daily Self-Performed Care at home is the most important change you will need to make if you wish to keep your teeth.
If you win the home battle you can reduce the cost and complexity of your treatment significantly.