I had a free comprehensive exam today at Aspen Dental. I have not seen a dentist in 10 years due to my fear and a very bad experience when I was a child. I need quite a bit of work done, but that doesn't shock me. The dentist insisted greatly that I need to have a deep cleaning on all quadrants. She did mention that my front teeth have weakened enamel and a deep cleaning will help prevent future cavities. They want to use Arestin as well. She did not measure the pockets or anything like that (I did a little bit of research on deep cleaning). Unfortunately I do not have dental insurance and they priced the three visits of my teeth cleaning at $2,236! I was blown away at that price...The receptionist told me that I should get it done and the dentist would not request it if she didn't think it was necessary. So I am unsure what to do. I currently live in Connecticut. Should I try to contact the student clinic at UCONN and see if they could do this procedure cheaper?
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Have friends/family send your xrays to their dentist for a second opinion. If they all agree you need the procedure, go ahead and do it. If some think it's not necessary, then your dentist is most likely ripping you off. Dentists ALWAYS rip patients off.
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HI! I'm a dentist in California - unfortunately not in Connecticut or I'd help you!
ReplyDeleteMany times- if you haven't had a cleaning in a long time (you mentioned that you haven't had a cleaning in over 10 years) a deep cleaning is a very common recommendation in most dental offices. I don't know what happened regarding the measurement of the health of your gums, but it might be that there was more buildup than would allow them to measure the health of your gums correctly. If possible - you can request a "full mouth debridement" and they can measure your gum health at that time to determine if your 'pockets' are deep enough to warrant a deep cleaning.
Deep cleanings involve giving you dental anesthesia in each quadrant and allowing you to be anesthetized while we are able to clean all of the calculus and hardened build-up that has accumulated without you feeling all of it! It is a win-win for you. Arestin is an antibiotic - in capsule form- that works best after a deep cleaning that stays in your gums for a few weeks that attacks any bacteria that we might miss during our deep cleaning. Let us say that your periodontal pocket is more than 7 mm (ideally a pocket is 2-3mm in depth), so that is 4-5mm more area that bacteria can accumulate and cause inflammation & long-term damage.
Long-term what we are concerned about is the health of your 'periodontium' - the gums, the bone, the ligaments all involved in keeping your teeth from falling out!
So regarding your question if a deep cleaning is really necessary - I think if you aren't comfortable then you should definitely get a second opinion. While I know that dentistry and all that it entails are expensive, in the long-term we want to keep you healthy. The oral cavity is the entry-way to your body.
Hope this helps a little!