Question:
I have a question, on the from of my gum on the bottom right hand side my gum is swollen and i dont know why because it wasent swollen earlier at all and now it is i have a little black spot on in the tip of my gum to and i went to get my teeth cleaned like a month ago or a couple weeks ago and i had braces on and got them off like before i got my teeth cleaned and the dentist that cleaned them said that i am at risk of getting some kind of gum disease because i hadnt gotten them cleaned sense 2006 and i didnt know it had been that long and iam scared that im going to get that gum disease it starts with a P but i cant even spell it so what do i do? I really dont want to loose my teeth and i dont have enought money for implants and i dont even know if my insurance covers implants so please help?

My Answer:
Hello,

Start with a P? By any chance, did you mean "periodontitis" (inflammation of the area around the tooth)?

Spelling it is not as difficult when you break it down:
"peri-" is a prefix that means "around, or surrounds"
"-odon" is a suffix that means "tooth"
"-itis" is a suffix that means "inflammation"

Anyway, if it's just swollen, then maybe you don't have periodontitis at all. I think it's just gingivitis. Gingivitis is usually cause by not brushing teeth, smoking, some kind of sickness that lead to this, some special medication, etc. Go ahead and see a doctor; he should be able to treat it without much trouble =)

If you really have periodontitis, then you really are into some trouble here. Depends on what stage it is, the treatment can go from just a deep-clean and brushing teeth more often to flap surgery and bone surgery. I don't know how serious your condition is so I can't really help with this, sorry =(

Hope this help,
Ng2491

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