I wrote this post as a means to spread awareness about an oral disease I was diagnosed with recently, one yall probably never heard of.
Periodontitis is an inflammation and chronic infection in the gingiva (gum), symptoms include excessive bleeding during brushing and bad breath. It's caused by a specific type of bacteria that proliferates in response to the accumulation of plaque or calculus at the gum-tooth junction, which, over time, leads to progressive destruction of the periodontal supporting tissues and may compromise one or multiple teeth.
In simpler terms: bila makanan terlekat di celah gigi tidak dibersihkan, lama-lama ia akan berkumpul dan seterusnya membentuk karang gigi, dan bakteria akan muncul lalu menyerang gusi menyebabkan keadaan gusi tidak sihat dan sering berdarah.
So here comes the next question....... when did i first start having the symptom?
It's hard to pinpoint the exact moment when it started, but i remember going to a study camp during primary school, and while spitting out my toothpaste foam, there was a tinge of red colour. My friend had looked at me and said, "Ew that's so gross!" I shrugged it off though.
Throughout my teens I occassionally noticed the bleeding while brushing (still shrug it off, duh). And in my early 20s, at a certain point, the bleeding became so frequent that I had to brush my teeth twice or thrice at once, just to get rid of the bleeding and the smell.
This was the point where I thought it wasn't normal anymore. I went to the dentist a few times in the span of the years (yes I know we should do scaling twice a year but that's on me ig), and each time, I'd done scaling and asked the doctor why and what should I do. Their responses were always: "Oh gums bleeding is quite normal. You just need to frequently floss and continue brushing at the bleeding parts regularly". As if I hadn't done just that, LOL.
I do floss, sometimes regularly, sometimes hardly. Consistency is hardly my thing, you know.
Earlier this year, I had been to a dentist in my local neighbourhood to get a consultation on having braces. I thought about it, and I wanna get braces. My teeth are on the protruding side, or what us locals call as 'jongang'.
The consultation went just as usual, and the doctor told me to get an X-ray. For those who don't know, you can get you X-rays at either government hospital (cheap, maybe around RM60-70), or if you want a faster track just go to private clinics. I went for the latter, hella expensive - RM 200 for both lateral and cephalograms.
After getting my X-rays, I went to the clinic once again, this time to do the braces mould and some further assessment. This, still, was fine. The next day I was told to come again, for additional scaling. After scaling, doctor told me he fear that I might not be suitable to wear braces at the moment, as there had been some bone loss around my teeth, and a few sites were quite deep.
"Tulang gigi awak dah turun. Dalam jugak ni, around 6 mm. Selain tu, ada few parts atas bawah kiri kanan yang turun, tapi tak seteruk yang atas kiri."
He went to explain, bila ada karang gigi, gusi akan menjadi tak sihat. Tulang gigi akan turun, dan lubang yang muncul akibat tulang turun akan diisi oleh gusi yang tak sihat tadi. (or something like that. Idk, I'm not the doctor her.e I forget most of the things he said lolll)
But the worst horrible thing he said was that: if I didn't get treatment, my teeth gonna fall out by the age 30
Brooooo I mean, 30 years old???? As in, my prime and beautiful age???? Ngl that scares the hell outta me.
So he referred me to the local periodontitist doctor; the doctor that specialized in periodontital care. This was about one month after. As this time it was done in the government clinic, I had to pay RM20 (expensive because I was referred to from a private clinic. If you are referred to from government clinic, then it will be cheaper).
The doctor assessed me, and it's a good thing I did my X-rays beforehand, because they needed it. They diagnosed me with the periodontitis disease and proceeded to explain very nicely.
They also told me the correct ways to brush teeth- the circular motion method, and told me to focus on the gums and the bleeding parts. I also learned to use the interdental brush.
At the next appointment, they applied the numbing gel around my teeth, injected the antibiotic (pain level: 4/10), then prescribe me with two antibiotic types, and a painkiller. I had to take the medicine for a week, three times a day. By Day 5, he said, the bacteria would die (hopefully). If not, then....... surgery he said........... let's hope it doesn't get to that.....
I have finished all my meds for now, and the next appointment is set in two months. Will keep ya updated.
Overall, I would rate the process 10/10. Smooth, easy and nice doctors. And here's the thing I have learned, if I didn't decide to get braces, then only God knows what's gonna happen to my poor teeth. I was also kinda frustrated that the previous dental clinics I went to were unable to diagnose that. I know all dentists have the same knowledge, but few have the same skills and experiences. I'm afraid that this take might be controversial and you might hate me for it: but not all dentists are equal. It's always ALWAYS good to get a second opinion. (This doesn't necessarily applicable to my case, but it happened to a girl on TikTok, who, btw, recommended the braces dentist to me)
AND!!!! Oh my God this is so important! If you or your kids are experiencing symptoms like I did - bleeding gums while brushing, or bleeding gums just whenever, bad breath - pleaseee PLEASEEEE see a periodontitist specialized doctor, okay? Don't put it off and let it gets worse, fr.
Anyways, please pray I get rid of this disease soooooooner so I can finally get my braces on! Thank you yeorobun, till next time! xoxo
**i didn't put any pictures in this post because I'm too lazy to find it in my phone, but I will do it once I'm diligent enough
**anddddd if you live in Terengganu and want the dental clinic name that I went for the braces, let me knowwww. So far, his was the cheapest compared to others that I had surveyed.
