Lanap: Epilogue 1 year later

LANAP,

laser assisted gum surgery is the street term.

The laser is used instead of a scalpel,
retaining the structures you were born with,
connective tissue, nerve, blood supply.

The laser is tuned to zap the really icky
bacteria that build castles in your gums
out of a coral like plaque,tartar,
in technical terms:
major ick.

1 year later,
I sat in the chair waiting for the gum measurements.
1 is good, 5 is acceptable.
(the measures are millimeters of depth of the periodontal space)
Last year I had a couple bad areas, one was 9+
(bottomless pit).
This year, one year after my surgery,
I had no more than 5 mm depth.
Overall much better,
tooth loss narrowly averted.
Did I also stave off the cascade of events that could
lead to a heart attack? Alzheimer's?
Maybe I will never really know.

But this procedure,
not terribly difficult, mininally invasive,
seems a little expensive (not really when you save your teeth),
with good outcomes and
health benefits known and some benefit as yet undiscovered,
This is well worth having if you need it.

If you are in the area, try these guys:

champlainperio.com

tell them mary sent you,
and
smile
:)

Cabin Fever

My periodontal hygienist was making great small talk,
the kind the a nod, grunt, or raised eyebrow can answer
simply.

Cabin Fever she said...
Oh I had not wanted to think that...
Immediately, a mental scan of this past winter
then spring, now a third of summer gone,
I have had
the dreaded
Cabin Fever.

The good news is 9 months post LANAP surgery,
my gums look good, fairly easy cleaning,
and she complemented my flossing.
I wondered if my overall bacterial load had reduced,
the bacteria that none of ever really want to talk about.
The billions in and on our bodies.
Some good, some not so good.

Meanwhile, someone stole 17 million from the taxpayers of VT's largest city
and the prosecutor
has an anemic palsy,
he just can't spend
so much time
on such a dinky case.
suck it up again taxpayers.
You cannot tell me that this does not affect every VT taxpayer.
17 million,
city has to pay, taxpayers suffer
paying a statewide tax.
sorry to get back to this again and again,
no am not sorry.
am sorry so many cannot fight these taxes,
paralyzed with fear, fatigue and being genereally overwhelmed.

where is that cabin fever doctor?

Lanap: epilogue

Lanap follow up 8 days later.
Have had One week of mushy food ranged from pasta and cheese to ice cream shakes, yogurt,
eggs, to Fred's white wine poached sea scallops yum.
Twinge of mild discomfort time to time, tissues normalizing.
The hygienist cleaned off my teeth and doctor checked. He did not have to grind to adjust my bite but did last time. It all looked OK.
Now cleaning every 3 months, several not covered by insurance (that not everybody has).Reminder to self :sign up for healthcare reimbursement account-pretax....
Off antibiotics now, back on real food and they will check the results
with a probe in one year.
I would recommend you consider Lanap. The laser causes healing changes without the destruction of scalpel or the destructive bacteria themselves.
My feeling is this really should be considered a medically necessary procedure since it is below the gum line...

Meanwhile, don't floss your gums, floss your teeth. Not enough good instruction on this subject.
Enough,
On to Friday night.....
October Project is playing.
...my name is aryanna...

Second LANAP

Second LANAP

If you are squeamish, medical procedure-phobic or otherwise like to keep away from the icky details of life, please do not read this post.
This post is to be read if you are considering LANAP and have periodontal disease or comprimised periodontial spaces.

How will I know? you might ask.
Answer: You will probably not know, and yet the bacteria will still set up a tiny castle colony in your mouth, next to your teeth. This creates a pocket of icky stuff under the gum line which cannot be reached with floss. The icky stuff sometimes goes into your bloodstream and helps form plaque in places like those little cardiac vessels or brain vessels.

Why and when should I have surgery?
Answer: When a good periodontist looks in there and says, it is time.
How can I afford it?
Answer: I cannot help you with finances, nor with the fact that dental insurance is helpful but not much. You have to prioritize your health costs. I do think a heart attack, from untreated silent periodontal disease costs more in a "real cost" kind of way.  An ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure kind of thing.

What is it like?
Mary's Answer: Not bad, like a long cleaning on one tooth. novacaine, chit chat, suction, grinding, clicks of the laser.Gross taste from the burned dead bacterial castles and the chemicals/rinse, etc. Overall...not a bad day in the chair. I liked them doing one side and then another side later. Now the liquid and soft diet which is mostly inconvenient and not like the other people are eating. Nobody really notices or cares. Trying to type one handed so I can keep the ice pack on my jaw.

I have heard what you said, but why do I really care?
Answer: You will care, when your teeth are too far gone, or one falls out and when you have a heart attack. You may not care but the people who care about you will cry and wonder what happened to cut you down in your prime. If you think this is harsh, just imagine bacteria, tiny little animals, breeding and building castles in your jaw, one day traveling to your heart or brain.

What can I do now?
Answer: Take care of your teeth, get info, go to a dentist you like, that is clean, gentle and talks to you.

Someone who loves you may never know that you cared enough to stick around.

Let us use the technology that space travel gave us. Laser those bacterial castles and start a new world with less heart attacks, and ? can it reduce alzheimer's disease too? Stay tuned.

this is a public service announcement brought to you by travelogue for the universe, mary gerdt, monkton, vermont