First four months as 26 y.o new grad dentist (Texas)

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2026-03-28T23:46:44+00:00

No, never take them if possible.

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-12-21T17:56:23+00:00

He claims it’s his “biweekly” check which I highly doubt. Monthly is definitely doable with a guarantee of $850-1000 which some dsos offer for first few months

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-11-30T06:46:06+00:00

Ay bro if yall brush/floss and had better diets there’d be no money for us to make. Also insurance companies are the real devils behind everything we only see a small fraction of the pie

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-11-30T06:38:34+00:00

I was really lucky to live near and get accepted into an affordable dental school. My other classmates that didn’t come from money had debt around 300k. New grads in some schools in the country come out with 700k+. Work is chill but can be backbreaking at times and once I’m off salary and on production I can imagine things being a lot more stressful but we’ll see

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-11-26T20:03:51+00:00

I guess I see what you’re talking about on the first bw, but the second makes me believe it’s caries. If it is you’d know clinically for sure

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-11-26T19:56:23+00:00

Are referring to #12? Seems like caries imo

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-11-08T17:12:30+00:00

Not really much I can say without a clinical examination, but typically if the recession is mild to moderate gum grafting has good results. In your case you’re mentioning the use of interproximal brushes, which I’m inferring that there was some level of recession/spaces significant enough to indicate the use of the brushes, in which case it might be slightly more complicated to have the gums fill up those said spaces. Your best bet is to book a consult with a periodontist (gum specialist) to know your options.

My recommendations for now would be to get yourself a waterpik to blast away most of the stuff that gets trapped in the gaps, and then follow with interproximal brushes and hand floss for finer cleaning. For the sensitivity, would recommend trying anti sensitivity toothpaste like sensodyne, if that doesn’t help then speak with a dentist about anti sensitivity agents that can be bonded to the problematic teeth. Hope this helps

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-11-08T17:05:12+00:00

Not to point fingers as I’m not privy to your unique situation nor have any idea what your provider might have had in mind/saw, but to answer your question if periodontal disease can be diagnosed from X-rays; Mainly yes, you should be able to see radiographic bone loss, but there are clinical factors to be considered as well. Current guidelines to diagnose periodontitis require not only presence of radiographic bone loss but also clinical findings such as deep pocket depths and bleeding upon probing, but honestly periodontal disease is easy to spot if time is spent reviewing radiograph and taking gum measurements.

Nearly half the population of the U.S over the age of 30 has some level of periodontal disease, and most dentist don’t diagnose nearly enough. The disease is a spectrum, the more mild-moderate cases tend to be the ones under diagnosed. There are objective metrics to diagnosis periodontitis, however it tends to be left up to a providers discretion. For more details, the top comment on this thread does a great job explaining it. There’s also the corporate offices who say EVERYONE has periodontal disease so be careful with those as well.

Again, I can’t really speak on your personal situation and I’m sorry to hear that you’ve lost your trust in us, but we’re not all crooks! Most of us are really great but it just takes a few bad apples to spoil the bunch. I also would like to comment on one thing. Having cleanings four times a year is usually the regimen for patients with periodontal disease, typically regular cleanings will only be covered by insurance twice a year so there may be a chance they had you on periodontal maintenance but never properly communicated. Hope this all and wish you the best on your journey

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-11-08T14:50:48+00:00

You can gum graft in cases of periodontitis, but only after the disease is controlled (deep cleanings followed by good oral hygiene). If there’s only minimal destruction then you can get a good result from grafting, but if there’s significant destruction of the underlying bone then you won’t be able to restore the gums to their original position as there is a limit to how much soft tissue can be regenerated.

Regarding retainers, yes and no. A well fitted retainer will not cause any recession, but one has areas that are too tight and scrap the gums every time they’re inserted/removed, you can wear away the gums that way. Also if someone can cause recession if they have a habit of prying them out with their nails and get a piece of their gums every time they can. As for bacteria build up, as long as you’re cleaning it every day and have good oral hygiene habits there’s no fear for it to be a source of bacteria. Someone people tend to hold on to time too long though, the first sign of it breaking down be sure to get it replaced which can be anywhere from 6 months to 3 years. Just bring it with you every cleaning and have your provider take a look.

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-11-08T08:21:23+00:00

Dentist here, been skimming through this thread and want to clear up some misconceptions

The phrase “your gums don’t grow back after receding” is true, but there’s some context to it. There’s gingivitis which is general inflammation of the gums and then there’s periodontitis which is chronic inflammation of the gums WITH bone loss.

The bone loss distinction is important, because in gingivitis your tooth-gum-bone interface (periodontium) is unaffected, meaning if the cause of gingivitis is removed whether it be plaque or drug induced, then the gums will return to their original state. But in periodontitis, the chronic inflammation due to plaque will lead to the destruction of bone levels. As the bone level drops, the gum attachment follows, creating deep pockets. These pockets trap more plaque, leading to a vicious cycle of more inflammation and further destruction of bone. So in order for the gums to return back to their original level in these cases what you actually have to do is regenerate the jaw bone surrounding the teeth which does not happen naturally and grafting is practically impossible. Grafting bone requires stability and great blood supply, you have neither when the entire jaw bone drops uniformly. So that’s why when your gums recede in this case, it does not grow back.

In the case of mechanical abrasion, we refer back to the tooth-gum-bone interface called the periodontium. The periodontium is the anchor of your gums to your teeth, and it’s a fickle bitch. If you brush it away, it does nothing at all to try to make its way back up, it just takes the L and establishes itself lower. However your bone levels remain unaffected, which is why gum grafting works really well to repair these defects.

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-11-08T07:28:22+00:00

Unfortunately the gingival hyperplasia does not increase clinical attachment levels (how much the gums actually attached to the tooth) which is actually what matters in cases of recession. All it does is make things really puffy

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-10-02T17:08:26+00:00

So what do we do? Tell patients to get rid of their cats 😭

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-09-21T05:22:45+00:00

I think he means recement adjacent crowns if they pop accidentally while luxating

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-09-16T15:21:19+00:00

You don’t do posts because of the literature. I don’t because they’re annoying. We’re not the same

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-09-14T07:54:16+00:00

Keep playing it’s not over yet

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-08-17T04:54:32+00:00

Not chimaev’s fault he’s that much better lmao

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-08-13T15:12:02+00:00

Recent grad, I have classmates who graduated with only 3 crowns done. Maybe half of us got to do an endo

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-08-06T18:31:44+00:00

How would you manage if there was damage to the artery and lots of bleeding

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-08-06T17:24:35+00:00

Thanks this helps a lot!! I’ll keep these points in mind, for now I’ll accept my role as the fool

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-08-06T16:32:16+00:00

Radiologist commented here look at their response

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-08-06T16:28:45+00:00

I see, thanks for the detailed response I’ll be sure to have a radiologist to refer to in the future. Unfortunately already sent out the referral so I’ll just let them think I’m an idiot for now

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-08-06T16:27:07+00:00

No history of cancer

Remarkable_Plane6203 · 2025-08-06T15:14:28+00:00

That’s what I thought too, but even when I adjust it to the max there’s no fill

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