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Dental and Oral Health Center

Peridontal debridement

06/11/2007

Question:

I had a denist appointment where they performed a debridement for $125, not covered by insurance. Now I am trying to reschedule a regular cleaning and the office is telling me I have to have another debridement preformed for $125. I said I cannot afford that and could I just have a regular cleaning that is covered by my insurance. They said no, that I could not ever have another regular cleaning due to the fact that I have had one debridement. This is all without looking at my teeth. Does this sound correct?

Answer:

I think that there is a misunderstanding between your dentist and yourself. We perform deep cleaning and root planing for patients who have deep pockets and bone loss. We bring the patient back approximately 4-12 weeks after deep cleaning and repeat our periodontal charting, including pocket depths.

If the patient still presents deep pockets, we recommend seeing a periodontist. Repeating deep cleaning over and over will not help to improve things. Regular cleanings should restart when the active part of the treatment is completed.

I hope that this information will help you to clarify some issues.

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Response by:

Binnaz Leblebicioglu, DDS, MS, PhD Binnaz Leblebicioglu, DDS, MS, PhD
Associate Professor of Periodontology
College of Dentistry
The Ohio State University