Q. I have been told that i have gum disease dispite the fact that i clean my teeth as advised by my dentist and that i now have lost of bone approx 50%. a few years ago i went to the dentist to get a repair on a front crown that had chipped, it was only when i returned home that i found that i now had a gap in my teeth that hadnt been there since i was a teenager which i had braces for to correct. i was very upset and still am as my dentist refused to do anything about it until on each of my check ups i requested him to help me as i am constantly aware of this gap, plus the tooth next to it started to move on a slight angle. i made an appointment for following week and was excited to think i was finally getting this fixed and i would be able to smile again. one week later he and his colleague told me i now had gum disease, surely this would have been picked up earlier if it was bad enough to cause this amount of bone loss. then i was told i couldnt have any dental work that could help the appearance of my teeth because of this. i have been to dental hospital to confirm this. my dentist said he couldnt find my xrays but that my teeth must have had bit of gap before had!!! which they didnt. is there anyone who can help me as this affects me deeply and daily, is there anything i can do, i am scared of the dentist but would go through almost anything to have teeth that dont embarrass me.