Quote Originally Posted by Alpha2 View Post
"refer me out to an orthodontist for surgery, bone grafts and oh, these two molars need to be removed."
None of those procedures are what an orthodontist does. Orthodontists do braces.

You need a periodontist. They specialize in gum disease and treatment. Root planing and scaling is a first step in preventing further gum issues, but once your dental health is to the point that you have "a lot of bone loss", there are no simple solutions. Alternative to dentistry, means going without teeth, as opposed to having teeth.
That was my mistake- it was a periodontist that I saw on a referral. He chatted about bone grafts and surgery as though it were no big deal.