You May Have Gum Recession
Does it look like your teeth have become more exposed and feel more sensitive? Or that your gums appear to be “bunching” around the base of your teeth? These are all signs of gum recession. Both an esthetic and functional concern, receding gums, unfortunately, cannot fix themselves and will need professional care. In extreme cases, receding gums can cause teeth to loosen and increase the risk of decay and chronic bad breath. Perhaps the most concerning issue associated with gum recession is gum disease, a bacterial infection that causes the gums to pull away from the teeth. Because gum recession can be due to many factors, diagnosing the root cause of your receding gums is crucial to providing the proper type of treatment. Oftentimes, mild cases of gum recession can be treated with habit changes or non-surgical deep cleanings. For more severe cases, we’ll most likely need to provide gum grafting. We see patients in your situation routinely and are experienced in diagnosing and treating advanced cases of receding gums to restore comfort, function, and esthetics to your smile.
Causes of Gum Recession
- Gum disease
- Crooked teeth
- Aggressive tooth brushing
- Teeth grinding and clenching
- Smoking or tobacco use
- Genetics or hormones
Gum Grafting to Restore Soft Tissue Health
Most cases of gum recession can be effectively treated with gum grafting to minimize future gum and bone loss. This is a surgical procedure, so we’ll do our best to make you as comfortable as possible. We offer many sedation options, which can be customized to ensure optimal levels of comfort and pain control. During your procedure, we’ll take a sample of gum tissue from a different part of your mouth or a donor source and place it over the top of the exposed tooth roots. This tissue is sutured carefully in place where it will fuse to your teeth and surrounding tissue as it heals. We’ll employ techniques to help minimize the invasiveness of this surgery and improve your comfort during your recovery. Over the next several months, we’ll carefully monitor how your graft is healing. In virtually all cases, a gum graft will result in thicker and stronger gum tissue around your teeth!
