How Effective is Gum Surgery
newark Gum surgery ohio is an outpatient procedure performed by a dentist or periodontist used to treat and reverse receding gums. Gum recession occurs when the gumline moves down the tooth root. When this occurs, sensitive parts of the teeth are exposed, and patients may notice a gradual sensitivity to hot or cold. With a gum graft, new gum tissue is permanently placed over the exposed roots to protect them.
What Causes Receding Gums?
Common causes of gum recession, which are the same things that can lead to post-graft failure, include:
- Tooth Clenching and Grinding: Often occurring subconsciously while asleep, grinding and clenching of the teeth exerts excessive forces on the teeth, gums, and underlying bone structures. Over time, the pressure from these forces can cause a gradual loss of gum tissue and bone surrounding the teeth. Behavior modification or stress relieving techniques are commonly used to combat grinding or clenching.
- Over-Aggressive Tooth Brushing: Using too much pressure when brushing can lead to damage to the surrounding gum tissue and lead to recession. Effective brushing should utilize repetitive, low-force repetitions to avoid damaging the gums.
- Misaligned Teeth: If one or more teeth are misaligned (i.e. angled in, out, or sideways), it is common to have low gum attachment or recession on the affected side of the tooth. Nothing that the patient is doing actively contributes to this type of recession.
What is the Benefit of Gum Grafting?
Gum grafts combat recession by:
- Increasing tooth root coverage
- Thickening existing gum tissue to reduce risk of further recession
- Improved appearance – can correct overly “gummy” smile
While there are no guarantees the procedure will have long term success, most patients will see great results with long term root coverage. Thickening of existing gum tissue tends to be more predictable and effective in combating gum recession.
How to Best Preserve a Gum Graft
There are several factors that could lead to a gum graft failing and as mentioned, many are the same things that contribute to gum recession to being with. If gum recession is due to over-aggressive brushing techniques, using less pressure or switching to an electric toothbrush can help prevent further recession and ensure the graft does not fail. Should recession be due to clenching or grinding the teeth at night, wearing a nightguard after surgery can protect the graft and improve likelihood of success.
Perhaps the most harmful factor that inhibits the long-term success of a grafting procedure is smoking. Smoking damages the gum’s blood supply that carries nutrients necessary to help the graft heal. Lacking that nutrition, the gum graft is likely to fail. As such, ceasing smoking or the use of tobacco is highly recommended to ensure long-term success.
If recession is due to misaligned teeth and a graft is simply placed over the exposed root of the affected tooth, there is a 100% failure rate because the underlying condition that led to recession has not been corrected. In these instanced, the dentist will need to first reposition the tooth with braces. Once repositioned, the gum graft is less likely to fail.
The overall success of gum grafts depends on the severity of the recession being treated. For relatively minor cases of recession where no gum tissue has been lost between the teeth, grafting is generally successful in covering the roots. But if significant tissue has been lost or underlying bone affected, long-term coverage with grafts is unlikely.
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