If you have periodontal disease, chances are you may also struggle with receding gums. This can cause unwanted discomfort, sensitivity, and even bone loss over time. With soft-tissue grafting, your periodontist may be able to re-establish your gum line, avoid further deterioration, and enhance your smile.
Restoring your gums with soft tissue grafting may help to improve the look of your smile, reduce tooth sensitivity, and will provide protection against bone loss and the development of cavities on exposed tooth roots. Thick, healthy gum tissue is also a necessity for long-term health of dental implants and to protect against peri-implant diseases.
With proper at-home oral hygiene and periodontal care, your gum grafts can last a lifetime.
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Aggressive brushing, tooth movement, or serious gum disease can cause gum recession, which may harm your oral health. Our specialists will help you understand if soft tissue grafting is the right treatment for you to reverse this damage.
Not only does gum recession affect your appearance, but it also can make your teeth sensitive. When the roots of your teeth are exposed, it can cause sensitivity on the teeth that makes it uncomfortable to eat hot or cold foods, or brush in the area. With soft tissue grafting, you can cover these teeth up and mitigate sensitivity.
Receding gums can make your smile look unbalanced, giving you a “toothy” smile. Soft tissue grafting restores the natural shape, lines, and volume of your gums. This, in turn, makes you more confident in your smile.
First, you’ll need to meet with your periodontist to discuss your oral health and get an exam. They will look for signs of receding gums, and take x-rays of your mouth to check the overall health of your gums and teeth. Then, your doctor will let you know if you're a candidate for soft tissue grafting and discuss recommendations for which type of grafting material should be used (your own tissue, or donor tissue).
Your periodontist will clean and numb the treatment site. Then, they’ll take some oral tissue from elsewhere in your mouth and carefully suture it to your gums with delicate, fine stitches. Over time, this tissue will heal and bond with your existing gum tissue, restoring your oral health.
Your periodontist will send you home with a set of recovery instructions. Your mouth will mostly be healed within 1-2 weeks, though it could take up to 4-8 weeks for your mouth to heal completely.
Soft tissue grafting typically uses your own gum tissue from elsewhere in the mouth, most often from the roof of your mouth, or from human donor tissue.
No. Your mouth will be completely numb during your appointment, so you won’t feel any pain or discomfort. You may feel some discomfort after your numbing wears off, but this is typically managed with a combination of over the counter pain medications like acetaminophen and ibuprofen. It is normal to experience some swelling and bruising after this procedure.
Yes. You can eat or drink as soon as you want to after surgery. However, you should only eat soft foods, since tough and crunchy foods could cause pain and interfere with the healing process.
It takes most patients about 1-2 weeks to recover. Even though the initial healing period is complete after 1-2 weeks, sutures may be left in for up to 6 weeks to allow for the maturation of tissue. To speed up your recovery process, you’ll want to make sure you follow their healing instructions closely as you heal from your gum grafting procedure.