Gum recession affects everyone to some extent, but can be slowed down drastically with good oral health care. The Placerville Dental Group helps patients with gum disease on a regular basis, and that’s really far too often. So do your best to maintain healthy gums by gently brushing twice a day with a soft toothbrush and flossing every day. But what if you experience gum recession despite your best efforts?
Reasons For Gum Recession
Aging after 40, aggressive brushing, oral piercings and periodontal disease all cause gums to recede prematurely. This may make brushing and flossing painful, since without gums, the roots of the teeth are exposed. Unfortunately, some patients may reason that it’s best to avoid flossing because it hurts or because they experience bleeding. Instead, these are symptoms of serious gum disease. Avoiding professional dental intervention at these moments only leads to greater problems, such as bone or tooth loss. So treat gum recession seriously!
Treatments for Gum Recession
The gums do not grow back, so if your roots are exposed, you need to protect them by rinsing with fluoride mouthwash. Use toothpaste for sensitive teeth if you experience tooth sensitivity. Continue to floss daily.
With excessive gum recession, professional treatment is necessary. This list of professional interventions to repair gum recession and it side effects presents some of the more common options:
Deep Cleaning: removes plaque and tartar buildup below the gumline and where roots are exposed.
Buccal and Lingual Fillings (pronounced “buckle”): these protect the tooth root with a filling on the side next to the cheeks or tongue, respectively. When this is recommended, it’s usually because the patient brushes too hard, wearing down gums in specific areas, and the underlying enamel. This type of filling is usually made with resin to match the tooth color. This is done when gum recession only affects individual teeth and gum disease is not present.
Pinhole Surgical Technique: first loosens remaining gum tissue and then uses a small hole to pull the gums further down, securing them in place by packing the gums with bioabsorbable material. Gums reattach in the new position due to their natural elasticity.
Gum Grafts: take healthy mouth tissue from the roof of the mouth and replace missing gum tissue along the tooth root.
Regeneration: In the most advanced cases of severe gum recession and bone damage, regenerative materials in the area where bone is adversely affected help regrow the bone and tissue in that area and surrounding areas.
Contact the Placerville Dental Group today for a check up on your gums and protect them from recession.
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