While gum tissue grafts are effective at repairing gum recession and preventing further damage, there is no guarantee that gum problems won't develop again in the future. However, with regular dental checkups and careful dental care at home, serious damage requiring surgery can be prevented.
Is gum graft surgery worth it? Gum grafting boasts high success rates of over 90%. This procedure gives you the best chance of treating gum recession and improving your overall oral health. Left untreated, gum recession can result in cavities, severe gum disease, tooth mobility and even eventual tooth loss.
As most surgical procedures, gum grafting surgery implicates risk of infection, bleeding, and reaction to anesthesia. Besides, severe pain, bone rejection, inflammation, swelling, nerve injury, bacterial exposure of wounds, loose sutures, uneven healing, and more…
With a gum graft, you can expect it to remain in place for a lifetime, but you will need to take care of your oral health on a daily basis. This means brushing with a soft-bristled toothbrush and being mindful of how much pressure you're using while brushing.
It's the recommended course of treatment for receding gums to avoid exposing the teeth' root surface that leads to decay and sensitivity. Gum grafts help reverse these adverse effects and restore gums' health so that they can maintain their protective seal around the teeth.
When the gums become severely receded, a gum graft is very necessary to combat the results. Depending on the severity of the infection, it may require multiple procedures. However, the dental professional will work to get it done in as few procedures as possible, as it does require oral surgery.
Gum graft surgery is a safe and effective treatment that will remarkably improve the patient's oral health. Patients will be able to return home on the same day. But if sedatives were used, they will need to arrange for transportation. The tissue healing typically takes about four to eight weeks.
Pinhole Surgical Technique
Next, your periodontist uses special instruments to loosen your gums and move them back to the appropriate position. This procedure has gained popularity due to it being far less invasive than traditional gum grafting, which in turn makes the recovery time significantly faster.
Throughout your surgery, you can expect to feel no pain whatsoever, as the anesthesia will ensure you are thoroughly numb. However, once you are home and the effects have worn off, it is not uncommon to experience some soreness and discomfort. Fortunately, there are ways to manage the pain and avoid complications.
Because the “tunnelling” gum graft approach is minimally invasive, your new gum graft will be a natural pink color and look so natural, most of our patients cannot even tell which teeth were treated and which were not.
If a dental patient has been diagnosed with gum disease, then they must have their gum disease treated before they can be considered a candidate. If a gum graft is performed on unhealthy gums, then it is likely that the procedure will fail. Good gum health is essential to a successful gum grafting.
Gum grafting surgeries have a success rate of up to 90%. Besides, with local anesthesia, you should not experience any pain during your treatment. Afterward, your dentist will prescribe pain medication to help you manage your soreness after the numbing wears off.
When recession occurs and gum tissue is lost from in between teeth, it is usually and indication that underlying bone has been lost too. In these instances, long-lasting root coverage with grafting is very unlikely. Under these conditions, gum grafts fail more often.
Treating Receding Gums with Gum Grafting
Gum grafting can address these issues and restore and rejuvenate your smile. While some gum recession occurs as we age, it can also often be result of periodontal disease. Periodontal disease must be treated before any cosmetic procedures can take place.
If you use your own tissue, the most teeth you can typically graft at once would probably be somewhere in the neighborhood of 7-8 teeth. With alloderm, you could graft every single tooth in your mouth in one sitting!
We'll get straight to the point: yes, gum grafts can fail. However, keep in mind that gum graft failure is not a common occurrence, and many people actually enjoy the benefits of a successful gum graft for a long time.
On average, a gum graft can cost between $600 and $1,200 for a small area around one tooth. Dental insurance often covers at least part of the cost of a gum graft. If it is deemed medically necessary, medical insurance may provide some coverage for gum graft surgery as well since it is a surgical procedure.
Avoid Talking (As Much As Possible)
Talking causes your mouth's muscles to stretch, which, in turn, can loosen up the gauze and increase the chances of bleeding. Refraining from speaking is hard, but try to remain silent as much as possible for the first two to three days after gum grafting surgery.
A gum graft is a surgical cosmetic dentistry procedure during which your periodontist takes synthetic tissue or tissue from your palate to replace gum tissue that is receding from your teeth. It is often used on patients with periodontal problems caused by: Severe gum disease. Vigorous brushing.
According to the American Dental Association, gum grafting is not only recommended to repair the area where receding gums are present, but it can also prevent further recession in neighboring areas.
While a gum graft procedure isn't considered major surgery, it does require some recovery time and short-term modifications to your diet.
Expect the 3rd or 4th day after the surgery to be the worst in swelling. Do not be alarmed if you have swelling at this time, it is normal. By the 5th day, the swelling should be down. For bruising and swelling you may go to any health food store (i.e. Whole Foods) and get some Arnica Montana.
In addition, patients will frequently complain of a bad smell and indicate their graft is “dead.” Because plasmatic circulation is important to graft survival, pooling of blood — sufficient to form a clot at the interface between host and graft tissues — will be detrimental to success.