What You Need To Know Going Into Gum Surgery

Gums are an important part of the tooth because they protect the root from damage and keep the root healthy. However, aggressive brushing and other factors can damage gums and cause them to recede. Once gums recede, the roots can be exposed to damage, which will lead to tooth loss. In order to save your teeth, you will need to have gum surgery. 

How Gum Surgery Works

Once gums start to recede, nothing can be done to cause them to grow back. Thus, the only way to protect teeth is to complete a gum graft. This involves taking flesh from another part of the mouth and sewing it to the flesh around the teeth. Gum grafts can be successful, but it is important to take the flesh you want to graft from the right area of your mouth. 

Where You Should Get Your Graft from

There are a few places that a doctor can pull flesh from for a graft, but there is one clear best option:

1. Pedicle Grafts: When doctors use a pedicle graft, they pull tissue from the gums of the teeth near the tooth in question. Pedicle grafts can be effective in protecting the gum in question, but pulling tissue from gums can leave them damaged and possibly lead to their failure also. 

2. Free Gingival Grafts: In free gingival grafts, tissue is pulled from the roof of the mouth and is used to not only restore the lost gum tissue, but to thicken gums that are already thin. Thin gums are more likely to fail, so if you have thin gums, a gingival graft is the way to go. 

3. Connective-Tissue Grafts: In this process, a flap is cut into the mouth's palate, and then tissue is harvested from beneath the palate. Once the tissue has been harvested, the palate is sown shut. This process causes the least amount of damage to the mouth. 

When you are trying to correct problems associated with receding gums, it is important to not cause new problems. Harvesting tissue from surrounding gum tissue can help to restore a damaged gum, but there are better places to harvest from. A doctor should include you in the decision of where to harvest flesh from to save your teeth. If you are involved in the process, choose to have flesh harvested from underneath your palate in order to protect your mouth from further damage. 

For more information, contact a local clinic like Periodontal Specialists.

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