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What is it?

When your gums receed or pull away, it is called gum recession.

Gum recession in Sussex county is quite common. Most of our patients have some recession.

The root surface becomes exposed leading to hypersensitivy, longer teeth and less support to hold the teeth.

It is one of the most common consultations and treatment that our periodontist in Georgetown, Dr Sanz, has to perform.

Causes?

There are several reasons for recession:

Age: As the years pass, both the teeth and the gum can wear. It is a natural process that can be more or less pronounced, depending on several factors.

Periodontitis or gum disease: excess of bacteria, normally due to lack of proper brushing, lead to inflammation of the gums and lost of the tissue that support the tooth ( bone, periodontal ligament and gum). When this tissues are lost, the gum receeds.

Aggressive brushing and trauma: The use of the brush in an incorrect manner or the use of an inadequate brush can cause wear that retracts the gum. Some sports injuries can lead to recession.

Wrong bite. Incorrect contact between the upper and lower jaws, grinding teeth at night time and poor tooth position can lead to slight displacements of the tooth that cause tooth wear, bone loss and gum loss.
Tongue or lip piercing when in constant contact with the gums can irritate and wear out the gums. It is really common seen in the lower front teeth.

Partial dentures: Some dentures have hooks/clasps on the teeth to have better stability. These clasps can damage the gum leading to recession.

Orthodontic treatment: some type of treatments and braces materials push the teeth to much forward leading to severe recession during or after orthodontic treatment. It is commonly seen on the lower fron teeth and the upper canines.

Genetics: some patients are born with gums that are to thin or weak. Also, some patients are born with attachments that can push gums down.

Why is a problem??

Root surfaces become exposed leading to significant tooth sensitivity and decay.
Can cause a less aesthetic smile due to longer teeth and more yellow teeth ( root surface is yellow) that can affect self-confidence.
Destruction of the bone underneath the gum that holds the tooth. More mobility and eventually tooth loss can occur.

How to fix it??

The way to fix recession in Delaware and to avoid further recession is with gum grafting. Prior to treatment, though, the cause that has generated the recession must be adressed. If a piercing is present and traumatic brushing is occurring, the recession will be back even with grafting.
There are different types of gum grafting techniques and materials.

Connective-tissue grafts

This is the most often used method to cover exposed root or to treat gum recession. During the procedure, a piece of gum tissue is removed from the roof of your mouth (palate) and then attached to the gum tissue surrounding the exposed root.

Free gingival grafts

Similar to a connective-tissue graft, free gingival grafts use the top layer of gums from the palate the use of tissue from the roof of the mouth. This method is used most often in people who have thin gums to begin with and need additional tissue to enlarge the gums.

Allograft

This is an alternative material used for soft tissue grafting that does not require removing the tissue from the patient. This procedure uses sterilized, donated human tissue as a tissue source for the graft. The advantage of this is procedure is that there is no need to remove tissue from the patient’s palate and therefore causes less pain to the patient. Allograft was originally developed for the treatment of burn patients by doctors in the 1950’s and is still used to date since it has been proven to be safe and effective in treating dental soft tissue conditions.