What are the ways to rebuild the gums?

Gums that have once receded and been lost will not grow back on their own. This means that there is then a tissue deficit. Exposed tooth necks and root surfaces can only be covered again with periodontal plastic surgery.

There are different procedures for plastic covering of gingival recession. It is possible to move the remaining gums upwards, or to work with a graft, which is usually taken from the palate. The only exception is the smallest defects, which can often be caused by an incorrect brushing technique. In such cases it may sometimes be sufficient to apply a gentler brushing technique and wait.

What does the dentist do?

The dentist inspects not only the teeth, but also the gums during each check. If deep gum pockets are found, this indicates a disease of the periodontium (periodontitis). The first goal is now to bring the gums into a healthy condition.

This is achieved by removing not only superficial plaque, but also the “concrements”, i.e. tartar under the gums, which are inaccessible to the patient. The gum pockets are also rinsed and disinfected. Once everything has healed and the condition of the gums is stable, one can consider a gum build-up.

As already mentioned, in some cases it is useful to rebuild not only the gums but also the bone.This is because the teeth are anchored in the bone and if the bone has retracted strongly during the inflammation, the teeth are in danger of becoming loose or even falling out. During gum formation, the surgeon has the option of moving the existing gum and reattaching it, or, to compensate for the loss of tissue at the tooth necks, he can remove a strip of tissue, a so-called “graft” from the palate. In this case, the wound on the palate is covered with a so-called “dressing plate” and must heal for several weeks after removal, which is often very unpleasant.

At the point where the gum is to be built up, it is detached from the bone and opened up, the graft is positioned so that it covers the tooth necks up to the enamel-cement interface and finally both are sutured. Now follows the healing phase. The sutures are usually removed after one week.

The patient should not use a toothbrush in the affected area for up to 3 weeks in order not to disturb the wound healing and the growing together. In many cases, once the wound healing is complete, there are no signs of the procedure. However, it is also possible that the graft differs in color from the rest of the gums, scars form, or in rare cases the graft does not heal but is rejected and dies. This topic may also be of interest to you: Drugs for gum inflammation