How to Reverse Gum Recession

Gum recession is a big deal. Not only does it make your smile look older, but it can make your teeth more sensitive as well. When you begin to notice that your gums have begun to recede, it is time to take action. In this article, we will answer the question of how to reverse gum recession.

What are the causes of gum recession?

Gum recession is often associated with gum disease. While periodontal disease is one of the main causes of the recession of your gums, it is not the only one. Gum recession comes with a mix of different things such as genetics and lifestyle habits; both of these things can impact your body’s decision, so to speak, to let the gums recede.

For instance, one of the leading causes of gum recession is techniques for toothbrushing. These techniques are performed incorrectly and therefore cause issues. While regular cleanings at a dentist are important, brushing your teeth is just as important. The thing is that brushing your teeth too hard may also cause the gums to wear away. If you use a toothbrush that has medium or hard bristles and brush them with too much force, this can be a problem.

Your genes are also a big factor when it comes to gum recession. Some people will naturally be at a greater risk for recession of their gums than other people. This gum tissue might be thin or too weak to start out with and get worse over time for a variety of reasons.

In some other cases, your habits and lifestyle choices can make a big difference too and put you at risk of gum recession. Smoking will make your gums more susceptible to recession as well. If you get an injury in your mouth or have dentures that don’t fit well, you may also be put at risk. Another seemingly random factor is birth control pills as well.

Why is there a problem with receding gums?

Alongside it simply looking unattractive, gum recession exposes the roots of your teeth. These are not supposed to be exposed to air like your teeth’s crowns are able to be. There is no thick and tough coat of enamel on the roots. This means that you will have more sensitive teeth when it comes to hot and cold food or even temperature changes.

Your tooth roots are also more likely to succumb to tooth decay for that reason. Gum recession can make your periodontal disease worsen as well. The gums will have pockets that are excellent places for bacteria to hide away in and cause infection. The more bacteria that you get in these pockets, the harder it will be to treat gum recession or gum disease.

How to reverse gum recession in the early stages

Your dentist will be able to treat your gum recession in different ways depending on the severity of your periodontal disease or gum recession. In its earliest stages, the gum recession in your mouth will be easier to treat. The first thing that needs to be done is to stop the recession from keeping on at all. If you are brushing too aggressively, you need to learn from your dentist how to brush correctly. The dentist might even recommend changing to a toothbrush with softer bristles.

You can change your toothbrush but it won’t stop the gum recession. That said, it will stop it from worsening. If your gum recession is from a disease of the gums, you will need an early dental treatment. This will often involve root planing and scaling. This is also known as a deep cleaning. Scaling means removing the bacteria that is stuck in the pockets of the gums. The root planing can help smooth off the surface of your gums so that there is no more room for bacteria to get stuck in.

Treating advanced gum recession

For more advanced gum recession, there may need to be a lot more intense treatment. One of the most common treatments here involves restoring the gum tissue that is missing. This is known as grafting the gums. It replaces the tissue that is missing from the gums with new tissue. This tissue is often taken from the tissue that can be found on the roof of the mouth. It is then transplanted onto the line of the gum for regeneration.

There are new techniques coming out where donor tissue is used in order to fix the gum line. There is only one site of surgery that is required, so this is a more comfortable experience for the patients in question. One of the other kinds of treatments is the pinhole surgical technique. This technique helps to reverse the gum recession by changing the gum tissue through a small pinhole sized hole. It is put over the exposed roots. The dentist is then going to shift the tissue downwards in such a way that it will cover up the exposed roots once again.

This technique is less uncomfortable then grafting the gum. It also has a shorter recovery time as well; the only real thing that happens is a bit of swelling and you cannot really see the hole of the entry site the following day.

You can have up to 14 teeth fixed at once during one procedure. A usual gum graft can only treat one or two teeth at a time. No matter how far your gum has receded, there is a treatment option that is available for you. Treating these receding gums is important not only to improve your smile but to improve your overall oral health.

Conclusion

In this article, we provided you with detailed information on the recession of your gums. We also provided an answer to the question of how to reverse gum recession. Have you ever dealt with gum recession? What did you do to get it treated? Let us know about it in the comments section below.