Covering exposed tooth roots – gingival recession
Gum (gingival) recession is when gum tissue (i.e. soft tissue surrounding teeth) pulls away from the teeth, exposing the roots underneath.
Recessed gums are most often the result of mechanical damage to the gums, caused by excessive brushing or flossing, piercings, orthodontic tooth movements, an inadequate relationship between the teeth in the upper and lower jaw, or due to inadequate prosthetic implants. In addition to mechanical damage, gum recession can also be caused by bacterial plaque on the cheek side of the teeth or viral infections.
Gum recession doesn’t happen suddenly, it happens gradually and most people don’t even notice it at first. The first sign of gum recession is dentin pain and an aesthetically disturbing appearance of “longer” teeth. In the long term, recessed gums may also result in damage to the tooth enamel and cavities on tooth roots.
Because we start to avoid brushing teeth due to the pain associated with it, plaque builds up even faster and gum recession progresses even more.
Treatment of gum recession
Before treating gum recession, we must first discover its cause and remove it.
With additional interventions, we eliminate the issues caused by the recessions. If these issues are not present and the recession is minimal, no additional interventions are necessary. What matters is that you regularly visit your chosen dentist and go for professional tartar removal.
If your only problem is tooth sensitivity, we apply a dental sealant, but where damage to the tooth structure has already occurred, we additionally use composite fillings to restore it.
If there are also aesthetic defects that need to be eliminated in addition to tooth sensitivity, a surgical procedure must be performed to cover the root of the tooth with the gums. In certain cases, this procedure can be combined with the placement of composite fillings on the crown of the tooth.
A surgical intervention may also be necessary when the patient cannot adequately clean the affected area using standard oral hygiene techniques.
