Gum recession affects mothers, fathers, and children alike. In fact, did you know that gum recession can affect children as young as 7 years of age? Thankfully, pediatric dentists and other family dentists can help.
Keep reading to learn more about what receding gums are, what causes them, and how they can be treated to prevent further gum recession. Your McAllen dentists at Heroes Dental are ready to help keep your gums healthy.
What Gum Recession?
Receding gums or gingival recession happens when the tissue around the teeth pulls back, resulting in exposing an increased area of the tooth’s root. This causes your teeth to be vulnerable and can have costly and painful effects if left untreated.
Missing gum tissue may also cause an open area between the teeth and the gum line, making them more susceptible to diseases by creating a build-up of bacteria, plaque, and ultimately tartar. This can majorly damage the bone structure of your mouth, harm tissue, and cause loose teeth and tooth loss. The exposed tooth root is particularly vulnerable to damage and tooth decay.
What Causes a Receding Gum Line?
The single biggest cause of receding gum lines is poor oral hygiene. Another major factor is genetics; some people are genetically predisposed to having thinner gum tissue compared to others, regardless of how well they take care of their gums.
Other common causes include:
- • Periodontal disease, also called gum disease
- • Injury to your gum tissue
- • Using tobacco products like cigarettes, cigars, or chewing tobacco
- • Dental plaque or tartar that has built up
- • Aggressive brushing
- • Grinding your teeth or clenching your jaw to the point it puts pressure on your teeth
- • Piercings to the lips or tongue
- • Hormonal changes, such as pregnancy or menopause
How Is Gum Recession Diagnosed?
Gum recession symptoms typically go unnoticed, although it is not an uncommon issue to have. Some of the symptoms of gum recession you will initially notice are:
- • Sudden tooth sensitivity
- • Teeth appear larger than usual
- • Abnormal groove or texture on the gumline
- • Bleeding gums with brushing
If you have noticed any of these first symptoms of receding gum lines, please make an appointment with our McAllen pediatric dentists as soon as you can. We will carefully examine your teeth and gum line for signs of recession.
Surgical and Non-Surgical Gum Recession Treatment Options
While you can’t reverse a receding gum line, you do have options to protect the gum you have left. To begin treatment, you’ll need to visit your dentist for an exam, which will let them figure out the best way to prevent further issues. What follows is a list of potential treatment options:
Nonsurgical Treatments
Your dental doctor has a few nonsurgical options that may potentially work for your situation. The various treatment plans will vary depending on your unique needs and what will give you the best chance at relief from the discomfort of a receding gum line:
- • Dental scaling to remove plaque and tartar
- • Root planing during a deep cleaning to discourage bacteria and help your gums reattach
- • Antibiotics
- • Orthodontics, such as braces, to correct misaligned teeth
- • Dental bonding to cover the painful, exposed root
If you think you may have early signs of gum problems, be sure to keep up with regular dental checkups for deep dental cleanings, maintain proper oral hygiene, and consider switching to a soft-bristled toothbrush.
Receding Gum Line Surgery
In some cases, the best way to get your happy smile back is to have surgery. Your dentist may be able to provide a few surgical options for treating a receding gum line, including:
- • Gum grafting procedure using healthy tissue from the roof of your mouth, donor tissue, or your own healthy gum tissue
- • Regeneration for any missing jawbone by placing a regenerative material, such as a membrane or graft tissue, in the missing areas of bone
- • Pocket reduction by folding back the gum tissue, removing bacteria, and then putting the gum back to reduce pockets or eliminate them entirely
What Is the Best Treatment for Gum Recession?
While gum recession can not be reversed on its own, it can be managed and treated to prevent further lost gum tissue. Ultimately, the cause of receding gum lines varies, and treatment depends on the reason for the recession.
Minor Gum Recession
If you or your children brush aggressively — or, on the contrary, don’t brush at all — you are at risk of deteriorating your gum line. Visiting a dental hygienist at Heroes Dental can give you tips on how to properly brush and obtain good oral hygiene, but you generally want to brush twice a day, two minutes each, and floss at least once.
Mild Gum Recession
Gum recession can cause pockets between your teeth and the gum line. This can cause gum diseases like gingivitis to evolve rapidly. This can be treated with a deep cleaning treatment called “scaling and root planing”. This treatment cleans out plaque and tartar build-up before it develops into a serious matter. It’s important to treat gum disease early before it develops into a more advanced stage called periodontitis.
Serious Gum Recession
Gum grafting is a procedure done for those who have serious gum recession, and only under special circumstances with properly-trained professionals. Gum grafting removes gum tissue from a different area in the mouth and binds it to the area around the tooth where gum tissue has receded. After the procedure and healing, the tooth is once again protected instead of being exposed, and will regain a more natural look. Talk with our pediatric dentist to see if this procedure is right for your child.
McAllen Dentists are Here to Protect Your Gum Health
The McAllen dentists at Heroes Dental care about our patients, and like any good sidekick, we want to give them all the information they need to combat the dangers that cause gum disease and recession.
Every hero knows that oral hygiene is important, and with brushing and flossing regularly, they can say goodbye to receding gum lines that cause diseases and tooth loss, and hello to a beautiful smile. Get the oral health care you need to maintain your healthy teeth from the team at Heroes Dental.