Keeping Your Mouth Healthy After Receding Gum Surgery

Receding gum surgery sometimes is a last ditch effort to save remaining teeth but also to protect the jawbones. By and large it is required in the more advanced stages of gum disease. This is especially true when the ailment has gone unchecked for many years and the condition has now begun to affect the gum tissues to such an extent that their shrinking back is causing acute danger of tooth loss and subsequent bone infection. Many such cases of receding gum surgery may be avoided by regular oral hygiene procedures at home and keeping two annual appointments six months apart with your dental health professional and his or her staff of hygienists. Prevenative care is the best cure for receding gums.

When your dentist does indicate that receding gum surgery is required, the procedure itself is usually performed by a trained periodontist who will seek to strengthen the gum tissues in question. After a thorough cleaning of your oral cavity and the removal of any plaque and other debris, the odds are good that you will begin your treatment with a weekly course of antibiotics in anticipation of the procedure. During the procedure itself, the periodontist seeks to attach soft tissue grafts to the affected gum line at the places that show the worst damage.

Keep in mind that receding gums do not uniformly shrink back, and in some cases underlying pockets of decay may actually cause a portion of tissue to have rotted and thus needs to be replaced. Receding gum surgery will rely on the ability of the dental professional to remove some tissue of the palate so as to apply it to the portion of your gum line that is in bad shape. In many cases this will save your teeth from experiencing root damage and it will greatly decrease the discomfort you might experience from hot or cold sensations.

Keeping your mouth healthy after receding gum surgery begins by following the recommendations of the periodontist to the letter! Do not skip the treatment she or he recommends and do not neglect to visit the office for your follow up appointment. Be certain to discuss proper oral hygiene with the staff to ensure that the skin graft will heal and experience neither infection nor a partial inflammation because of harsh mouthwashes or toothpastes you may be using at home.

In the past your dentist may have suggested that you rinse your mouth with warm saltwater, but today a periodontist more than likely will suggest a mix of baking soda and pure citric acid. In some cases a medicated rinse may be needed for a while until the healing is completed and no further complications are evident. In some cases they may prescribe a receding gums drug treatment.

This will be a great time to discuss further dental hygiene and you might be surprised to learn that keeping your saliva flowing is one of the best things to do to avoid an aggravation of the receding gum line and also to prevent any further shrinkage. This will necessitate you no longer relying on alcohol-based substances. Instead switch to a more natural methodology of oral hygiene.