How Does Gingival Recession Occur?
Description
Gingival recession is most commonly known as receding gums. There are sometimes jokes or cartoons depicting receding gums as an older person's problem. However, receding gums can happen at any age and can be due to several different causes. Gingival recession is a gradual and cumulative process in which the damage may show in later years but actually begins years before that point. Gingival recession can occur to any tooth or section of the mouth, though the recession commonly occurs in the frontal part of the mouth.
Causes
Humans grow a band of tougher mouth tissue at the point where tissue meets tooth as each permanent tooth grows. The quality of that tough tissue is related to the quality of the underlying bone. The bone quality is an inherited factor. The tough tissue will grow in the same manner as the bone. If the underlying bone is fragile or incomplete, the tough tissue around that tooth will also be fragile or incomplete. The inferior quality of the tough tissue is the basic cause of gingival recession.
Non-Surgical Treatments
There is actually no cure for receding gums in the traditional sense of a cure. A more practical name should probably be loss of gum rather than recession. The tissue has been destroyed and will not ever grow back. Regenerative methods are being explored, and may someday provide a cure. There are non-surgical treatments to halt continued tissue loss. Stopping forceful brushing and using a softer brush bristle is a treatment if brushing is a causal factor. Deep scaling and/or root planing is a treatment if tartar buildup is a causal factor. Flossing, strong mouth rinse and regular professional cleaning is a treatment if plaque is a causal factor.
Surgical remedy
There are minor dental surgery procedures that can replace the lost tissue. The two most common are the flap procedure and the gingival free graft. The flap procedure uses adjoining tissue, if available, to repair the recession site. The gingival free graft uses a piece of tissue from the roof of the mouth to transplant to the recession site. These two methods have been in use for years and have an extremely high success rate.
Tags: receding gums, tough tissue, causal factor, Does Gingival, Does Gingival Recession, flap procedure