Oral Surgery
ARE THERE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TISSUE GRAFTS FOR PERIODONTICS
Huntersville (Charlotte Metro), NC
Advanced surgical techniques for root coverage and gum tissue restoration
Advanced surgical techniques for root coverage and gum tissue restoration
Gingival grafting, or gum grafting, is a treatment performed to thicken and strengthen your gums and to restore gum recession. This procedure is often used for several reasons, which involve reinforcing and stabilizing your gums and teeth, and if you have experienced increased sensitivity due to the gum recession. There are a few different procedures that are used for tissue grafts, and the treatment recommended for you will depend on the amount of bone and tissue in the damaged area. The following is a summary of the several types of grafting and the indications for each type.
Free gingival grafts are commonly used to reinforce your gums in specific weak and receding areas. If you have receding gums, the risk of losing a tooth increases since your gums are not helping to support it in place. Your gums also cover and protect the more sensitive roots of your teeth to fend off infection and exposure to the open air. A surgeon will remove a piece of the tissue from the roof of your mouth and graft it over your damaged gums. When the area heals, it will be fuller, healthier, and stronger. Now you can focus on keeping your gums healthy so that they will not recede again. The goal of the free gingival graft is to augment the tissue and to prevent any further bone loss and recession.
Connective tissue graft is the most frequent and common type of gum grafting. Instead of using the outer layer of tissue from your palate for the graft, your surgeon will take a piece of the connective tissue layer from under the surface skin. With this kind of graft, the purpose is to cover the recession and to thicken the gingival tissue. Your dental team may choose to do this kind of graft if you do not like the aesthetics in a specific area or if the area is sensitive to cold.
In some situations, your surgeon may decide to use bleached donor tissue instead of taking tissue from the roof of your mouth. This kind of graft has similar factors to the connective tissue graft, but it is advantageous if you do not have enough tissue on the roof of your mouth or are nervous and stressed about taking tissue from this area.
Pedicle grafts also do not remove tissue from the roof of your mouth. Your surgeon will use a small piece of your gum that is directly adjacent to the area that needs restored tissue and rotate it over to cover the recession. This graft will help to maintain an original healthy connection while covering the area in need.
The challenge to successful pedicle grafting is that you need to have a significant amount of tissue near the area that is receding. In many situations, there are several teeth next to one another that are suffering from gum recession. If the recession is indeed affecting just one tooth, then a pedicle graft can be beneficial since the other teeth have adequate tissue for the procedure.
Words cannot express enough, how wonderful, caring and professional Dr. Haigney and his staff are! After being rushed to the Huntersville hospital with an orbital fracture, broken nose and other facial damage, Dr. Haigney rushed me into surgery (on his day off I must add) and corrected all my problems. I only wish all doctors cared as much about their patients and their recovery as Dr. Haigney and his staff did. Thank you so much for everything! Your attention and compassion has helped me make my recovery as comfortable as possible. 5 star service!
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