can gums be rebuilt to recover gum loss

Q. can gums be rebuilt to recover gum loss after oral surgery ? the surgery saved my teeth but not my smile. now i’m self conscious about my rather “toothy grin.” T

A. It sounds as though you have had gum surgery.  This can often lead to ” black triangles” at the gum margin between the teeth.  The gum is in its position due to the underlying bone supporting it.  Bone defects that are vertical in nature and localised can sometimes be grafted to allow better support of the gum lying above to improve the appearance.  Horizontal defects are not possible to repair when they are generalized, as in the case when extensive gum surgery is required.  The only way to improve the appearance is by disguising the problem with carefully placed veneers or crowns to close the triangles - this must be done only following resolution of the gum problem and must not be the cause of relapse of the gum disease.

Dr Julian Caplan
Aviva Cosmetic Dentistry
Director on the board of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry
www.avivacosmeticdentistry.co.uk
101 St. Peters Street
St. Albans Hertfordshire
AL1 3EN

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Tags: gum disease, gum graft, gum grafting, gum loss, gum recession

This post was published on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 11:51 amand is filed under Dr Caplan's Answers, Experts Answers, Q. gums. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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