Dental Information Center

Why You Might Need Gum Surgery
Periodontist Dr. Smith Alexandria VA, Waldorf MD

Gum surgery sometimes becomes necessary, in spite of your best attempts to take good care of your teeth and gums and keep those important twice-a-year dental appointments. But the good news is that there are many modern and sophisticated advances in terms of dental medicine and surgical procedures, so that if you do have to go to the dentist and have some type of gum surgery performed, it will probably be much less bothersome than you might have expected or anticipated.

But why would you have to have gum surgery? There are many answers to that question, but we can talk about a few of the most common reasons that people elect to have gum or periodontal surgical procedures.

As you know, the teeth are rooted into the gums at the jaw line, and the pink tissue of the gums helps to keep the teeth healthy. But unlike the teeth – which are made of strong bonelike material and are guarded by a very tough outer layer of super-dense protective enamel – the gums are relatively tender, sensitive, and soft. So that means that the gums can be more easily damaged – either by an accident such as those experienced when people hit their mouth during a car crash or get bopped with a boxing glove during an athletic match, or by a bacteria-induced infection.

Once the gums became hurt or infected, they have to be treated by a dentist to cure the problem. Otherwise they will continue to suffer, and that will soon lead to problems with the teeth, the rest of the mouth, and even nearby parts of the body like the jawbone. Gum surgery, then, is primarily done as a measure to reinstate the normal health of the gums after something has caused them to either get damaged, infected, or otherwise troubled and sick.

One of the common problems is that gums recede or pull away from the tooth. If you have seen someone whose teeth look extra long and thin near the base, it is probably because the gums are pulling away from the tooth. In this case a gum surgery can be done to replace the missing gum and get the gums growing as they should once more.

Or the gums might be too large or puffy and may be covering too much of the tooth. This might be a health problem or it could just be a cosmetic issue because of how it makes the mouth look. Either way, the dentist can perform an operation to remove or trim the gums, making them look and feel better to contribute to a nicer smile and better overall periodontal health.

In the unfortunate case of damage to the gums through an accident, a periodontal specialist can also be of help, by performing various types of gum surgery to repair, replace, or otherwise reconstruct the gums. The dentist might even graft new gum material or tissue into the mouth to compensate for lost or damaged gum.

So there are many reasons why you might one day need gum surgery, but there are likewise many advanced dental procedures to help make the surgery go easier, heal faster, and produce more successful and pleasing long term results.

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