What Causes Receding Gums, and How Are They Fixed?

Healthy gums rest comfortably around the crown of your teeth, holding your teeth in place. However, your gum could pull back from a tooth, revealing its root. This leaves your tooth vulnerable to infection and gum disease.

Receding gums are uncomfortable. You may experience tooth sensitivity when drinking hot or cold drinks, and perhaps even when brushing your teeth. Moreover, the gum cannot grow back once your gum recedes from your tooth. Some treatments, however, can help replace the lost gum tissue.

Why Do Gums Recede?

Gums pull away for various reasons, including the following:

Forceful Tooth Brushing

Brushing your teeth is important for good dental hygiene but brushing aggressively can cause gum recession. This happens when you brush your teeth roughly or incorrectly. The proper way to brush your teeth is in soft circular motions, rather than back and forth movements. Additionally, a hard-bristled brush can gradually pull your gums away from your teeth.

Periodontal or Gum Disease

This bacterial gum contagion can damage your gums and surrounding jawbone. If the gums pull back too much, gum disease can eat into your jawbone. This can cause your teeth to become loose or fall off.

Gum Tissue Injury

Direct injury to your gum tissue can trigger a recession. For instance, falling accidents, trauma while playing sports, or wearing ill-fitting dentures can cause your gums to withdraw from the affected area.

Poor Dental Hygiene

Poor dental care practices, such as not brushing your teeth daily or flossing regularly, make it easy for plaque to grow on your gumline. With time, the plaque buildup calcifies into tartar. Tartar sits along your gumline, allowing bacteria to eat their way into your gums.

Tooth Grinding and Clenching

Grinding or clenching your teeth puts too much pressure on your gums, causing them to pull back with time.

Misaligned Teeth

When teeth do not sit together squarely, pressure from biting can strain your gums, allowing gum recession.

How Can You Fix Receding Gums?

Treatment for gum recession depends on what is causing the gums to pull away. Treatment may include:

Scaling and Root Planning

Scaling and root planning is the first treatment your dentist may suggest. It involves deep cleaning the affected area that a typical toothbrush cannot reach. Root planning eliminates plaque and tartar deep in the roots of your teeth, and scaling smoothens the root. This allows the gums to connect back to the tooth.

Pinhole Surgical Technique (PST)

This treatment uses unique tools to make a tiny hole in your gum and put collagen in to repair the affected area. PST is a relatively new but effective treatment for minor to moderate gum recession. It is a minimally invasive and suture-free technique.

Gum Tissue Graft Surgery

If your gum recession is severe, your dentist may recommend graft surgery. It involves cutting a tiny piece of skin from the top of your mouth and using it to conceal the exposed tooth root.

See Your Dentist Regularly

Experts recommend seeing your dentist every six months. Regular visits to your dentist can catch signs of gum recession early before the condition becomes severe and damaging to your oral health.

For more on what causes receding gums and how they are fixed, visit Today’s Family Dental at our office in Lutz or Tampa, Florida. Call (813) 212-8700 today to schedule an appointment.