Gum Graft Surgery in Los Angeles

A Gum Graft Can Align Your Gum Line

Are you self-conscious because your gums are receding or uneven?  The gums and teeth may require cosmetic and corrective treatment for several reasons. Factors like periodontal disease, trauma, age, and birth defects all contribute to this possibility. Receding gums can expose the tooth roots, causing gums to appear unhealthy, uneven and unattractive. A gum graft surgery performed by board-certified periodontists is a cosmetically corrective treatment to give you the even, stunning smile you desire, and protect the roots for healthy longevity. Gum grafting surgery is a fantastic option for patients who want to align their gum line and show off a beautiful, full smile.

BEFORE

AFTER

Receding Gums Overview

An Aesthetic & Medical Solution To Gum Loss

Gum graft surgeries are performed to correct unevenness and to restore alignment to the gumline. Trauma and periodontal disease can sometimes cause the gum recession, resulting in a patient’s tooth root to be exposed, look unattractive and long. Gum grafts are often used to re-contour the gumline and give the teeth a more natural appearance. In some cases, the graft can help protect your teeth from decay. Periodontal disease can damage the natural appearance of a patient’s gums and mouth, which in turn affects the confidence of his or her smile. Gum and periodontal cosmetic surgery treatments can help correct a variety of health and aesthetic concerns.  If your gums have receded due to gum disease or any other causes, ask your skilled Brentwood periodontists Dr. Aalam and Dr. Krivitsky about gum recession treatment today.  The CENTER for Periodontal and Implant Therapy will have your gums and teeth looking more beautiful than ever! Beverly Hills periodontists Dr. Alexandre Aalam and Dr. Alina Krivitsky are dedicated to helping their patients feel confident and comfortable. Whether your gum graft is for aesthetic or functional reasons, patients benefit from both a fresh new smile and improved periodontal health.

Health Benefits OF A Gum Graft

Gum grafting treatment procedures are a proven, effective and desirable procedure to have your gums and teeth looking more gorgeous and appealing. Gum grafts help to cover roots or develop gum tissue where absent, helping reduce further recession and bone loss.  If you are suffering from receding gums, treatment may be able to help. Contact the CENTER, a Los Angeles periodontal office, to schedule a consultation and to learn more about gum grafts and other cosmetic periodontal treatments by calling (424) 378-0262.

Soft Tissue Grafts

Patients may be at risk of uneven and receding gums for various reasons.  Periodontal disease, jawbone loss, poor dental hygiene and insufficient gum tissue can all cause unattractive loss of gums.  If any of these were the case, to improve the look and health of your gums, a board-certified periodontist would likely recommend the gum graft procedure.  This cosmetic gum recession treatment will even out your gumline and show off your stunning teeth and smile. For this procedure, the patient’s gumline is examined for whether or not gum tissue has receded due to periodontal disease or trauma. If that is the case, patients may need to have the damaged tissue replaced. This is usually done by removing a small amount of tissue from the roof of the mouth or with an artificial tissue and attaching it to the affected site. This procedure can help reduce further gum recession, cover exposed roots, reduce the risk of root sensitivity, and give your teeth a more cosmetically pleasing and alluring appearance. Your Los Angeles gum recession experts Dr. Aalam and Dr. Krivitsky are here to help.

Gum Grafts & PRF Treatments Locally in LA

The CENTER is a periodontal office that provides excellent and skilled periodontal and implant therapy to restore patient’s oral health and aesthetics throughout Los Angeles and Southern California. Dr. Alexandre Aalam and Dr. Alina Krivitsky are the only two board-certified periodontists in the Brentwood area and offer specialized skills in cosmetic periodontal procedures, oral hygiene, and gums & teeth restoration. These procedures help to preserve natural looking qualities and provide patients with confidence to show off one of their best assets: their smile. Luckily for Los Angeles, Dr. Aalam is one of few trained and certified periodontist in the United States to utilize advanced-platelet rich fibrin technique to enhance healing after oral surgery.  PRF harvests from patient’s own tissue/biomaterial to create a gel that is inserted into the surgical location.  After Dr. Aalam performs the surgery with advanced-platelet rich fibrin technology, patients recover much faster and are able to go back to their normal routines quicker. Ask Dr. Aalam about platelet-rich fibrin and gum grafts at your next visit!

Autogenous Gum Grafting

There are several autogenous gum grafting procedures where tissue from the patient’s body is used as grafting material. These include the following:

Connective-tissue grafts

This standard grafting procedure is frequently used when gum recession causes cosmetic problems around your teeth. These tissue grafts often provide outstanding results for covering up the exposed roots and color matching the surrounding tissue. In addition, we can use CTG as a solution by itself or with our advanced platelet-rich fibrin (A-PRF) therapy which helps enhance healing after a grafting procedure like this. Not only does the A-PRF treatment reduce recovery times, but it also decreases pain and swelling and improves the overall patient experience and outcome.

Often, periodontists will treat root exposure using this standard grafting procedure. When performing this procedure, the doctor will cut a flap of skin from the roof of your mouth, otherwise known as your palate, and remove subepithelial connective tissue from under the flap created from the initial incision. Next is taking that removed tissue, stitching it to the gum tissue around the exposed tooth root, and then stitching the flap back in place.

Free Gingival Grafts

The FGG grafting technique is used to increase the amount of keratinized tissue surrounding a tooth or a dental implant. It is also used for patients with genetically thin gums that may need extra tissue to expand the gums or those with receding gums where a free gingival graft can augment the tissue and help prevent further recession.

The free gingival graft (FGG) surgical procedure is comparable to the connective-tissue graft in removing tissue from the roof of the patient’s mouth, but rather than tissue being transferred from under the flap, a small amount of tissue is extracted directly from the roof of your mouth then joined to the gumline area being treated.

A Free gingival graft combined with our advanced platelet-rich fibrin (A-PRF) therapy helps heal the donor site faster, like a natural Band-aid filled with the patient’s own growth factors, which offers less discomfit and pain and shortens recovery times.

There are limitations of free gingival graft procedure, such as the tissue extracted from the roof of the mouth is often lighter than the gums in the area being treated that may cause a slight cosmetic problem for some patients.

When the gum tissue surrounding the graft area is insufficient to provide its own source material, a Connective-tissue graft or a Free gingival graft is often used. However, the Pedicle grafting method, which we will explain next, can be used on patients with sufficient gum tissue near the area to be grafted.

Pedicle Grafts

The pedicle graft involves taking tissue from around the tooth that needs grafting instead of taking it from the roof of the patient’s mouth, like in the connective tissue graft or free gingival grafting methods. During this procedure, the flap (pedicle) is cut away so that one of its edges remains connected. The loosened flap is then pulled over the exposed root and sutured into place.

All three of the previously mentioned gum grafting procedures are autogenous grafting procedures that are advantageous because they use the patient’s tissue and reduce the risk of rejection. But there is another more advanced option called RejuvaGum Lift™.

RejuvaGum Lift™ an alternative to traditional autogenous gum grafting

Although gum grafting is very common and takes tissue from the roof of the mouth to cover the exposed root, our Board Certified Periodontists, Dr. Alexandre-Amir Aalam and Dr. Alina Krivitsky are the founding periodontists behind the RejuvaGum Lift™ where no tissue graft is taken from the roof of the mouth, eliminating an often painful process and reducing recovery time.

This revolutionary procedure uses Platelet Rich Fibrin to treat gum recession that is a less painful, less invasive solution to other gum grafting methods. PRF is a healing matrix created from a sample of a patient’s blood to develop platelet-rich fibrin membranes, a clot-like substance that helps regenerate lost gum tissue.

Using cutting-edge technology, we take several samples of the patient’s blood, and they are spun in a centrifuge to separate the platelets, white blood cells, and fibrin. We then apply them directly to a wound, and the proteins in the fibrin encourage faster healing by causing the wound to close more quickly and increase blood flow to the site. The extra boost of stem cells and growth factors assist in soft tissue regeneration around the exposed roots, and by utilizing the patient’s own immune system to heal, the risk of infection is almost none. The RejuvaGum Lift™ offers patients a gentle yet effective alternative to gum grafting, with less recovery time and enhanced healing.

To learn more about the RejuvaGum Lift™ treatment for gum recession, please visit https://www.implantperiocenter.com/rejuvagum-lift/

Non-autogenous Gum Grafting

AlloDerm® Gum Graft

AlloDerm® is a soft tissue gum grafting material that is excellent for treating gum recession through gum grafting. It is a great alternative to using a patient’s gum tissue because it does not require additional surgery.

Our periodontists will place small incisions in the gums while being built up with AlloDerm® to form a tiny pocket where the regenerative tissue will be placed. Sutures will be used to sustain the graft and prevent the tissue from shifting to allow for proper healing.

AlloDerm® avoids the need for a second surgical wound on the palate to harvest tissue and makes it possible to treat the entire mouth in just a few appointments. In addition, it can be customized to fit each patient’s particular needs.

FAQ

Q: I would like to get a gum graft for the gum recession I have had recently. My concern is my gums are rather inflamed and I don’t know if the procedure can be done while they are in their current state. How is inflammation addressed prior to and after a gum graft?
A: The inflammation of the gums can be taken care of with a professional cleaning and great oral hygiene home routine.  This step is essential prior to addressing gum recession, as a surgical outcome greatly depends on it.  You should see a board-certified periodontist to assess and treat your lost gum tissue in Los Angeles.
Q: I have receding gums and have lost a few teeth because of this. Can a dentist stop gums receding?
A: Receding gums can be caused either by trauma or periodontal disease. Only the removal of these etiologic factors can arrest lost gum tissue in Los Angeles. Gum recession follows bone loss and, if enough bone loss occurs, you will end up losing the teeth.  Since you’ve lost some teeth already, you may want to see a board-certified periodontist for diagnosis and proper treatment to prevent future gum and tooth loss.
Q: I dip and my gums seem to be receding on my lower left K9 tooth. Will it fall out? Also, is there any way that if I quit, my gums will heal themselves and push back up?
A: Dipping can definitely contribute to gum recession as it traumatizes gums continuously.  If recession progresses enough, you may eventually lose the tooth. Companies add polyester shards to tobacco to irritate and create wounds in gums for higher uptake of nicotine.  Besides gums recession, dipping can significantly increase the chance of oral cancer. We recommend seeing a board-certified periodontist to assist you in your quitting process and to treat and prevent future tooth loss. The gums will not heal themselves you will need professional help to see if it can be restored.

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American Academy of Implant Dentistry
American Academy of Periodontology
Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC
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