Gum Graft Healing – 5 Tips for a Fast and Easy Post-Gum Graft Recovery

Healthy gum tissue is essential to oral health in Los Angeles. After all, it’s the city that is home to Hollywood’s biggest stars, who need to look their best on and off camera. Our gums help hold our teeth in place and protect the roots from trauma and bacteria. Receding gums can be caused by a variety of factors, including periodontal disease, aging, jawbone loss, poor dental hygiene, and trauma (sometimes due to aggressive brushing). In some cases, a Gum Graft Surgery might be recommended by our periodontists while offering advice diagnosis or treatment of your gum disease or gum recession.

Recessed gums in your mouth are not only unattractive, but they can also make your teeth more sensitive to hot and cold, as they leave the sensitive root of the tooth exposed. In a city that experiences year-round warm weather, which influences the types of food residents’ consume, this can make eating uncomfortable for many patients in Los Angeles. More important, recessed gums expose the roots of the teeth to trauma and decay, thereby increasing your risk of eventual tooth loss and affect your oral health.

You can avoid the need for some of these tips with this recovery shortcut using advanced-platelet rich fibrin treatments to help your gum tissue and connective tissue heal faster.

Some Quick Pre Gum Graft Recovery Tips

The Gum graft surgery recovery process is pretty simple – you don’t have to put yourself through a specific diet or take any medications before to ensure your gum tissue graft recovery goes well at the surgical site. Some tips to follow:

Make sure that you are giving yourself enough sleep the day before the procedure.

Arrange yourself a comfortable ride to and from the periodontist office for your surgical procedure. Typically the patient will plan a ride with friends to bring them for the procedure.

Have a quick conversation about the types of gum grafts available for you: gingivital graft, connective tissue graft, and pedicle graft.

Make Your Post Gum Graft Recovery Timeline & Healing Process Easier

Gum graft surgery recovery time varies on the person and how well they took care of their gums beforehand. You can also use these five tips and a bonus tip to speed recovery from gum grafting after a PRP for gum procedure:

1. Pain Medications and Ice Packs Can Help Your Surgical Gum Procedure Recovery

Whether you choose gum grafting surgery or a painless grafting alternative for your gum recession, you will probably have some swelling post-procedure, which can generally be controlled with ice packs over the first 24 hours. Any pain can be managed with over-the-counter medication.

After gum surgery, it is important to manage pain and ice packs are a great way to do that. By using topical ointments or medications such as ibuprofen, you can reduce the swelling in your mouth, which will also decrease the amount of discomfort you feel. You may also want to consider taking an anti-inflammatory medication like Advil (ibuprofen) for at least one week following your procedure because this type of medicine reduces inflammation and swelling.

Another way to manage pain is through ice packs. Ice will reduce swelling and numb your mouth, which will help you feel less discomfort as well. You can use a bag of frozen vegetables or an ice pack wrapped in moist paper towels for this purpose. Apply the cold object to the roof of your mouth near where surgery was performed and hold it for three to five minutes, then switch sides. Repeat this process as necessary.

2. Avoid Exertion during your Gum Graft Surgery Recovery

First, the periodontist might want you to stay at the office for an hour so they can make sure there are no issues with your new gum grafts. After, you are good to go home.

Give yourself some time off post-surgery to allow your body to heal by refraining from exercise and other strenuous activities for the first several days after surgery.  The gum graft recovery & healing will usually take weeks so its important to take the time slowly.

3. Stick to a Liquid Diet when considering gum graft recovery foods

Knowing what to eat after a gum graft is important because your gums will be sensitive and you want to take care of them.

Vitamin-rich and well-blended soups and smoothies can help make a liquid diet delicious and appealing for the first two days after your surgery. Be sure to blend thoroughly and not include any ingredients that contain small particles, such as berries, which have small seeds that could get lodged in your wounds.

Serve at room temperature to avoid the tooth sensitivity after gum graft shock of cold or hot temperatures. After two days, you can add in soft foods, such as yogurt or cottage cheese.

4. Rinse Your Mouth for clean gum Tissue

For the first 24 hours after your gum graft surgery, during your gum graft surgery recovery, you should not rinse your mouth at all. After that time, please add 1 teaspoon of sea salt to an 8-oz. glass of room-temperature water and rinse with this mixture after every meal or snack.

This will help clean bacteria from your gum tissue and prevent infection. If you don’t have sea salt, use table salt instead. The taste is not as pronounced with table salt because it contains additives to give a better flavor than plain old sodium chloride.

If you’d like to avoid this hassle, remember that our RejuvaGum Lift™ can greatly reduce your gum graft recovery time.

5. Eat Vitamins A and C

Both of these vitamins have been shown to control inflammation and aid in healing. Vitamin A-rich foods include carrots, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, kale, and spinach. Vitamin C-rich foods include papaya, citrus, strawberries, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, and bell peppers. Be sure these fruits and vegetables are well blended and strained of any seeds or pulp.

Vitamin A is known to keep your mucous membranes healthy while keeping you hydarting, avoiding dry-mouth which can prevent your gums from healing. You want to make sure to keep your gums hydrated during this process as it is major in post gum graft healing stages and recovery.

Many citrus fruits of course contain Vitamin C but this might cause discomfort such as stinging or burning caused by the acidity in such foods. That is why fruits such as leafy greens, like Brussel sprouts and spinach are a great alternative.

Learn more about good sources of vitamin A at WebMD.com.

Bonus Tip: Treat Your Gums to Tea (Bags)

If your gums are slightly bleeding or sore, steep and cool black tea bags, then place them on your gums. The tannic acid in black tea promotes coagulation and also has some antiseptic qualities.

According to this 2009 study, the relationship between tea for receding gums found that 940 Japanese men between 49 and 59 who drank tea saw a modest inversion in gum recession. The independent study looked at many factors of the individuals such as their diet regimen, environment, and daily activity.

Do Your Gums Grow Back?

Unfortunately, there is no technique for stimulating gum tissue to regenerate on its own.

If you have recessed gums, you have only two alternatives:

1. Live with the discomfort, increased risk of tooth loss, and the “long-in-the-tooth,” aged appearance caused by gum recession, or

2. Repair gum loss with gum grafting or a less invasive, virtually pain-free method, such as RejuvaGum Lift™ utilizing platelet-rich fibrin (PRP).

Both LA gum grafting procedures are simple and straightforward. However, traditional gum grafting requires a graft of gum to be taken from the roof of your mouth and then stitched to your gum line. Of course, it’s important to consider that you may be unintentionally causing your gums to recede.

RejuvaGum Lift™ uses the healing powers of growth factors derived from your own blood to create bio-compatible gel membranes that are inserted into small incisions in your gum and positioned so that they fill out the recesses, providing excellent root coverage. Performed under anesthesia, the procedure is virtually painless, with most patients who received the treatment at our Brentwood, Los Angeles practice reporting that they experienced a smooth postop recovery. PRP for gums not only provides a pain-free graft, the growth factors also promote healing, which means you’ll be getting back to your normal activities much sooner.

You can view our before and after gum graft pictures HERE

Smile Confidently!

Once you have turned your periodontal disease around and repaired and rejuvenated your recessed gums in Los Angeles at our Brentwood practice, you will wonder why you took so long to do so. Your smile will be brighter, your teeth safer, and your mouth healthier.

If you suffer from receding gums, please learn more about gum grafts, tissue grafts, connective tissue graft and the groundbreaking RejuvaGum Lift™ by contacting Dr. Alexandre-Amir Aalam and Dr. Alina Krivitsky at the Center for Advanced Periodontal and Implant Therapy in Los Angeles at ((310) 826-8242 or through our online contact form. We are the only trained and certified periodontists in the United States to use advanced PRP for gums technique to enhance healing of oral surgery and to offer the RejuvaGum Lift™.

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