Without routine dental care at home and in the dentist’s office, gum disease can quietly attack your gums and teeth. Left unchecked, the decay caused by gum disease can eat away at your gumline and eventually make your teeth appear as if they’re getting longer. Once the gums suffer decay, there’s nothing you can do to regenerate that lost gum tissue. But that doesn’t mean you have to settle for an eroded gum line. Take a look at what a periodontist in Chicago can do to help restore your gum line and your smile.

Point of No Return: You Can’t Regrow Your Gums

Nearly half of U.S. adults have some level of gum disease. Those with gingivitis, early gum disease, still have a chance to reverse it if they act with urgency. Once gum disease progresses to periodontitis, advanced gum disease, it typically can only be managed and not reversed. In addition, gum disease starts to do permanent damage when it progresses to periodontitis.

Receding gums are one of the symptoms of periodontitis. The gum tissue won’t grow back, but you have options for replacing what you’ve lost. The sooner you act, the more of those options will be available to you.

A Second Chance: Your Dentist can Graft New Gums

Some of the procedures your dentist may offer will aim to stop the spread of gum recession, while others will replace missing gum tissue.

Here’s a quick look at some of the top options for treating gum recession:

Laser gum surgery – using a dental laser, the dentist carefully eradicates decaying tissue to help preserve healthy tissue

Gum grafting – soft tissue is taken from another area of the mouth and is grafted along the gum line

Pinhole Surgical Technique™ – a pinhole is made in the gum. The hole is used to pulled the gums forward to cover areas of recession.

More on Receding Gums in Chicago, IL

Take a moment to schedule a consultation with a local periodontist to learn more about your options for treating receding gums in Chicago, IL.