Soft Tissue Grafting in Connecticut

Soft tissue grafting, or gum grafting, is a surgical technique used to treat gum recession, which is when the gums begin to pull away from the teeth and expose the tooth root. It involves taking a piece of healthy tissue from another part of the mouth (or using donor tissue) and placing it where it is needed.

Soft tissue grafting is a safe and simple procedure that can help improve your oral health and the appearance of your smile. It is most often used as a reconstructive procedure to treat periodontitis, but it can also be used as a cosmetic procedure to correct an asymmetrical smile.

Who Needs Soft Tissue Grafting?

If you are experiencing symptoms of gingivitis or periodontal disease, like bleeding, swollen, and receding gums, you may be a good candidate for a gum graft. If you have periodontal disease or are experiencing gum recession, it’s important to address the issue as soon as possible in order to prevent bigger problems like tooth loss or bone deterioration. Soft tissue grafting can help stop the progression of gum recession and bone loss and protect your teeth from damage.

Benefits of Soft Tissue Grafting

Soft tissue (gum) surgery can be helpful for repairing a portion of lost gum tissue and restoring a healthy smile.

Benefits can include:

Types of Soft Tissue Grafts

There are three different types of soft tissue grafts: a pedicle graft, a connective tissue graft, free gingival graft.

Pedicle graft: A pedicle graft is the least-invasive type of soft tissue procedure. If you are a candidate for this type of procedure, our dental experts will create a flap in the gum area near the affected site. The flap is opened to cover the exposed part. Candidates for pedicle grafting should have plenty of gum tissue in the area surrounding the affected site.

Connective tissue graft: A connective tissue graft is the most common type of soft tissue graft. With this procedure, our dental experts will make a small flap in the roof of your mouth and remove connective tissue. The tissue will be implanted into the affected area and allowed to heal.

Free gingival graft: A free gingival graft is the most invasive of the three procedures, and may be used if it is determined that you are at risk of future gum recession. For this procedure, the doctor will extract the soft tissue from the roof of your mouth and stitch it to the area affected by the gum recession.

The Soft Tissue Grafting Procedure

Soft tissue grafts are usually performed in two stages:

Prepare the donor site: This involves removing a small piece of healthy tissue by cutting into the gums or roof of the mouth.

The gum graft site is prepared: Our dental experts will make incisions in the gums around the affected site. Then, the graft will be put into place, and surgical material may be placed on top of the graft site to aid in healing.

If the patient doesn’t have sufficient healthy tissue, a donor flap of tissue may be sourced from a tissue bank.

Quick Recovery With Platelet Rich Fibrin (PRF) Therapy

Shoreline Dental Care is one of the only dentists in Connecticut to offer PRF therapy as a cutting-edge healing technique for all our oral surgery procedures. PRF therapy uses the patient’s blood platelets as a therapeutic tool for tissue repair, increasing the wound healing process. It’s a biocompatible technique that promotes natural tissue growth and substantial healing.