Patients exhibiting a receding gum line are at huge risk for periodontal disease. In addition severe recession can lead to bone loss and tooth loss.

 

Why do I want to avoid Periodontal Disease?

Periodontal Disease is linked with stroke, heart disease, cardiovascular problems, diabetes complications, underweight or prematurely born babies, digestive disorders and other life threatening conditions. The fight against gum disease is the front line to many other problems. Do all that you can to prevent and treat this disease!

 

Why should I be concerned about Bone Loss?

When gingiva (gum tissue) has receded below the enamel line your dentin is exposed. Unlike enamel your dentin is extremely susceptible to wear and not meant to be as resistant to daily food intake and occlusal forces. As the dentin breaks down your supporting structure for your teeth (Jaw Bone) also breaks down. Without the bone support teeth become mobile and even your perfectly good non decayed tooth without this attachement will be lost. Soft Tissue grafting is a preventative treatment to help you keep your teeth frimly attached long term. If bone is broken beyond current repair a Bone Grafting procedure may become necessary. Simple Soft tissue grafting can help you avoid costly bone grafting, partials or dentures further down the road.

 

Our office specializes in guided tissue regeneration. Letting your body naturally replace the tissue and heal from the inside out. Depending on the number of teeth involved the procedure can take anywhere from an hour to two hours. Dr. Francis uses a unique tunneling technique to avoid the "patchy" scarring that can occur with this procedure. So you know your smile is going to look amazing! We offer sedation for patients who are interested in this option. A soft

food diet following the procedure will be reccomended.

 

 

 

Where does the tissue come from?

Check out our news bulletin to read about some of the benefits of the allograft tissue material! The great news is that in most cases we no longer need to take tissue from the roof of the mouth!!! In fact Dr. Francis specializes in allograft techniques that require no second surgery and has been doing so long before many in the dental field saw the benefit of this material. There are two basic types of grafting procedures: One in which tissue is removed from the patient themselves (usually at the palate) and grafted into the site exhibiting recession. This is an older method. Though highly sucessful from a health standpoint the appearance of the graft tends to be patchy and not cosmetic and the healing is much tougher on the patient. You may have siblings or parents who have had this type of grafting in the past. We still offer palatal grafting for patients interested in this procedure who are wary of doner material or who for whatever reason prefer this grafting method. Our second method which is used in most of the cases in our office and preffered by patients and physicians alike is the allograft method. Allograft material has virtually no cellular componants by the time it finishes sterilization and reaches our office thus is almost purley collagen and has an extreamly low rate of regection. It takes over 31 days to process and is very safe. Donors must pass vigorous testing before the tissue is harvested for use. The health benefits of the allograft material are unprecedented and the appearance is uniform and so natural that after it has healed you wont be able to tell where you had the procedure done in the first place! This is mostly because your body uses the donor tissue as a guide to know where to replace cells. Within only a matter of months all of the donor tissue is replaced by your own tissue and you wont beleive the results!

You can also visit Zimmers website to view more information on the specific tissue used in our office. 

 http://www.zimmerdental.com/rg_puDermisOverView.asp

 

 

 Visit Our GALLERY to see more soft Tissue Grafting Cases.