GINGIVAL GRAFT

Earlier this year I saw my dentist. As he examined my teeth, he noticed that the gum was receding from one of my bottom teeth. A gap of only one millimeter separated the point between where my gum line ended and where the soft tissue beneath the gum began.

My dentist then told me a story about his wife. Like me, she also had a receding gum line with only a millimeter of healthy gum tissue below it. She ate a Dorito chip and that chip was all it took to tear apart that single millimeter of gum tissue. Consequently, she lost the tooth and needed a dental implant.

So, my dentist suggested that I see a periodontist for a second opinion. The periodontist concurred with the dentist and today I had a surgical procedure to rebuild the receding gum line.

The periodontist removed a chunk of flesh from the roof of my mouth, stitched together the hole caused by the removal of that chunk of flesh, then took that chunk of flesh and attached it to the area where the gum has receded.

The roof of mouth will be numb for about a month but I now have a healthy gum, made from a piece of palate, which should provide years of protection to my previously "at risk" tooth and which should also provide protection from Doritos.

The pink surgical packing material is supposed to stay in place for several days.





Underneath that pink stuff is a piece of my palate stitched to a piece of my gum.

And underneath this pink stuff is a stitched up hole in my palate.