Perfect Teeth

Your smile is one of the most viewed parts of your body, so having perfect teeth is important. To do this means you need all of your teeth, you need them to be straight, and you need them to be white. To make this possible you may need to consider a number of possible treatments. To ensure you have teeth in all the right places and that these teeth are complete, you may need to consider dental implants, cost of veneers, cost of Lumineers, or even a dental bridge. If you have all your teeth, then ensuring they are straight with some orthodontic work or braces may make sense. And things such as Zoom whitening, tooth bleaching or even laser teeth whitening to get your teeth white.

Dental Work

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Gum Surgery Guide

Written by simon. Posted in Dental Work

gum surgeryGum surgery is actually a fairly common cosmetic dental procedure as it can be needed to 'cure' a number of different problems. Read our in depth guide to the various reasons for gum surgery and how it works below... Gum surgery can be needed for everything from crown lengthening and gingival flap surgery to soft tissue grafting; but irrespective of why it is being suggested to you it is an imperative that you must first understand a little more about it.

Before Gum Surgery

Rather than dealing with a normal dentist you will be referred to what is called a periodontist - a person specialising in gums.

This person will review your dental history and xrays before scheduling a date for surgery. As you await this date you must work really hard to keep your teeth ultra clean and you may even been given antibiotics beforehand to help fight any potential infections afterwards as these can occur in mouth surgery.

During Gum Surgery

This obviously depends hugely and is dependent on what kind of gum surgery procedure you are having.  One thing they all have in common is that you will be given a local anaesthetic, usually in the form of an injection but occasionally as gas.

If you are having a gingivectomy or gingioplasty operated on then a scalpel will be used, although some dentists are now using lasers or dental cutting tools instead.

If you need a soft tissue graft then a piece of healthy tissue will be cut from somewhere like the roof of your mouth to replace the diseased, or poor quality gum tissue around your teeth. The various techniques used to do this are known as either a connective-tissue graft (taken from a flap in the roof of your mouth), a free gingival graft (the whole 'flap' is taken and stitched into place), a pedicle graft (gum tissue from a nearby tooth is stretched across and stitiched in),

Gum surgery will take up to a few hours to complete, depending on the individual case, but is likely to take around 30 minutes to an hour.

After Gum Surgery

Afterwards a dressing is placed oover the area and it will stay there for anywhere up to 14 days as a protectant. During this time you have to be careful what you eat and avoid spicy and crunchy or hard foods.

You should also take a painkiller for the first week while the pain subsides and you may get a prescription for this - and even for a special mouthwash to keep everything sterile.

You can brush your mouth but must avoid the dressed area. When this is removed take it easy for up to three months as you can expect some bleeding until things settle.

Gum Surgery Risk

Risks are fairly minimal and revolve around swelling, bleeding and potential infection. Things only get complex if you smoke and the best thing is to stop to allow things to heal.

You may also experience some tooth sensitivity for some time after the surgery, although this will subside over time.

If you are in any doubt, however, you should contact your dentist immediately.