Receded gums

Receding gums, also known as gingival recession, is a well-known problem. Receded gums are part of growing older: as the age increases, the gums start to recede. However at Van de Veer dentists we see more and more young people with symptoms of gingival recession. In that case there is often a specific cause.

Receded gums can cause various complaints, such as:

• Sensitive teeth and root surfaces
• Pain symptoms when eating or drinking cold or hot food and beverages
• Longer teeth and visible roots (often permanent), unattractive teeth
• Red, loose and bleeding gums

Are you troubled by (one of) the symptoms above? Receded gums require care! So always go and see your practitioner or dental hygienist if you have complaints related to receding gums.

Receded gums unfortunately do not grow back. A treatment of gingival recession is thus mainly aimed at preventing further damage. Possible treatments in case of receded gums are:

• Professional cleaning of the teeth (in case of gingivitis)
• Treatment by the periodontist (in case of periodontitis)
• Wearing a brace to cancel out a possible lack of space
• Gum transplant. This involves using pieces of healthy gum from the palate to cover the roots of the teeth
• Custom making an epithesis: a removable silicon prosthesis placed over the roots of the teeth so that the teeth appear shorter