It’s often easy to feel you’re out of options with certain dental problems. The good news is that not all dental issues reduce your odds of treatment success.

But you should understand that maintaining your dental health with good hygiene habits now will help the success of any future treatment. Dental implants included!

A PARTICULAR CHALLENGE

For example, gum disease must be controlled. And especially if you’re considering dental implant treatment, your receding gums could reveal the beginning of problems.

Bone loss typically follows untreated (or ignored) gum disease. Early diagnosis and treatment of any gum issues is essential to assure your successful implant placement.

ARE YOU VULNERABLE?

Your gum recession might not lead to gum disease. That’s good news.

Even so, receding gums can cause your underlying bone to become more vulnerable to harmful bacteria. The damage from bacteria can lead to bone atrophy; a problem for dental implant treatment.

Bone grafting is a solution, though it will increase treatment costs and potentially the length of your treatment. This will need to be considered to assure the success of your dental implant.

Gum recession can also expose the upper surface areas of your dental implant. A gum graft could be necessary prior to your implant procedure.

Soft tissue is obtained from available surfaces in your mouth (often the roof of your mouth). The tissue is placed on the areas where your gum recession is occurring.

PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT

Gum recession can occur more than once. It’s vital to begin and maintain  good oral health habits.

Brushing and flossing are fundamental for keeping your gums and bone tissue healthy and disease free. Dental hygiene appointments (twice per year) will help to minimize the growth of oral bacteria that leads to disease.

If you notice gum recession and are considering dental implants, schedule a consultation. This condition is treatable and we can help assure that it will not have an impact on your dental implant placement.