Pinhole Surgical Rejuvenation vs. Tissue Grafting

Pinhole Surgical Rejuvenation is a relatively new, minimally invasive method used to treat receding gums. This innovative, ground-breaking technology is so new that it is only offered by a very few dentists across the country. Invented and patented by a dentist in Southern California, Pinhole Surgical Rejuvenation offers a relatively painless, incision-free alternative to painful and long drawn out tissue grafting which, until very recently, was the only way to treat receding gums.

What Causes a Receding Gum Line?
Receding gums, a fairly common dental problem, expose the lower part of the tooth. Unfortunately, gums recede so gradually that most people do not notice it in the early stages. Usually, the first signs are a sensitive tooth or, a tooth that looks longer than it once did. While genes do sometimes play a part, the most common cause of gum recession is periodontal disease, a bacterial gum infection that infects and destroys gum tissue along with the supporting bone structure. Inadequate oral hygiene causes plaque to build up on and in between your teeth. This sticky substance eventually turns to a much harder substance called tartar that causes gum recession. Once formed, tartar can only be removed professionally.  Too aggressive tooth brushing can also wear away tooth enamel that causes the gums to recede, as does clenching or grinding your teeth. Fluctuating hormone levels such as occur during pregnancy, puberty or menopause, also causes gums to become more sensitive to disease. Poor blood sugar control in diabetics render them more susceptible to gum disease.

Because gum tissue is the only barrier between bacteria and the bones and tissue that support your teeth, if the recession is left untreated, these bones are likely to be damaged which will ultimately lead to tooth loss. The right amount of protection and treatment is, therefore, essential.

Pinhole Surgical Rejuvenation Vs. Tissue Grafting
Tissue Grafting
If the pockets in your gums are too deep to be restored by a cleaning, then the traditional treatment is a soft tissue graft taken from the patient's palate, or from a donor. This tissue is then sutured on the receding gum covering the previously exposed root. However, as you can imagine, cutting tissue from the roof of the mouth and stitching it onto the gum line is not only uncomfortable, but takes several days to heal. Besides which, the sutures have to be so small that they usually take a long time to do, which means only a couple or so teeth can be treated at one time.

Pinhole Surgical Rejuvenation
PSL requires no incisions and, therefore, no sutures. After giving you a local anesthetic, we will use a needle to make a small entry point in the gum. A specially designed instrument, inserted through this hole, gently loosens the gum tissue and slides it over the receded part of the gum. This new position is held by several strips of collagen that are inserted through the original pinhole, with the help of a small angled instrument.

And that, quite literally, is all there is to it.

The entire procedure is done in far less time than traditional grafting, which means that several teeth can be treated in one sitting, and the downtime is virtually non-existent.  Although we cut no flaps in your mouth, remove no tissue, make no incisions, and use no sutures, you have a new re-built gum line that is not only much healthier and protects your teeth far more adequately, but also vastly improves your smile.  To learn more about Pinhole Surgical Rejuvenation, call and schedule a consultation.

Gum Recession  >  Periodontist

Laser Dentistry is the Way of the Future

Imagining laser dentistry as the wave of the future is not hard. After all, laser technology is growing by leaps and bound, becoming a part of everyday life in fields like medicine. While it is true that we are early adopters, meaning many other clinics are going to be playing catch up, laser dentistry is not a new thing. In fact, laser dentistry has been around for at least two decades, with many dentists adopting parts of the technology as early as the 1990's. The difference between the broadly accepted use of lasers, and what is now being done by 5% of US dentists, is the location of the treatments. We are using lasers, very successfully, to treat all areas of oral health.

Traditionally lasers were only used for oral surgery, something we continue to use them for in our office. Additionally, treatment of the gums and teeth is now a reality, and it is successful upward of 95% of the time. Laser dentistry, for use on oral health challenges like cavities or to remove decay, may sound very futuristic. In reality, we are doing it now, using a technology that is head and shoulders above the competition.

As a laser dentistry practitioner, one of the most frequent questions we are asked is why lasers are considered to be superior to some of the traditional tools used by dentists. We believe in evolution, and dentistry is an evolving practice, with lasers being the up and coming technology. This alone makes them better, but there is much more. For starters, lasers help people who have a profound fear of the dentist chair. We have found that statistically over 20% of all patients, in keeping with the national average, experience a great deal of anxiety when visiting the dentist. An additional 5% to 8% will not even visit the dentist because their fear is so great. A lot of this fear comes from the use of tools like an electric drill inside of the mouth. The drill and other metal dental tools were used on a frequent basis until the advent of laser dentistry. Using a completely soundless laser, we can perform the same procedures in a fraction of the time. For people with fears this means we are not only lessening the time you need to spend in the chair but are also removing the most traumatic part of dentistry, the drill.

Laser dentistry even takes things to the next level in pain management. For procedures like treating gum disease, traditional dentists would need to use anesthesia, either local or general. However, a 2002 Japanese study found that laser dentistry could complete the same procedure without needing any anesthesia at all. In the patients who were treated, 65% experienced no discomfort at all, despite the lack of anesthesia. An additional 22% experienced very mild discomfort while a further 4% experienced tolerable discomfort. In total, 91% of the patients were treated without anesthesia for a very common dental ailment.  We have also found that the use of lasers allows our patients to remain more comfortable during their treatment while also decreasing the overall recovery time.  To learn more, we invite you to call and schedule a consultation.

Periodontist  >  Gum Recession