What is Mucogingival Surgery?
Mucogingival surgery has been gaining importance in recent years. Although these interventions are secondary to the preservation of periodontal health, the aesthetic requirements of the patients and the morphological peculiarities make the dentist carry out these treatments more frequently.
The main objectives and mucogingival surgery are: stopping the recession, widening the inserted gum, deepening the vestibule and covering the existing recession. In order to prevent or correct anatomical, evolutionary, traumatic and pathological defects of the gum, alveolar mucosa or bone tissue.
By means of mucogingival surgery, the thickness or length of the gingival tissues is increased to treat or stop the existence of a recession, as a consequence reducing or eliminating hypersensitivity. Also, plate control is facilitated. In this way the patient’s aesthetics improve a lot. In addition, it is used as a complement to rehabilitation procedures.
When Is it Necessary to Perform Mucogingival Surgery?
The appearance of mucogingival problems is usually due to morphological particularities, genetically determined. Among them are:
- A thin or absent vestibular bone sheet completely.
- Widths and thickness of the fine inserted gum phenotype.
- Braces that are inserted too close to the gingival margin, so there is an absence of gum inserted.
- Lobby Depth
Mucogingival surgery is necessary when it is impossible to solve these mucogingival problems by adopting conservative procedures such as oral hygiene and thorough polishing of the teeth, the elimination of obvious functional disorders, and a controlled correction of the hygiene technique and the performance of frequent revision controls.
The interventions to be performed in the face of these mucogingival problems are frenectomy and gingival free grafting. In addition to stopping the recession, the coating of recessions is increasingly promoted, especially for aesthetic reasons. For this, methods and means of treatment are used such as pedicle flaps, the coating by means of a free gingival graft or a guided tissue regeneration.
It is of great importance to emphasize that mucogingival surgery can only be performed after an improvement in oral hygiene, a control and stability if there is a periodontal pathology, the eradication of harmful habits and sometimes after eliminating the occlusal traumas causing said mucogingival alteration.
Mucogingival operations require experience and skill on the part of the professional and also the collaboration on the part of the patient. It is up to the patient not only to observe the postoperative instructions, especially regarding oral hygiene, but also the elimination of risk factors, such as smoking.