Soft Tissue Grafting

There are two types of tissue that can surround your teeth, keratinized tissue, and alveolar mucosa. The alveolar mucosa is thin movable tissue that is just like the tissue on the inside of your cheek and lips. The keratinized tissue is thick and firm tissue that surrounds the tooth. The keratinized tissue is attached to the bone, and is more resistant to inflammation and trauma than the thinner alveolar mucosa.

In abnormal situations, there may be a thin amount of keratinized tissue, or the keratinized tissue may have receded and been lost. Once this tissue is lost, the tooth may not have enough support and it can be lost.

Loss of this vital tissue can also expose the root surface of the tooth to the environment within your mouth. When this happens, adverse things can occur such as pain, sensitivity, cavities, root notching, and esthetic problems.

Soft tissue grafting can be done to increase the amount and thickness of keratinized tissue replacing the much needed support to the tooth. It can also improve the esthetics of your smile, prevent pain and sensitivity and stop cavities and/or root notching. Soft tissue grafting can also be done to fill in missing gum after teeth have been lost.