The Future of Gum Health: How 3D Printing is Revolutionizing Gum Grafting

Finding out you require gum grafting can be devastating. For a long time, the procedure was difficult, painful, and required a fairly long recovery. But there are new innovations in the field of gum health every day, coinciding with the increased use of 3D printing. 

At Ueno Center Dental Specialists, we’re on the cutting edge of periodontal technology, which means healthier mouths for all of our patients. Jeremy K. Ueno, DMD, and the rest of our team, want you to learn more about the future of gum health, which, in many ways, lies with 3D printing. 

Gum grafting: What it’s for and how it works 

Gum grafting can be helpful for both aesthetic and health-related issues. For one, those who are born with shallower gum lines often feel self-conscious about their smiles. Having an unattractive smile can lead to poor self-esteem, which can be linked to poor mental health. 

On the other side of the spectrum, gum grafting may be necessary when poor oral health leads to gum recession. When your gums recede, your teeth become more sensitive, and pain and discomfort are common. Any of these issues can make you a good candidate for gum grafting. 

Whatever the cause, we use the procedure when a patient has too little gum tissue. 

Gum grafting protects tooth roots by adding more tissue. We can do it in a number of ways, such as using tissue from the roof of your mouth, cutting and stretching tissue from around the affected area over it, or using donor tissue. 

How 3D printing is changing the game 

For years, there have been several options for gum grafting, each with its own drawbacks. But in the past decade or so, 3D printing has been immensely beneficial for dentists and periodontists who do gum grafting. 

This new technology has improved upon many of the other options in a several ways.  

For one, 3D printing often makes the procedure itself cheaper. Because we can print the tissue for the specific patient instead of removing tissue or using donated tissue. This often means reduced cost for you. In addition, it uses reasonably inexpensive material, minimizing costs even further. 

3D printing is also faster, allowing us to create the material needed for a procedure the same day, rather than having to wait for donor tissue or to determine if there is enough healthy tissue in your mouth for us to use. 

Finally, 3D printing helps you avoid additional incisions. For example, if we were to utilize gum tissue from the roof of your mouth and grafted that over the roots of several teeth, you would need to wait for both incisions to heal. Instead, you only have to manage one wound, which is safer and healthier for an overall quicker recovery. 

While there are many options for gum grafting, 3D printing offers us an effective way to improve upon existing procedures by minimizing cost and time without having to compromise our standards.

If you’ve been considering gum grafting, now is the time to look to the future and consider 3D printing as a viable option.

Learn more about the future of gum grafting today

We want all of our patients to feel empowered and knowledgeable about their oral health, which is why we offer consultations for the many services we provide. If you’d like to learn more about gum grafting and the other procedures that 3D printing has revolutionized, reach out to us today.

We look forward to providing you with the most exciting technological advancements in the field of periodontics. To make an appointment at our office in Campbell, California, call us or contact us online.