Professional Periodontics and Dental Implants in Baytown

Treatment Process

The area of gum recession is numbed with a local anesthetic, and depending on the number of recessions to be treated, one or two small entry points about the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen are made in the gum area near the tooth or teeth to be treated.
A small dental instrument designed by Dr. Chao is inserted into the entry point to loosen the gum tissues and move them back into a normal, healthy position. Then tiny collagen strips are placed through the entry point under the gums. The collagen helps to keep the gums in place during the healing process. The treatment takes about 20 minutes to an hour or so, depending on the number of teeth treated. The entry site quickly heals, and the pinhole is virtually undetectable the next day, with no downtime needed for healing. Some patients may experience mild swelling, which dissipates in a few days.
A 33-month study of 43 patients with 121 gum recessions using the Pinhole Surgical Technique was published in the October 2012 issue of The International Journal of Periodontics and Restorative Dentistry. The results of this study were as successful as traditional gum grafting procedures, which require cutting and sutures, while patients who underwent the Pinhole Surgical Technique reported virtually no pain, no bleeding, and high satisfaction with a rapid transformation of the defective gum line.