Metal Mouth Message Board

Yes this is a little tongue in cheek but actually true. Hey, we all have to appreciate what we have, right?

Benefits of gum recession:
1. You will never need cosmetic gum removal surgery.
2. You will never have to worry about your teeth looking too small.
3. My favorite--- your spacious black triangles will allow you to very easily floss with braces, and even with permanent retainers top AND bottom. ( Superfloss is your friend.)
4. You will never experience your gums growing up to or over your brackets (ick).
5. Essix and other retainers are less likely to irritate your gums because your gum line is so low.
6. You are less likely to get deep pocketing around your teeth because, hey, you hardly have any gums to trap bacteria!

That's what I call a positive attitude! Let me know what your dentist thinks .

Hah my dentist would laugh and look at me funny. My periodontist would probably ignore me (he's down to business like that).

I thought of this when flossing my teeth one day with my new permanent retainers. It was SO easy! I couldn't understand why other people have such a hard time, then I realized it's because I have big ol' black triangles that the floss goes through easily. At least they are good for SOMETHING!

I had one gum graft surgery that failed and before my 2nd procedure (at a new practice) I asked the senior periodontist nurse why she thought the first didn't work out. She said "You just weren't blessed with a lot of gum. Some people are just blessed with a lot of gum." haha It was the most ridiculous explanation. I'm sure that she would be surprised to read this post.

What kind of gum graft did you have? If it was connective tissue I wouldn't be surprised it didn't work out, since they have to make a pocket, and if you don't have a lot of gum tissue to begin with then there's nothing to really make a pocket with. I had a free gingival graft and it worked great. It didn't reduce my recession at all, but my gums are pretty much normal thickness now. I'm still enjoying my easy flossing!