Gum Graft

1 00:00:06.743 --> 00:00:10.556 Soft tissue surgery, again, has to do with this idea 2 00:00:10.557 --> 00:00:13.999 that occasionally, we have gums that recede, 3 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:18.586 meaning the soft tissues run away from the crowns of the teeth. 4 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:21.371 You start to have exposure of the root structure. 5 00:00:22.386 --> 00:00:24.500 Roots don't have any enamel on them, 6 00:00:24.501 --> 00:00:27.071 so they're very prone to decay. 7 00:00:28.971 --> 00:00:31.514 Once you lose a certain amount of the soft tissue, 8 00:00:31.515 --> 00:00:35.086 those teeth become much more susceptible to infections. 9 00:00:35.157 --> 00:00:40.443 There are a lot of different soft tissue surgeries available to restore 10 00:00:40.444 --> 00:00:42.628 essentially the coverage of the roots, 11 00:00:42.629 --> 00:00:45.956 and also to restore the esthetics of the mouth. 12 00:00:45.957 --> 00:00:48.171 Because if you think of the teeth as the picture, 13 00:00:48.543 --> 00:00:50.129 the soft tissues are the frame. 14 00:00:50.729 --> 00:00:52.213 You may have seen people 15 00:00:52.214 --> 00:00:54.971 where they have one tooth that's much longer than another. 16 00:00:54.972 --> 00:00:57.229 Well, that's just because they've had recession. 17 00:00:57.230 --> 00:01:01.500 But generally, there's two types of soft tissue surgery: 18 00:01:01.501 --> 00:01:04.157 those that harvest tissue from your palate 19 00:01:04.386 --> 00:01:06.143 and those that harvest tissue 20 00:01:06.144 --> 00:01:09.857 either from a human cadaver or an animal cadaver. 21 00:01:10.457 --> 00:01:13.657 The length of a surgery for soft tissue, 22 00:01:13.658 --> 00:01:20.886 of course, depends upon how big of a site that you have to address. 23 00:01:20.943 --> 00:01:25.629 For a one or two-tooth-type of area might be an hour and a half. 24 00:01:26.130 --> 00:01:30.429 If it were a whole quadrant, it could be three and a half hours. 25 00:01:30.914 --> 00:01:34.257 It really just varies depending upon the needs of the patient. 26 00:01:34.357 --> 00:01:39.014 Anybody who has lost attached gingiva around their teeth 27 00:01:39.015 --> 00:01:44.028 to the point that it is either going to make them susceptible 28 00:01:44.029 --> 00:01:48.486 to root decay or susceptible to infections around their teeth, 29 00:01:48.487 --> 00:01:51.671 they are candidates for soft tissue grafting. 30 00:01:52.129 --> 00:01:53.971 That's a lot of people, by the way. 31 00:01:54.314 --> 00:02:00.000 In terms of soft tissue care and in terms of really good outcomes, 32 00:02:01.071 --> 00:02:02.943 I think the thing that really sets us apart, 33 00:02:02.944 --> 00:02:08.449 again, is this idea of helping patients make good decisions. 34 00:02:09.271 --> 00:02:13.114 We do a great job of educating our patients 35 00:02:13.115 --> 00:02:16.857 about what their options are and what the pros and cons are. 36 00:02:17.043 --> 00:02:20.014 The second thing is when it comes to execution, 37 00:02:20.543 --> 00:02:24.342 I schedule more than enough time to do whatever it is I need to do. 38 00:02:24.343 --> 00:02:25.800 I am never rushed. 39 00:02:26.214 --> 00:02:31.614 I will always have in mind, "What would I do if this were me?" 40 00:02:31.615 --> 00:02:35.457 Or as I call it, the WIIDM question, "What would I do if it were me?" 41 00:02:35.771 --> 00:02:38.486 If I can answer that question honestly, 42 00:02:38.657 --> 00:02:42.643 I can usually execute at a very high level, 43 00:02:43.857 --> 00:02:49.614 barring the patient doing something silly, like not following post-op instructions. 44 00:02:49.615 --> 00:02:51.942 We have great outcomes for soft tissue surgery 45 00:02:51.943 --> 00:02:54.529 and really for pretty much everything we do.