Postoperative complications of surgical therapy can include bleeding, pain, and infection. Long-term negative outcomes may include a loss of periodontal attachment, gingival recession, and tooth sensitivity.
Flap surgery isn't a cure for periodontal disease — but it helps create an environment that makes it easier to maintain your periodontal health. And even if you're prone to gum disease, proper professional treatment and regular care at home can help keep your teeth healthy for as long as possible.
Periodontal Treatment Success Rate
The overall success rate of both surgical and nonsurgical options is at around 87%.
The most frequent complication after oral surgery corresponds to the dry socket, which developed in 9 patients who underwent third molar surgery (incidence of 2.47%) and in 3 patients who underwent extraction of other teeth (3.7% incidence).
For periodontal surgery, some potential complications include prolonged post-op bleeding, prolonged swelling, gum tissue or teeth hypersensitivity, and infection. However, periodontal surgery is generally considered low-risk and its success rate is exceptionally high.
Laser gum treatment doesn't involve any scalpels, incisions, sutures, or manual scraping of unhealthy tissue. It's much gentler on your mouth and available to many patients that don't qualify for a flap and osseous surgery. Patients report a long list of benefits over traditional procedures, including: Reduced pain.
Blood vessels supplying the flap may kink or get clots, leading to bleeding and a loss of circulation. This may cause the tissue to die, leading to a partial or complete loss of the flap. This is more common in women who smoke or have recently quit. Quitting before surgery will help you to decrease the risk.
Patients considering laser gum contouring will be excited to learn that in the vast majority of cases, the outcome of laser gum surgery is considered long-term. While subtle changes to your smile may occur naturally over time, the gum tissue that was trimmed away during laser gum contouring will not grow back.
Most gum surgery procedures take around 2 hours to complete. In some cases, the surgery will require a person to be asleep or partially asleep during the procedure. Other times, the surgery only involves the use of a local anesthetic to numb the gums. The injection of the numbing medication can be mildly uncomfortable.
Local anesthetic is administered to completely “numb” the area to be treated. Periodontal flap surgery for a single quadrant in the mouth is quick and usually only takes about 45min to complete. Patients can watch TV or listen to music from personal headphones during the procedure.
Skin flaps are thought to provide better cosmetic results than skin grafting (Fig. 5), as the skin tone and texture are usually better matched. Additionally, they have a reduced chance of failure in comparison to skin grafts.
Typically, it takes about 2 – 3 weeks for your gums to heal after flap surgery. Once you've healed, your gums should be healthy, pink, and non-painful.
Recovery after DIEP flap surgery can take six to eight weeks. Your surgeon may ask you to wear a compression garment around your chest or abdomen for several weeks. You'll need to avoid strenuous activities, heavy lifting or overhead movements.
Vascular occlusion (thrombosis) remains the primary reason for flap loss, with venous thrombosis being more common than arterial occlusion. The majority of flap failures occur within the first 48 hours.
You will be sore in the breast and in the area where the flap was taken. You may have a pulling or stretching feeling in those areas. You can expect to feel better and stronger each day, although you may need pain medicine for a week or two. You may get tired easily or have less energy than usual.
In some cases, it may be too late for gum grafting to save the gums. If your gums are severely damaged, receding so far back that they expose the tooth's root, or if there is significant bone loss from advanced gum disease, gum grafting may not be able to restore them to their healthy state.
It's never too late to seek treatment for gum disease, and the degree of treatment you require will depend on how advanced it is.
Unfortunately, pericoronitis won't go away on its own. If it goes untreated, it can become dangerous after only a couple of weeks. Typically, either the flap of tissue or the wisdom tooth needs to be removed. If an infection is present, an antibiotic will be needed, as well.
Disadvantages of the flap include the longer operative time and the more difficult dissection.
The main limitations of invasive flap monitoring technologies include the need for complex operative technique, unsuitable equipment design and malfunction, and high cost. The limitation of unsuitable equipment design and malfunction is common to all invasive monitoring techniques.
Gum graft surgery is the most predictable and long-lasting treatment option for gum recession. Typically, a periodontist (gum specialist) performs this procedure. During this surgery, a gum graft is used to replace your missing gum tissue.
But the condition may get even worse if left untreated. They may experience receding gums, loosening teeth, or tooth loss when it progresses into severe periodontal disease. If you wonder if you can live with this disease, the answer is yes.
Gum surgery is necessary for some patients whose gum disease has become severe. After conducting an examination, a dentist generally makes a surgical recommendation. Frequently, surgery is the only option to restore gums that have receded and pulled from the tooth structures.