My teen son needs a gum graft. He has meticulous oral hygiene. I guess it’s genetic as DH also needed it young. After reading these posts I’m dreading this even more than I originally was.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am considering options for this myself now. My doctor didn't present pinhole as an option, but my research suggests that it might have a lower success rate and might not be covered by insurance. Getting a second opinion soon but it does seem like using donor gums vs your own might be much less painful and have less recovery time.

Are there risks in using donor tissue with regards to viruses, etc?

I don’t think it’s an infection risk due to the way the tissue is prepared.

However, I consulted with two oral surgeons who do grafts and implants exclusively. Both avoid Allograft/donor tissue when possible. They explained to me that the risk of complications and the durability of the result are both better when they use the patient’s own tissue (autologous graft). That said, sometimes it is necessary to use donor tissue when they cannot successfully harvest the amount needed from the roof of the patient’s mouth.

There is no viral or bacterial infection risk, but you can get Prions. They ate self replicating dysfunctional proteins that induce other proteins to change shape turn into prions. The scary thing about prions is that they are very dimensionally stable and resistant to temperature changes. It would take extreme heat to destroy the prions. Any method that is effective at destroying the prions would also destroy the cadaver tissue and make it unusable for gum grafts.

Anonymous wrote:I did an allograft (cultivated/cadaver tissue) and it was almost painless and has held up great. I am not willing to try any kind of tissue harvesting procedure based on overwhelmingly bad reviews.

Allografts scare me because I'm worried about getting a prion disease. Are there any synthetic grafting methods that don't use humans or animal tissue?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did an allograft (cultivated/cadaver tissue) and it was almost painless and has held up great. I am not willing to try any kind of tissue harvesting procedure based on overwhelmingly bad reviews.

How long ago was that?

+1. I've had both and refuse to take the tissue harvesting approach ever again. Nightmare.

*Whoops. Meant to quote the cadaver procedure post!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did an allograft (cultivated/cadaver tissue) and it was almost painless and has held up great. I am not willing to try any kind of tissue harvesting procedure based on overwhelmingly bad reviews.

How long ago was that?

+1. I've had both and refuse to take the tissue harvesting approach ever again. Nightmare.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did laser instead and worked wonderfully
Done at zcyw in Bethesda

What does laser mean? To remove gum?

It is a less invasive procedure to treat periodontitis if the case is not to severe.

From internet
Overview
Traditional Gum Surgery vs. Laser Gum Surgery | Soft Touch Dentistry
Laser gum treatment is a minimally invasive procedure that uses a laser to remove diseased tissue, resulting in less pain, faster healing, and no sutures, while traditional surgery uses a scalpel to cut tissue, which is more invasive, has a longer recovery, and requires sutures. A gum graft is a separate procedure often used after traditional surgery to repair significant tissue loss or gum recession. Laser treatment is often preferred for its gentler approach, but a graft may be necessary for severe cases of recession or tissue damage.

Anonymous wrote:I did laser instead and worked wonderfully
Done at zcyw in Bethesda

What does laser mean? To remove gum?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gum grafting with Allograft is not painful. By that, I mean the healing process is not painful. Getting the novacaine shots prior to surgery is painful. That would be true for any type of grafting. I had 10 teeth grafted. I took advil fir the first 12 hrs because they td me to. Woke up the next morning and was surprised I didn't need any meds.

It IS a commitment for 6-ish week to brush differently (or not at all on the site), to chew differently, to avoid certain foods, to break food into tiny morsels. It's not like you just leave from surgery a d go back to regular life like you would with a cavity being filled. But, it wasn't painful.

Can you share where you went?

Vienna Cosmetic and Family Dentistry. The periodontist is Dr. Suwid.