I'm dealing with some pretty annoying gum recession lately, dentist says it's time to do something about it... sigh. She mentioned two main options: the gum graft (taking tissue from roof of mouth, sounds kinda painful tbh) or the newer pinhole surgical technique (less invasive, quicker recovery apparently). I'm leaning towards pinhole because less downtime sounds great, but I'm also a bit skeptical—newer isn't always better, you know?
Has anyone here had either of these procedures? Curious about how the recovery went, pain level, and especially if the results lasted long-term. My dentist seems cool with either choice but didn't really give me a strong recommendation either way. Any input would be super helpful right now.
Had the gum graft done about four years ago. Honestly, yeah, the roof-of-mouth thing isn't fun—felt sore for like a week or two—but ibuprofen helped manage it pretty well. My gums still look great today, zero regrets. Not knocking the pinhole method, but I'd ask your dentist how long-term the results are compared to grafting... newer procedures sometimes don't have as much long-term data backing them up yet. Did she mention anything about durability differences?
Definitely agree on the durability point. I've seen great results from both methods, but grafting has a longer track record for sure. Had a patient who did pinhole about three years ago—he healed faster and said the recovery was easier, but we're still watching how things hold up over the long haul. So far so good, but yeah, grafting's got that proven history behind it... worth keeping in mind when weighing options.
"Had a patient who did pinhole about three years ago—he healed faster and said the recovery was easier, but we're still watching how things hold up over the long haul."
Interesting to hear this perspective. I'm currently weighing these two options myself. My dentist recommended grafting because of its proven track record, but honestly, the idea of a quicker recovery with pinhole is pretty appealing. A friend of mine had grafting done last year, and while she's happy with the results now, she said the first couple weeks were pretty rough—lots of discomfort and swelling. I'm curious if anyone else has had pinhole done longer than three years ago and can share how it's holding up? Durability is definitely my main concern... I don't want to go through this again in five years if I can avoid it.
I had a gum graft done about five years ago, and honestly, it wasn't as bad as I expected. Yeah, the first week or so was uncomfortable—eating soft foods got old pretty fast—but pain meds and ice packs helped a lot. The roof of my mouth healed quicker than I thought it would, too. Results-wise, it's held up really well so far, no signs of recession returning yet.
That said, if pinhole had been an option back then, I probably would've seriously considered it. The idea of less downtime and discomfort is definitely appealing. But like others have mentioned, I'd be cautious about durability. My dentist recently mentioned pinhole to me for another area that's starting to recede slightly, but even she admitted there's less long-term data available compared to grafting.
Either way, dealing with gum recession early is smart—wish I'd tackled mine sooner instead of waiting until it got worse.
