Receding gums won’t grow back on their own, but you can stop the process from getting worse and, in many cases, restore lost tissue with professional treatment. The right approach depends on how far the recession has progressed. Mild cases often respond to changes in your brushing habits and a professional deep cleaning, while moderate to severe recession may need a surgical graft to cover exposed roots and protect the tooth underneath.
Why Gums Recede in the First Place
Gum recession happens when the tissue surrounding your teeth gradually pulls away, exposing the root surface. Roots lack the hard enamel coating that protects the visible part of your tooth, so once they’re exposed, they’re far more vulnerable to cavities and sensitivity to hot or cold.
The most common driver is gum disease, where bacteria build up below the gumline and trigger chronic inflammation that breaks down tissue and bone. But plenty of people with healthy gums still develop recession from brushing too hard, using a stiff-bristled toothbrush, or clenching and grinding their teeth at night. Genetics play a role too: some people simply have thinner gum tissue that’s more prone to pulling back.
Smoking and poorly controlled diabetes dramatically accelerate the problem. If you smoke, have diabetes, and are over 45, you’re roughly 20 times more likely to develop severe gum disease than someone without those risk factors. Poor blood sugar control in particular leads to more frequent and more severe gum disease, along with greater tooth loss.
What Happens If You Do Nothing
Recession that goes untreated doesn’t just stay the same. Exposed roots develop cavities more easily, and as the supporting bone continues to erode, teeth start to feel loose or “wiggly.” Eventually, bone loss can progress to the point of tooth loss. Addressing recession early, even with simple habit changes, prevents a much more complicated and expensive problem down the line.
Changes You Can Make at Home
You can’t reverse recession with home care alone, but you can stop making it worse. The single biggest change for most people is switching how they brush. The technique recommended by the American Dental Association, called the Modified Bass technique, works like this: hold your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle so the bristles point toward your gumline, make short, gentle back-and-forth strokes on each tooth, then sweep the brush away from the gum toward the biting edge of the tooth. This cleans under the gumline without the aggressive scrubbing that wears tissue away.
Use a soft-bristled brush. Medium and hard bristles are a common cause of mechanical recession, especially in people who tend to press down while brushing. An electric toothbrush with a pressure sensor can help if you’re a heavy-handed brusher. Floss daily to keep bacteria from colonizing below the gumline, and if you grind your teeth at night, a custom night guard from your dentist protects both your enamel and your gum tissue from the constant pressure.
Deep Cleaning for Early-Stage Recession
If recession is linked to gum disease, the first professional step is usually scaling and root planing, often called a “deep cleaning.” Your dentist or periodontist uses specialized instruments to remove hardened plaque (tarite) from below the gumline and smooth the rough spots on your tooth roots where bacteria tend to collect. This gives your gum tissue a clean surface to reattach to as it heals.
The procedure is done under local anesthesia, often one side of the mouth at a time. Afterward, your provider may inject antibiotics around the treated roots or prescribe a short course of oral antibiotics to knock back remaining bacteria. The goal is to halt the disease process early enough that you don’t need surgery. For mild to moderate gum disease, deep cleaning is often enough to stabilize the situation and prevent further recession.
Gum Grafting: The Gold Standard for Coverage
When recession has progressed far enough that roots are visibly exposed, a gum graft is the most reliable way to rebuild the tissue. There are three main types, and which one your periodontist recommends depends on the location, the severity, and how much surrounding tissue you have to work with.
Connective Tissue Graft
This is the most commonly performed graft. Your periodontist takes a small piece of tissue from the deeper connective layer beneath the surface of your palate (the roof of your mouth) and stitches it over the exposed root. Because the tissue comes from a deeper layer, the donor site on your palate heals more easily than with some other techniques. The purpose is both to cover the recession and to thicken the gum tissue so it’s more resistant to future breakdown.
Free Gingival Graft
Instead of taking tissue from below the surface, this technique removes a piece from the outer layer of the palate and places it directly over the receded area. It’s typically used when the goal is to reinforce thin, weak gum tissue and prevent further bone loss, rather than to achieve cosmetic root coverage. It’s a good option when the tissue around a tooth is dangerously thin but hasn’t receded dramatically yet.
Pedicle Graft
This approach skips the palate entirely. Your periodontist takes a flap of gum tissue from right next to the affected tooth and rotates it over to cover the exposed root. Because the tissue stays partially connected to its original blood supply, healing tends to be reliable. The catch is that you need plenty of extra tissue near the recession site, so it works best when recession is limited to one tooth and the neighboring gums are thick and healthy.
Recovery from traditional grafting takes four to six weeks for full healing, and the donor site on the palate needs time to recover as well. For the first day or two, you’ll stick to soft foods and avoid brushing anywhere near the graft. Most people manage discomfort with over-the-counter pain relievers. The results are typically long-lasting and significantly improve gum health.
The Pinhole Technique: A Less Invasive Option
A newer alternative called the Pinhole Surgical Technique skips the graft entirely. Instead of transplanting tissue, your periodontist makes a tiny hole in the gum above the recession, loosens the existing tissue through that opening, and repositions it downward to cover the exposed roots. Small collagen strips are placed underneath to hold everything in place while it heals.
The recovery difference is significant. Most patients return to normal activities within a day or two, swelling and discomfort largely resolve within a week, and there’s no palate wound to heal. Results are often comparable to traditional grafting, with many patients noticing an immediate improvement in their gumline. The technique works best for people with multiple areas of recession since the periodontist can treat several teeth through a single pinhole. With proper oral care afterward, the results typically last just as long as a traditional graft.
Not every periodontist offers this technique, and not every pattern of recession is a good fit for it. Your provider can help you weigh the tradeoffs based on the specifics of your case.
Can Gums Actually Regrow?
Once gum tissue has receded, it does not regenerate on its own. No toothpaste, mouthwash, or supplement can regrow lost gum tissue, despite what some products imply. The biology is straightforward: gum tissue doesn’t have the regenerative capacity to rebuild itself once the attachment to the tooth root is gone.
Researchers at Penn Dental Medicine are exploring whether molecules secreted by gum stem cells could eventually be applied as a gel to boost tissue regeneration after injury, including the gum loss caused by periodontitis. Early lab and animal results are promising, but this approach hasn’t been tested in human clinical trials yet. For now, surgical grafting remains the only proven way to restore tissue that’s already been lost.
Putting Together a Plan
Start by getting an honest assessment of where things stand. A periodontist can measure your recession in millimeters, check for bone loss with X-rays, and tell you whether you’re dealing with gum disease, mechanical damage from brushing, or both. That diagnosis shapes everything that follows.
If recession is minimal and there’s no active gum disease, switching to a soft brush, refining your technique, and keeping up with regular cleanings may be all you need. If gum disease is present, a deep cleaning addresses the underlying infection before recession can progress. And if roots are already exposed enough to cause sensitivity, cavities, or cosmetic concern, a graft or pinhole procedure can restore coverage and protect the tooth long-term.
The most important thing is timing. Recession is easier and cheaper to manage early. Bone loss, once it starts, is much harder to reverse than soft tissue loss alone. Whatever stage you’re at, there’s a clear next step available to you.