Receding gums don’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. What you should do depends on how far the recession has progressed: mild cases respond well to changes in your daily oral care routine, while more advanced recession may need a gum graft or other surgical repair. The first step is understanding what’s driving the problem.
Why Gums Recede in the First Place
Gum recession happens through two main pathways, and knowing which one applies to you shapes everything that comes next.
The most common culprit is chronic gum disease. Bacteria build up along and below the gumline, triggering inflammation that slowly breaks down the connective tissue and bone supporting your teeth. As bone is lost, the gum follows it downward, exposing more of the root surface. This type of recession tends to affect multiple teeth and often shows up alongside deep pockets between the gum and tooth.
The second pathway is mechanical damage, usually from brushing too hard or using a stiff-bristled toothbrush. Scrubbing aggressively over delicate gum margins day after day gradually wears tissue away. These cases typically appear on the outer surfaces of teeth and often come with visible wear on the tooth near the gumline. Other physical causes include grinding or clenching your teeth (which overloads the bone supporting them), tongue or lip piercings that rub against the gums, and orthodontic treatment that moves teeth outside the boundaries of the bone.
What You Can Do at Home Right Now
If you’ve noticed your gums pulling back, these changes won’t reverse the recession, but they can prevent it from progressing further.
- Switch to a soft or ultra-soft toothbrush. Stiffer bristles cause more tissue damage. An electric toothbrush with a built-in pressure sensor is especially useful because it alerts you when you’re pressing too hard.
- Brush twice a day, gently and thoroughly. Angle the bristles toward the gumline at about 45 degrees, using short back-and-forth strokes rather than long, sweeping motions. The goal is to clean the area where the gum meets the tooth without traumatizing the tissue.
- Floss once daily. Plaque that sits undisturbed between teeth feeds the bacterial infection that drives gum disease.
- Use an antimicrobial mouthwash twice daily. This helps reduce bacterial load in areas your brush can’t easily reach.
- Stop smoking or using chewing tobacco. Tobacco use significantly worsens gum disease and slows healing after any treatment.
These steps are the baseline. Even if you need professional treatment later, maintaining them afterward is what keeps results stable long-term.
How Your Dentist Assesses Severity
Dentists classify gum recession into levels based on how much tissue and bone has been lost. Understanding where you fall helps set realistic expectations for treatment.
In the mildest cases, the gum has pulled back slightly but hasn’t receded past a key anatomical landmark called the mucogingival junction (the border where firm, attached gum tissue transitions to the looser tissue of your cheek). The bone and gum tissue between your teeth is still intact. These cases have the best outlook for full recovery with treatment.
Moderate recession extends past that junction but still has intact tissue between the teeth. Treatment can still achieve excellent coverage. Once bone and soft tissue between the teeth starts to break down, full root coverage becomes harder to achieve. In the most severe cases, with significant bone loss between teeth or severe tooth misalignment, treatment focuses more on slowing progression and protecting the root than on complete cosmetic restoration.
Professional Cleaning: The First Clinical Step
When gum disease is involved, the standard starting treatment is a deep cleaning, formally called scaling and root planing. Your dentist or hygienist uses specialized instruments to remove hardened plaque (tarite) and bacteria from below the gumline, then smooths the root surfaces so gum tissue can reattach more easily.
It’s worth knowing that deep cleaning treats the infection driving the recession but doesn’t reverse the recession itself. In fact, studies show that gums may actually recede a small amount after deep cleaning, typically around 0.2 mm over six months, because swollen, inflamed tissue shrinks as it heals. This is normal and cosmetically insignificant. The trade-off is worth it: you’re stopping the disease process that would otherwise continue destroying tissue and bone.
Your dentist may also place a locally delivered antimicrobial directly into deeper pockets during treatment. These products slowly release medication over about three weeks, reducing harmful bacteria in hard-to-reach areas and helping the tissue heal more effectively.
Gum Grafting for More Advanced Recession
When recession is significant enough that root surfaces are exposed, sensitive, or cosmetically bothersome, a gum graft is the most established way to rebuild lost tissue. The basic idea is straightforward: tissue is taken from one area and used to cover the exposed root.
Connective Tissue Grafts
This is the most commonly performed type. Your periodontist takes a small piece of tissue from beneath the surface of your palate (the roof of your mouth) and stitches it over the exposed root, then repositions your existing gum tissue over the graft. Root coverage rates typically range from 70% to 86%, and the procedure is associated with relatively manageable postoperative discomfort. The palate donor site heals on its own within a couple of weeks, though it can be sore during that time.
Pedicle Grafts
When there’s enough healthy gum tissue next to the receded area, your periodontist can rotate or slide adjacent tissue over to cover the root without needing a separate donor site. This approach works well for isolated areas of recession and avoids a second surgical site on the palate. A variation used in the back of the upper jaw borrows tissue from a fat pad in the cheek, which produces similar coverage results (46% to 89% root coverage depending on severity) with less postoperative discomfort than a traditional palate graft.
The Pinhole Surgical Technique
For patients with recession across multiple teeth, the Pinhole Surgical Technique offers a less invasive alternative to traditional grafting. Instead of cutting and suturing tissue, your periodontist makes a tiny hole in the gum above the affected teeth, loosens the tissue through that opening, and gently repositions it downward to cover exposed roots. Collagen strips are placed through the pinhole to hold everything in position while it heals.
An 18-month study of this approach found a mean root coverage of 94% for mild to moderate recession cases. Patients needed pain medication for an average of about 4 days after the procedure. The most common side effect was swelling, which peaked on day two and faded quickly. Patient satisfaction was high, with 95% reporting they were very pleased with the cosmetic result. The technique works best for milder recession where the bone and tissue between teeth is still intact.
Managing Root Sensitivity
Exposed root surfaces lack the hard enamel that protects the crown of your tooth, which is why receding gums often come with sharp sensitivity to cold, heat, or sweet foods. While you’re deciding on or waiting for treatment, desensitizing toothpaste containing potassium nitrate or stannous fluoride can help reduce nerve sensitivity over a few weeks of regular use. Your dentist can also apply professional-strength fluoride varnish or a bonding agent to seal exposed root surfaces and provide more immediate relief.
If sensitivity is your primary complaint and the recession is mild, these measures may be all you need. But if the exposed root is developing decay or the sensitivity is worsening, that’s a sign the recession needs more definitive treatment.
Keeping Results Stable Long-Term
Whether you’ve had a graft, a deep cleaning, or simply improved your brushing habits, the recession will come back if the original cause isn’t controlled. For patients with a history of gum disease, the American Academy of Periodontology recommends maintenance cleanings every three months initially. This frequency has been shown to decrease the likelihood of disease progression compared to less frequent visits.
Over time, your periodontist may adjust the interval based on how well your gums are holding up. Some people eventually move to cleanings every four to six months, while others do best sticking with the three-month schedule. Each maintenance visit includes measuring pocket depths around your teeth, checking for new recession, removing bacterial buildup below the gumline, and evaluating how effectively you’re cleaning at home. The pattern that emerges from these visits tells your dental team far more than any single appointment can.