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I have some due to a tongue ring (I took it out). And was told to just brush in a way that wouldn't make it "recede" anymore. If that makes sense. So don't brush down, brush up. But since mine was because of the peircing it wouldn't really get worse. But it wouldn't get better either...

I have one tooth in particular with a receding gum and it hurts sometimes, usually she i haven't flossed in awhile.

I have a few teeth with receding gum lines-- I think it was a combo of too hard brushing and not enough flossing. My dentist recommended an electric toothbrush, because you can just hold it gently on the tooth without the up and down or back and forth and it gets it cleaner under the gum. I had to have some deep cleaning under the receding parts, where they numbed me up and everything, and it sucked, a lot. Now I go to the dentist ever 3 months instead of 6 so it won't get bad again (almost entirely covered by my insurance!). I have troublesome teeth.

@mrs. bird: is it the gum in front of your tooth? My is behind my tooth from the the bottom of my tongue ring hitting it. So it's my bottom front tooth.. I brush away from the gum so it isn't pushing the gum downwards causing it to recede more. Does that make sense? Haha. So if its your bottom tooth and the gum is receding in the front I would turn the toothbrush upside down and brush toward the top of your mouth. It's hard to explain! And I brush it pretty gently too.

@mrs. bird: I don't remember them telling me what kind to get, but it's worth asking your dentist. My dentist had to get the descaling treatment approved (I think that's what it was called) then, because they had proved that I needed that, the insurance covers the 4 visits a year. I have a copay at every other-- one is like $8 and the other is $70, then the other two are free like usual. It seems fair since I go twice as often as everyone else.

And no judgement on the flossing here-- I didn't do it for AGES even though they told me to every single time. I still hate doing it, but I hate being in the dentist chair more.

@mrs. bird: Stay away from the spinbrush! That can actually cause more harm than good, and I remember there was a recall/warning issued last year on them, I always rec either an oral-b or sonicare. I'd see your reg dentist and then they can refer out to a perio if needed. And it does sound like a tissue graft is in your future and usually just local anesthesia is used for that procedure. They usually take a piece of gum from your palate and graft it on.

oh man this thread scares me. I have one tooth in the front where the gum has receded (I think from brushing too hard). It's very sensitive, but the dentist has never mentioned treatment of it to me. I guess i should ask next time I go.

i had terrible receding gum lines where my four incisors are... apparently it's from brushing too hard, and little bone, which may be a genetic thing. i switched to an electronic toothbrush which helped a lot... it actually came down significantly! but in the beginning when the root was exposed, it definitely hurt. they put some sort of covering on it that looked like tooth enamel to protect the nerves. didn't hurt at all. definitely look into an electronic tooth brush and don't brush as hard - i know it's hard!

I had receding gums and had to have a graft procedure done about 4 years ago. They didn't take my own skin though, they took donated(?) cells that had the DNA removed (or something like that, I didn't totally understand but they assured me it was impossible to get any sort of disease from these donated cells, which was my main concern!).

Anyway, the surgery itself wasn't bad - it was a day thing and I had to eat soft foods for a few days after and I couldn't really smile for a couple weeks. The worst part was how crazy expensive it was - I want to say $3,500 or so? I got a discount because my periodontist taught the procedure to others, so there was actually a camera in the room trained on my mouth, and a roomful of periodontists-in-training down the hall watching as my guy explained everything. I think I got 25% off for doing that! I think I listened to my iPod - I don't remember it being too bad, they numbed everything.

Afterward, they said to brush more softly - just three fingers on the brush, and always brush from the gum down (on top) and gum up (on bottom). I don't usually remember to do that now...hope I don't have to get grafting done again!

@mrs. bird: Cadaver! Wow. I think I may have had a choice, but I'd heard that using your own skin was much more painful (and I'm a baby about pain). I forgot to add, I knew for a while that I had to have it done, so I put like $3k into my flex spending for the following year to cover it. And maybe prices have come down since then, who knows!

@mrs. bird: in the meantime have you tried using Sensodyne? Won't work right away (usually takes 2-3 weeks) ,but it'll help.

@mrs. bird: I don't see a link BTW avoid any whitening toothpaste, they can make sensitive gums even more sensitive. Oh you can try rubbing some sensodyne on that tooth that is sensitive and leave it on for 15 mins, then spit it out... That might help as well

@mrs. bird: LOL! Isn't it crazy? I honestly stopped fully trusting dentists at that point. My childhood dentist said my sister had to get a pallet expander and braces, and that I would just need a retainer. We move, and new dentist gives ALL of us braces, and I'm the one stuck with a pallet expander, and then of course a retainer after the fact. Even as a kid I thought "this is weird, it's the opposite of what I was told before." So as long as I'm not having pain, I'll deal. Although I'll admit it's been a little too long since my last visit... gotta do that, I mean I PAY for my dental insurance! GAHH! I just hate them. (Sorry to any dentists reading for not trusting you, haha)