Whether you can fully repair gum damage depends on how far it has progressed. Gingivitis, the earliest stage, is reversible with improved oral care. But once gum tissue has receded or the bone supporting your teeth has been lost, that damage is permanent without professional treatment. The good news: several effective procedures can restore lost tissue, and the right daily habits can stop further damage in its tracks.
Reversible vs. Permanent Gum Damage
Gum damage exists on a spectrum, and the dividing line between “fixable at home” and “needs professional help” comes down to one thing: whether you’ve lost the attachment between your gums and teeth.
Gingivitis is inflammation of the gum tissue at the base of your teeth. It shows up as redness, swelling, and bleeding when you brush or floss. At this stage, no permanent structural damage has occurred. Improving your brushing technique and getting a professional cleaning can reverse it entirely.
Periodontitis is what happens when gingivitis goes untreated. The inflammation spreads deeper, destroying the tissues and bone that hold your teeth in place. Your dentist measures this with a small probe that checks the depth of the pocket between your gum and tooth. Healthy gums measure 1 to 3 millimeters. Pockets of 4 to 5 mm indicate early periodontitis. Moderate cases measure 5 to 7 mm, and advanced periodontitis reaches 7 to 12 mm. Once you’ve crossed into periodontitis, the damage won’t heal on its own, but treatment can stop it from worsening and, in many cases, rebuild what was lost.
Stopping Further Damage at Home
If your gum damage is mild, or if you’ve already had treatment and want to protect the results, your daily brushing technique matters more than most people realize. Aggressive brushing is one of the most common causes of gum recession. Switching to a gentler, more targeted approach can make a real difference.
The Bass brushing method is specifically designed to clean the small pocket where your gums meet your teeth, the exact spot where plaque triggers inflammation. Hold a soft-bristled toothbrush at a 45-degree angle toward your gumline. Use short, gentle back-and-forth strokes or small circular motions, letting the bristles slip just slightly under the gumline. Avoid pressing hard. Soft, steady movements clean more effectively than force, which can tear gum tissue and wear down enamel. Spend at least two minutes covering every section of your mouth, and do this twice a day.
Beyond brushing, daily flossing removes plaque from between teeth where bristles can’t reach. Smoking and chewing tobacco are major risk factors for gum disease and recession. Lip and tongue piercings can also irritate and damage gum tissue over time.
Deep Cleaning for Early Gum Disease
When plaque hardens into tartar below the gumline, no amount of brushing will remove it. Scaling and root planing, often called a “deep cleaning,” is the first professional treatment for gum disease. Your dentist or hygienist uses specialized instruments to scrape tartar from below the gumline (scaling) and then smooths the root surfaces (planing) so your gums can reattach more tightly to the tooth. This typically costs $200 to $400 per session and is often enough to halt early to moderate periodontitis before surgical options become necessary.
Gum Graft Surgery
When gums have receded significantly and exposed tooth roots, grafting is the most established way to rebuild that lost tissue. A periodontist takes tissue from one area and attaches it where coverage is needed. There are three main approaches, and which one your periodontist recommends depends on how much healthy gum tissue you still have.
Connective tissue grafts are the most commonly performed type. The periodontist creates a small pouch in your existing gum tissue, then takes a thin layer of connective tissue from beneath a flap on the roof of your mouth. That tissue is placed into the pouch, where it receives nutrients and gradually grows over the exposed root. This is the go-to option when recession has left too little surrounding tissue for other methods. Cost ranges from $700 to $2,000 per tooth.
Free gingival grafts work similarly, but the tissue is taken directly from the surface of the roof of your mouth rather than from underneath a flap. This approach is often chosen for people with naturally thin gums who need the extra tissue thickness. It’s also the least expensive option at $600 to $1,200 per tooth.
Pedicle grafts use tissue from the gum directly above or below the affected tooth. The periodontist partially detaches this tissue and stretches it over the exposed root, then sutures it in place. It eventually regains normal density as it heals. This works only when there’s plenty of healthy gum tissue surrounding the area. Pedicle grafts cost $1,000 to $3,000 per tooth.
What Recovery Looks Like
The first day after a gum graft, you’ll stick to soft, cool foods like yogurt, pudding, and smoothies. During the first week, you can add eggs, pasta, fish, and cooked vegetables. By the second week, you can start working in more solid foods, though you should still avoid anything hard, crunchy, or spicy until your surgeon gives the all-clear. Stitches either dissolve on their own or are removed at a follow-up visit.
Pinhole Surgical Technique
For people looking to avoid the traditional graft approach, the Pinhole Surgical Technique offers a less invasive alternative. Instead of cutting and suturing tissue from the roof of your mouth, the periodontist makes tiny pinholes in the gum tissue and uses specialized instruments to gently loosen and reposition the gums back over the exposed roots. No scalpel, no sutures, and no donor site healing on the roof of your mouth. Recovery is generally faster than with traditional grafts, though this technique isn’t suitable for every case of recession.
Laser Treatment for Gum Disease
The Laser-Assisted New Attachment Procedure (LANAP) takes a different approach. Rather than grafting new tissue, it uses a laser fiber about the width of three human hairs to selectively remove diseased tissue and bacteria while leaving healthy tissue intact. The laser energy clears infection from deep pockets without a scalpel or sutures, and the body’s natural healing response can then regenerate bone and tissue lost to gum disease. LANAP is FDA-cleared specifically for bone and tissue regeneration, making it one of the few non-surgical options that can actually rebuild lost structures rather than just slow the disease.
Regenerative Treatments for Bone Loss
When periodontitis has created deep vertical defects in the bone around your teeth, your periodontist may apply a protein-based gel during a surgical procedure to stimulate regrowth. This gel contains proteins naturally involved in forming the attachment between teeth and bone during development. A Cochrane review of clinical trials found that sites treated with this material gained an average of 1.3 mm more attachment compared to surgery alone, along with a 1 mm greater reduction in pocket depth. That may sound small, but in periodontal terms, each millimeter represents meaningful structural recovery that can help save a tooth.
Choosing the Right Treatment
Your starting point determines your path. If your gums bleed when you brush but haven’t visibly pulled away from your teeth, improved home care and a professional cleaning may be all you need. If you can see exposed root surfaces or your dentist measures pockets deeper than 4 mm, you’re looking at scaling and root planing as a first step, possibly followed by grafting or laser treatment depending on severity.
Cost is a real factor. Deep cleaning at $200 to $400 is dramatically less than grafting at $600 to $3,000 per tooth, and many people need multiple teeth treated. Dental insurance often covers a portion of periodontal treatment, but coverage varies widely. Some periodontists offer payment plans.
Genetics also play a role that’s worth acknowledging. Some people are simply predisposed to thinner gum tissue, which means they’re more vulnerable to recession even with good oral hygiene. If that’s your situation, catching changes early and acting quickly gives you the widest range of treatment options and the best outcomes.