Braces can cause gums to recede –

When the root of a tooth is exposed, not only does the appearance change. Teeth can also become hypersensitive to cold and heat. It can also become more susceptible to an attack of tooth decay.

To date, there have been few studies that have investigated the relationship between orthodontic treatment and gum recession, and which have followed patients over a longer period of time.

A new thesis has now taken a closer look at the connection.

Gum recession depends on many different factors. The conclusion from our studies is that orthodontics is a risk factor, after at least one year of treatment, says researcher Dimitrios Klokos at Malmö University.

40 patients were followed up

The thesis includes a small patient study conducted in the Military Hospital in Athens. A total of 40 people were followed in the study. This included 20 patients who had undergone orthodontics in their late teens and 20 patients who had not.

The conclusion is that the incidence of gingival recession was 67% higher in the orthodontic group compared to the control group. The positive thing is that the change only affects a few teeth in total and is very small, just a few millimeters.

In contrast to previous studies in this field, the clinical study is prospective, i.e. patients and control group should be followed up for the next five years.

Long-term effects need to be studied

Researcher Dimitrios Klokos hopes the findings will be beneficial to both dentists and patients, at least when analyzing the long-term effects.

– Gum recession is a problem that practitioners face on a daily basis, and we performed the treatment in a standard way that is used in the vast majority of countries in the world, which makes the results of the study generalizable, says Dimitrios Klokos and continues:

– Since orthodontic treatment appears to be a risk factor, it is important to inform the patient carefully from the outset that gums can recede, even before treatment begins.

thesis:

Progression of gingival recession in orthodontic patients: studies on the prognosis of periodontal phenotype, local and systemic biomarkers, and the effect of orthodontic treatment on progression of gingival recession.Malmö University.