Do gum grafts hurt? What patients actually feel

Most people show up already braced for it. They have read the forums. Someone's cousin told them a horror story from 1995. Then the procedure ends, and a lot of patients are surprised by how little there was to it.

So here is the honest version.

The procedure itself: not much. The area is fully numb before anything starts. You feel pressure, some movement, the work happening. A single tooth usually takes under an hour. Periodontists are trained to administer the right comfort measures, sedation or anesthesia, during treatment.

The week after is the real question, and the answer is usually soreness, not pain. The donor site on the palate can feel like a pizza burn for a few days. The grafted area itself is often quieter than people expect. Most patients get through it with over-the-counter pain relief and soft food.

Part of why the horror stories don't match reality anymore: technique. Dr. Baradaran works under a Zeiss surgical microscope with microsurgical instruments. Smaller incisions, finer sutures, gentler handling of the tissue. The stories you read online mostly describe methods from decades ago.

Recovery rules, the short list. Soft food for the first week. No brushing on the graft until you are cleared for it. And don't pull your lip out to look at it. Everyone wants to. Please don't. It stresses the graft.

Why do it at all: receded gums expose the root of the tooth. An exposed root zings on cold water, decays more easily, and the recession keeps creeping on its own. A graft covers the root and stops the slide. The American Academy of Periodontology describes the procedure plainly: tissue from the palate or a donor source, placed over the exposed root. Often the cold sensitivity is gone the same week, because the root is covered again.

One more thing worth knowing. A root that needs a small graft today can become a much bigger problem in a few years. Recession does not reverse itself. The easiest graft to do is the early one.

If your gums are pulling back, or a tooth looks longer than it used to, that is what a gum grafting consultation is for. New patients are welcome. (310) 903-7674.

Dr. Sharyar Baradaran, DDS, MS is a periodontist in Beverly Hills and a member of the American Academy of Periodontology. He has performed periodontal microsurgery for more than 32 years.