What is AlloDerm Made Of?
In the event of gingival recession or a similar problem affecting the mucous membranes, gingival grafting is often necessary: by means of a sample and then a connective tissue graft from another area of the mouth, the excessively excessive tooth surface can be successfully covered. exposed. In this way, the aesthetics and health of the mouth can be improved with a simple periodontic procedure.
This conservative dentistry operation requires particular attention to some technical aspects, including the choice of the tissue donor site, i.e., the area of the mouth from which the sample will be taken, and the tissue sample procedure itself. The post-operative course is also important, for which it is necessary to provide the patient with precise behavioral instructions, especially as regards oral hygiene.
Gum Grafting: An Overview
Gum grafting is a periodontal surgical procedure that involves the use of connective tissue grafts to reshape the gums around teeth and implants. Gingival grafting is used to remedy mucosal health problems such as gingival recessions or keratinized gingiva deficits. The retraction of the gum is due to various elements, from periodontitis to mechanical factors relating to tooth brushing. In any case, the recession exposes the roots of the tooth and therefore involves various risks, including high sensitivity and a higher probability of pathologies and infections (above all caries), as well as constituting a blemish that ruins the patient's smile; the intervention, therefore, solves both a hygienic-functional and an aesthetic problem.
The operation involves the use of connective tissue, which must be prepared in a laboratory by the surgeon prior to implantation. For the donor tissue, your surgeon can either use your own tissue from a site that is not affected by your health issues, or they can use an allogenic material, known commonly as alloderm, which comes from a human donor and is laboratory prepared.
The graft does not constitute, in itself, an invasive or complex oral surgery operation, but has some delicate aspects for the surgeon. It is, in fact, a procedure that generally gives good results, but whose success depends on various factors, in particular the choice of the donor site and the sampling technique, as well as the correct post-operative management of the patient.
What is Alloderm?
Alloderm is the common name for a type of tissue that is used in gum grafts. It is made from human skin that undergoes a series of laboratory processes in order to remove the epidermis and cells that may lead to rejection or disease transmission. The tissue is donated from a human and then preserved to be used in the recipient. Preservation is done through a “freeze-drying” process. At the end of the lab processes, a matrix of natural elements such as collagen and elastin, among others, is obtained, which allows rapid revascularization and remodeling with cell repopulation- in other words, the tissue acts much like your own gum tissue. The great advantage of using this material is we have a source of connective tissue where it, sometimes it does not exist, as is the case with patients with too thin thickness of the gingiva, which does not allow an autologous graft. The main benefit for patients is to avoid the discomfort of a donor site, with all the inconveniences that come with it. Other advantages of alloderm are its great resistance to infections and the ability to acquire the color of the gum around it, making it an aesthetically pleasing result.