Earlier this week, we covered the gum recession as a normal part of the aging smile. If you’ve noticed receding gums, the next question may be, “now what? how is gum recession treated?”

The first step to treating gum recession is to remove the bacteria that have caused the recession in the first place. This will prevent the gums from receding further quickly and will slow the overall process. To deep clean affected areas, bacteria is removed from the pockets that have developed at the gum line.

This deep cleaning is referred to as “root scaling and planing,” which is a lot like your standard biannual cleaning, except that tissues are cleaned deeper below the gum line. It’s a common cleaning technique for patients with developing periodontal disease and it helps remove the plaque and bacteria below the gum line to prevent further damage and to allow the tissues to heal.

Antibiotics are often prescribed at this stage in order to help eliminate oral bacteria. In many cases, this step is enough to slow the effects of gum recession. In other cases, surgery may be necessary.