Autograft vs. Donor Graft
When a person’s gum tissue has started to recede, pulling away from the teeth, the effects are more than simply cosmetic. Receding gums can cause increased tooth sensitivity and can often encourage other health issues to arise. These health concerns include an increased risk of periodontal disease, bone loss, and tooth loss, along with a host of other possible dental and medical complications. The optimal way to restore lost gingival tissue is with gum grafts. The tissue used for these grafts can be derived from the patient’s own soft tissue, or donor tissue can be used. When donor tissue is used, this is called a donor graft, while grafts that use tissue harvested from the patient’s oral cavity are called autografts. Donor grafts and autografts each have advantages and disadvantages, and you and your dentist can determine which type of gingival graft is best for you.
The autograft procedure uses soft tissue from the patient’s own mouth. This tissue is harvested from the roof of the mouth and grafted to the areas where the gums are compromised and the tooth roots are exposed. The two types of autograft are connective tissue grafts, and free gingival grafts. When you and your dentist choose autografts for your gum restoration, you can only treat a few areas at once; this is because the process of harvesting tissue from the patient is invasive, and only small amounts of tissue can safely be extracted in a single procedure. Because donor grafts don’t require invasive surgery, using tissue sourced from outside the patient’s own body, any areas that need treatment can be addressed with a single, minimally invasive and relatively painless procedure.
Autografts have been used successfully for decades, providing long-term evidence of highly predictable results and efficacy. These grafts are entirely natural, relying on the patient’s own tissue, and are used to increase the thickness of the gums. Because they use living tissue, they increase the availability of blood supply to the area, further encouraging the tissue’s continued vitality and health. Despite these advantages, there is considerably more pain or discomfort with autografts than with allografts, and treatment takes longer because the number of procedures needs to be more spread out. While autografts are often successful, the integrity of the tissue used with autografts depends on the quality of the patient’s own tissue, adding a variable that’s missing with donor grafts.
Unlike autografts, donor grafts can be used to treat multiple or extensive areas of gum recession in a single procedure. There’s considerably less pain than the harvesting process required for autografts; many patients report only mild discomfort that abates relatively quickly. Donor grafts can be used to support the growth of extensive amounts of strong gum tissue while preserving the existing oral tissues and maintaining a healthy blood supply in the mouth. However, the patient must have sufficient natural gum tissue in order for donor grafts to be placed, and the placement of donor grafts is more technical and requires significant additional training. Additionally, donor grafts don’t work well when teeth are rotated or misaligned or when there is bone loss in the area of gum recession. There are a few different types of donor grafts available, and your dentist can help you decide if one of these is right for you.