Does passive tooth eruption exist?
April 23, 2013 9:50 AM   Subscribe

I have had some years of gum issue - a few grafts, etc. Despite taking pretty good care of my teeth I am seemingly just cursed. I recently saw a new perio person and they said for most of my mouth it was actually "passive eruption" that only a little bit towards the back of my mouth has actual recession/ gum disease issues. Does this exist?

She says passive eruption is basically the gum continuing to slide back to where it wants to be based on the enamel of your teeth. That even if they did a graft it would also slide up as the gum searched for it's natural location. She claims this tends to happen later in life.

I have never heard of passive eruption before, despite seeing at least 4-6 periodontists over the last almost ten years. So did she reveal something new to me that no one else have thought of? Or is she just making stuff up?
posted by IzzeYum to Health & Fitness (1 answer total)
 
Passive eruption, or delayed passive eruption as i've always known it, is a thing. I have always seen it referred to in cases where the gums appear to cover more of the tooth than they should, because the tooth has stopped erupting into the mouth earlier than it was programmed to do because it has come into contact with its opposite in the other jaw.
This condition then gives a deeper probing depth, but not one caused by inflammation.
I don't have info about your case in particular. she might be using the term to explain why you have deep probing depths despite many years of treatment and no active bacterial mediated disease?
Have her explain it to you in greater detail. You should, after seeing half a dozen periodontists, have a pretty decent 'dental IQ', or at least a working understanding of the jargon.
memail me if you want to go over specifics of your own condition.
posted by OHenryPacey at 11:09 AM on April 23, 2013


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