What is PST?
It certainly sounds secretive, doesn’t it? You might not have heard of this dental procedure before, but we are open and forthcoming about all of our procedures — just ask. The Yuba City Dentistry Group also doesn’t divulge the secrets of our patients, respecting their privacy. So if PST might benefit your circumstances, we’re happy to offer it to you.
PST stands for Pinhole Surgical Technique. It’s a relatively new procedure brought to the dental industry by a dentist named John Chao in Southern California. This revolutionary procedure is designed to reduce or even eliminate gum recession due to age, gingivitis or periodontal disease without the need for tissue grafting.
Grafting involves cutting out chunks of soft tissue in the mouth and attaching it onto the gums with sutures. Tissue grafting, although sometimes necessary, can be painful during recuperation and sometimes slow to heal. It commonly involves multiple surgical sessions, days off work, and follow-up visits. Since the results are still often effective, tissue grafting is still in use.
With PST, the procedure is far less invasive. A specialized tool makes a small hole, a pinhole, in the gumline. The tool stretches the gums off their current resting place into a better position further over teeth to reach the enamel, protecting the softer dentin below. Your dentist uses an organic biomaterial to help your gums adhere to your teeth, keeping them in their new place.
Benefits of PST
Especially in comparison with tissue grafting, PST has many benefits:
- Faster patient recovery
- No need for scalpels or drills
- Sutures usually are not needed
- No loss of tissue from other areas of the mouth
- Less discomfort
- Almost immediate, long-lasting results
- Accomplished in one visit, typically within an hour
Of course, the best benefit is when you look in the mirror — or others notice the improvement in your confident smile. You might be seasoned, mature, or well-experienced, but no one can call you “long in the tooth” again! Although it may not be a widely known procedure, PST is not any sort of secret. If you’d like to learn more about PST or see if it’s a good procedure for your oral health, please give our staff a call or schedule an appointment online. If you already have your semi-annual checkup set up with us, then well done! We’d be happy to discuss PST with you at that time!
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