As electric-white movie star smiles gain popularity, an increasing number of people seek dental reconditioning.
One of the issues individuals frequently wish to treat is open gingival embrasures or the dark triangles between your teeth.
But fixing these gaps goes beyond just aesthetics.
The gaps should be considered for critical health reasons.
Read on to find out more.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
✅ When your gums separate from your teeth, black triangles known as open gingival embrasures may develop between your teeth.
✅ These triangles can develop for a variety of reasons, including aging, strict dental hygiene practices, gum disease, bone loss, and the size and shape of your teeth and gums.
✅ Triangles are not simply corrected for aesthetic purposes.
✅ They are able to trap food and bacteria, which leads to more dental issues.
✅ There are several treatments available, but you can start by altering your brushing and flossing routines.
✅ Your dentist, oral surgeon, or periodontist may advise hyaluronic acid injections, composite resin bonding, veneers, braces, or surgical treatments, depending on the severity of the issue.
✅ If you see dark triangles growing between your teeth, consult your dentist to determine the best course of action.
What are black triangles or open gingival embrasures?
They are triangle-shaped spaces between your teeth, to put it simply. Approximately 67 percent of adults over 20 have them. Understanding how they arise and how to address them is crucial since they might result in additional oral health issues.
Why do they occur?
It’s crucial to talk to your dentist if you detect spaces developing between your teeth.
There are a variety of causes for black triangles between teeth, some of which are connected to the condition of your teeth and gums.
Receding Gums
Your teeth are surrounded by plump, pink, healthy gum tissue that fills the spaces in between them.
Gums may move away from the teeth or recede with age, smoking, and periodontal disease. The roots may become exposed as a result, making them more susceptible to cavities, plaque, and germs.
Loss of bone
Bone loss near a tooth’s base can be brought on by gum disease, osteoporosis, and other diseases. The gum tissue there may also recede as bone is removed. Black triangles start to develop as a result of this.
Dental care practices
The gum tissue is delicate. Too much tooth-brushing pressure can eventually harm your gums.
According to a 2011 study, alternative dental care cleaners, such as the tiny wand-like brushes used to clean in between teeth, can cause black triangles if they are too large for the area.
Orthodontic care
Small gaps may develop between your teeth after orthodontic treatment as they migrate into new locations. Sometimes, gum injury can also be caused by orthodontic bands or other components of the appliance.
According to a 2018 study, adults with braces had a 22 percent and a 36 percent chance of getting black triangles between their upper and lower incisor teeth.
Triangular-shaped teeth
Some persons have rectangular teeth, where the width at the gum line and the width at the biting point are nearly identical. Some people have teeth that are more trapezoidal in shape because the gum line is narrower. These gaps are more likely to form in teeth with a triangular shape.
Flimsy, thin tissue
Gum tissue varies in thickness from person to person.
According to a 2013 analysis, the thin gum tissue is less resilient, so it’s possible that after having periodontal surgery, a crown, or a dental implant, your gums won’t grow back to their original fullness.
How can the gaps be eliminated?
There are various treatments available, depending on the reason for the gap and its severity. Here are a few things to think about and go over with your oral surgeon or dentist.
Gently cleaning your teeth
The American Dental Association recommends flossing and brushing twice a day (ADA). The ADA highlights the need to carefully floss in order to protect your gums. See this page for simple instructions on how to floss properly.
If you have a few black triangles between your teeth and healthy gums, you might be able to get your gums back to normal by altering your dental hygiene routine.
Use of hyaluronic acid
Hyaluronic acid injections may be used by your dentist in specific situations to regenerate gum tissue. Given that it is less unpleasant and has a shorter recovery time than surgical adjustments, some supporters favor this method.
There isn’t much information available on how long the effects of this medication last because it’s still very new.
Synthetic resin
Some patients choose to have the gaps filled with composite resin bonding by their dentist. Your dentist may advise using pink resin, tooth-colored resin, or both to fill in the black triangles in between your teeth, depending on your particular needs.
Because the resin is applied in thin layers to make it look natural and your gums can adjust to the decreased area, this procedure doesn’t require surgery but can take some time to complete – months, in some situations.
Composite veneers that are tooth-colored can also be added by your dentist to complete the teeth’s appearance.
Braces
If surgery or an operation that shifted your teeth caused black triangles to appear between them, you might be able to fix the gaps by bringing your teeth closer together with braces.
Although orthodontic treatment is time-consuming, the aesthetic results could be worthwhile.
Veneers
For the purpose of closing gaps and achieving a more uniform smile, your dentist can permanently bond ceramic or porcelain veneers to the tooth’s surface.
Applying veneers typically entails modifying the native tooth’s surface in order to create a solid bond between the veneer and tooth. Veneers endure between 18 months and 20 years, according to experts.
Surgical solutions
A tissue graft may be advised by some periodontists in severe situations of gum recession. A dentist with a focus on gum disease and dental implants is known as a periodontist.
Your periodontist will perform this surgery by taking a small piece of tissue from the roof of your mouth and grafting it onto the regions where the gums have receded around your teeth. To strengthen the bone at the root of your tooth, bone transplants can also be required.
Your periodontist could also be able to use a pinhole technique to loosen the gum and repair it with collagen strips, depending on how much of your gum tissue has been pushed away from your teeth. Because there are no big incisions or sutures needed for this operation, the blood supply to the area won’t be disrupted.
In a tiny trial with only five participants, restoring black triangles between teeth with pinhole surgery was 96.7 percent successful.