Healthy gum tissue protects your teeth from disease and produces a great smile. So, when you experience gum tissue loss around your teeth, it can be the beginning of serious oral health problems. Fortunately, there's a safe, effective solution to these problems. It provides the missing components needed to bring life to damaged or receding tissue. It leads to fast healing with no second surgery site, and delivers great cosmetic results. And hundreds of doctors and thousands of patients have made it their choice too. That solution is AlloDerm acellular tissue.
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What is AlloDerm?
AlloDerm is human tissue, donated to U.S. tissue banks in much the same way that other transplantable organs are. It is then put through a special process to enhance its safety, while retaining all the components your body needs to make it your own tissue.
How is AlloDerm procured and processed?
The tissue that is processed into AlloDerm goes through the same stringent donor screening criteria as all other major transplantable organs (heart, lungs & kidneys). Tissue donor screening procedures were implemented by the Food and Drug Administration in 1993. The tissue is donated to a U.S. tissue bank and processed by Life Cell Corporation under strict guidelines by the FDA and the American Association of Tissue Banks.
AlloDerm is processed by LifeCell Corporation using a special patented system to remove all living cells from the tissue. The result is a framework without any human cells or blood. When the AlloDerm graft is placed over a surgical site the patient's own cellular network migrates into the framework and forms the new tissue.
How safe is AlloDerm?
AlloDerm has been used primarily in burn surgery since 1992; it began to cross over to plastic, reconstructive surgery, dentistry and other medical disciplines in 1994. AlloDerm is extremely safe. In 8-years of use and more than 100,000 grafts, there has never been a single reported case of a virus or disease being transmitted to a patient who received AlloDerm.
What happens to the AlloDerm framework during the healing process?
As the body's natural processes take over, your own cells move into the AlloDerm tissue. Over time, your cells transform the AlloDerm into your own healthy gum tissue. Once recovery is complete, you won't be able to tell the AlloDerm was ever there!
What are the advantages of using AlloDerm for my surgery?
- AlloDerm gives the patient the freedom of choice; to use his or her own tissue, harvested from another part of the mouth, or to use AlloDerm.
- AlloDerm allows the patient to focus on only one surgical site. Which means less pain and more comfortable healing period.
- AlloDerm does not contain damaged cells that can lead to inflammation.
- The patient has the ability to return to daily activities rather quickly.
Multiple clinical studies have documented AlloDerm to be equivalent to the patient's own tissue for the treatment of recession defects. AlloDerm has also demonstrated equivalent or superior esthetic results compared to the patent's own tissue. AlloDerm is also successfully used to augment soft tissue around dental implants, protect bone grafts and cover extraction sockets.