Gingival recession, also known as receding gums, is the exposure of the roots of teeth caused by a loss of gum tissue and/or retraction of the gingival margin from the crown of the teeth. Gum recession is a common problem in adults over the age of 40, but it may occur as early as the age of 10.

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There are many known causes for gingival recession. By far the most common are gum disease and overaggressive brushing. Due to the incremental nature of the condition, receding gums may remain unnoticed until symptoms appear, such as tooth mobility and dentin hypersensitivity (over-sensitive teeth).

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Gum recession can be addressed by a variety of gum grafting "periodontal plastic surgery" procedures. These are mainly performed due to aesthetic reasons or to address hypersensitivity and may involve repositioning of adjacent gum tissue to cover the recession (called a pedicle graft) or use of a free graft of gingival or connective tissue from the roof of the mouth (called a free gingival graft). Alternatively, a material called acellular dermal matrix (processed and donated human skin allograft) may be used instead of tissue from the patient's own palate. Success is usually determined by two measures: (1) Complete Root Coverage (CRC), which is the rate of teeth treated in which the tooth root is completely covered by gingival tissue and (2) Mean Root Coverage (MRC), which is the level of coverage.