Another esthetic problem is the sunken appearance of the gums underneath a bridge. After a tooth is lost, the surrounding bone and gum tissue starts to melt away. Even if the tooth is replaced with a dental bridge, the shrunken gums cause the false tooth to look unnatural and fake. Ridge augmentation is a periodontal plastic surgery procedure which can plump out the tissue under a bridge. This simple procedure makes the restoration look so natural that no one will be able to tell that you are missing a tooth!