Correcting a Gummy Smile: Tailored Solutions at Schaefer Dental Group
Some people feel self-conscious about smiling because they believe their gums are too prominent. Though we each have our own definition of what makes a smile beautiful—a smile will usually be perceived as “gummy” when 4 millimeters (just over an eighth of an inch) of gum tissue shows. If your smile looks gummy to you, it’s important to figure out exactly what’s causing this. Only then can the appropriate cosmetic dental or periodontal (gum) procedures be recommended by Schaefer Dental Group to give you a more pleasing appearance of the gums and teeth in Lansing, Michigan.
Gummy smiles may be caused by one or more factors relating to the gums themselves, the teeth, or even the lip or jaw. Each of these areas requires a different approach to solving the problem:
Causes and Correction Strategies
1. Gums (Excess Tissue)
If your teeth appear too short in relation to your gums, it could be that they are being covered up by too much gum tissue. This problem can be solved with a periodontal plastic surgery technique called “crown lengthening,” which involves removing and reshaping the excess tissue to expose the full, natural length of your teeth.
2. Teeth (Short or Worn)
Natural variations in tooth eruption or the wear caused by grinding can result in teeth that look short. When teeth wear down, they may slowly erupt further out of the gum to compensate (compensatory eruption), making the smile appear gummier.
- If teeth are naturally short, they can be made to appear longer by covering them with thin porcelain veneers or crowns.
- If the teeth have compensatorily erupted, orthodontic treatment may be used to move the affected teeth back up into the correct position before restoring them with porcelain.
3. Lip (Hypermobile)
If the upper lip is hypermobile, meaning it rises much farther up (more than 6 to 8 millimeters) during a smile, more gum tissue will be revealed. Here, the action of the muscles that control the lip will need to be modified. Treatment options range from:
- Botox shots that temporarily paralyze the muscles (lasting about six months).
- Lip stabilization surgery that permanently restricts how high the lip can move.
4. Jaw (Vertical Maxillary Excess)
Sometimes the upper jaw (maxilla) is too long for the face, a condition referred to as Vertical Maxillary Excess. If this is the case, the jaw would need to be surgically repositioned with orthognathic surgery. This is the most complex treatment but can achieve the most dramatic and comprehensive results.
As you can see, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to correcting a gummy smile. However, there are various techniques available at Schaefer Dental Group that can achieve dramatic improvements.