Treatment for Gummy Smiles in Los Angeles
Gummy Smile Treatment Gum Correction Patient Testimonial
Gummy Smile Treatments can give you a stunning smile
If you’re familiar with the term gummy smile or may have a gummy smile yourself, you understand one of the most frustrating things about a gummy smile is that it can make you feel self-conscious when smiling. If you’re not familiar with gummy smiles, it describes the condition where the upper teeth appear too short due to excessive gum tissue covering the teeth. Thanks to advanced treatments now available to remove excess gum tissue, we can resolve the issue through minimally invasive procedures such as aesthetic crown lengthening or non-surgical lip repositioning, enabling patients to smile again with confidence. One of the reasons why many patients turn to periodontists is to increase the aesthetics of their smiles. If you feel less confident about your gummy-looking smile, too, read more below about how we can detect and fix it.
Lots oF People Have Big Gums and Small Teeth
According to statistics, about 10 – 15% of all people on earth have a so-called gingival smile or a gummy smile with prominent gums and a small amount of teeth showing. What does it look like? It’s usually a smile in which you can see more than two millimeters of the upper gum. Exposure with a smile less than two millimeters of the upper gum is normal. The ideal option is a smile in which the gums are not visible at all, and only the upper incisors are exposed, while the lower front teeth are either not visible at all or are seen quite a bit.
Before and After Gummy Smile Procedures
Services Provided: Aesthetic crown lengthening, Gummy smile: resulting from altered passive eruption
Services Provided: Aesthetic crown lengthening with gummy smile correction, resulting from Microdontia (small teeth) and altered passive eruption
Services Provided: Aesthetic crown lengthening for gummy smile correction and botox, as a resulting of a hyperactive upper lip with altered passive eruption
What Causes a Gummy Smile?
- Abnormal eruption of your teeth: We often see patients with a gummy smile caused by an abnormal eruption of their permanent teeth after losing their baby teeth which allowed excessive gum tissues to develop around the new adult permanent teeth, making them appear shorter than they are, causing a gummy smile.
- The muscle of your upper lip is overactive or hyperactive: Some people have a hyperactive upper lip where the muscles responsible for controlling the skin below the nose can cause your lip to rise farther than usual and exposing too much of your gums, creating the appearance of a gummier smile.
- Vertical maxillary excess (VME): How your jaw grew and developed can impact how your smile looks. Typically an overgrowth of the upper jaw, called vertical maxillary excess (VME), makes gums bulge out, creating a gummy smile.
- Altered passive eruption (APE): APE’s altered passive eruption is caused mainly by genetic or developmental factors that create excessive soft tissue over the tooth’s surface, creating a gummy smile.
- Microdontia (Small Teeth): Teeth that are small compared to the gums due to genetics or wear will create an excessive gingival display.
How to fix a gummy smile
What is the best treatment for a gummy smile?
A smile with gums is often a purely aesthetic problem that does not affect the health of the teeth and does not depend on it. However, it’s better to schedule a consultation to understand what causes your gums to be more visible. When you find out the reasons, the doctor will suggest the appropriate method of excessive gum tissue correction, and you will be able to choose the time for treatment. Dr. Aalam and Dr. Krivitsky are experts in the treatment options used to improve the smile line and fix a gummy smile.
Depending on how much gum tissue each patient has and their specific needs, we may suggest one of the following appropriate treatment options such as:
- Aesthetic crown lengthening
- Surgical lip repositioning
- Non-surgical lip repositioning (Botox)
- Lip enhancement
WHAT TYPES OF GUmmy smile treatments ARE THERE?
Surgical Gummy Smile Treatment Options
Aesthetic crown lengthening
As for aesthetic crown lengthening, this type of gummy smile treatment can help if you have excessive gum tissue covering the teeth. The extra gum tissue makes your teeth look too short and child-like, with an unnatural gingival contour shape. Also, too much gum tissue can negatively impact oral health and increase susceptibility to gum disease or periodontal infections, which is another reason to consider treatment.
While planning the procedure, it’s important to consider:
- Current and future states of health of periodontal tissues.
- The proportion of teeth and aesthetics of your smile.
- The structure of the tooth’s roots and the ratio of the length of the root and crown.
- Jaw bone condition.
- Biological width as the distance from the bottom of the gingival groove to the crest of the teeth.
Therefore, the need for crown lengthening requires a very thorough diagnosis since a gummy smile correction should never disrupt the stability of the teeth on which it will be performed.
Surgical lip repositioning
Surgical lip repositioning is another excellent treatment option to correct a gummy smile. It permanently restores a smile line by repositioning the upper lip to reduce the appearance of the gums. It is a safe and predictable procedure with minimal risk or side effects. Lip repositioning surgery is a simple 15-30 minutes surgical intervention which repositions the upper lip and limits movement of hyperactive lip muscles, so there is less gum exposed when speaking and smiling. Of course, it has no impact on other facial muscles, so you’ll be able to talk and express all your emotions with no ease.
Non-Surgical Gummy Smile Treatment Options
Non-surgical lip repositioning (Botox)
If you are thinking about minimally invasive surgical alternatives, non-surgical lip repositioning is for you. This simple treatment utilizes botox to correct the appearance of a gummy smile. This treatment targets the levator muscles, the muscles that control the upper lip movement in the nasolabial fold area. Botox is injected into these muscles to restrict movement.
Botox overlaps the sensitivity of the muscles to nerve impulses, and as a result, the upper lip ceases to rise, reducing gum exposure. This technique is painless and straightforward and can be a good choice to correct your gummy smile.
The disadvantage of non-surgical lip repositioning is that Botox acts temporarily, and you will need to repeat the procedure after six months.
One of the widespread fears about Botox usage is that the face will look like a mask after injections. The truth is that it’s not necessary to apply a significant amount of Botox to achieve a good correction effect. Experts accomplish the desired result, using only 8-15 units of the remedy. This amount cannot negatively impact facial expressions, especially when applied correctly by a doctor. Further, injections are usually made with very thin needles so you won’t feel pain, and there will be no traces on the skin after the procedure.
We often start with this as the first option for patients so they can try out how they will look before committing to a long-term permanent solution like surgical lip repositioning. If you’d like to get a permanent result, take a closer look at the surgical lip repositioning we mentioned above.
Lip enhancement
One more solution for correcting a gummy smile without surgery is through lip enhancement. This method allows correcting a smile by using dermal fillers in the upper lip. Dermal fillers are injected into the upper lip to elongate the lip and cover the exposed gum. This procedure will affect covering the gums and help increase the thickness and improve the shape of your lips. If you’d like to add volume and plumpness, dermal fillers can also work to achieve this.
Gummy Smile FAQs
Q: Can a Gummy Smile Be Corrected?
Q: What Does A Gummy Smile Mean?
Q: How much does it cost to fix a gummy smile?
Q: Does Dental Insurance Cover Gummy Smile Surgery Cost?
Q: Does gummy smile surgery hurt?
Do you have additional questions about gummy smile solutions?
Maybe, you’d like to get a doctor’s feedback on your particular case? Contact us today, and we’d be happy to get acquainted and help you smile bright!
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