Do I have a gummy smile?

According to statistics, about 10 – 15% of all people on earth have a so-called gingival smile. How 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.

How to fix 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 take a consultation to understand what causes your gums to be more visible. When you find out the reasons, the doctor will pick up the appropriate method of correction, and you will be able to choose the time for treatment. Dr. Aalam and Dr.Krivitsky state there are several ways to improve the smile line, depending on each patients’ specific, such as:

• aesthetic crown lengthening
• surgical lip repositioning
• non-surgical lip repositioning
• lip enhancement

Surgical treatment for a gummy smile

As for the aesthetic crown lengthening, this type of gummy smile surgery can help if you have an excessive gum tissue. The extra tissue makes your teeth look too short, and a shape of a gingival contour unnatural. Also, it can negatively impact on susceptibility to periodontal infections, which is one more reason to think about 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 roots of the tooth and the ratio of the length of the root and crown.
• Jaw bone сondition.
• Biological width as the distance from the bottom of the gingival groove to the crest of the teeth.

Therefore, the crown lengthening requires a very thorough diagnosis, since gummy smile treatment this way should not disrupt the stability of the teeth on which it will be performed. Surgical lip repositioning is another great option of surgery to fix a gummy smile. It permanently corrects a smile line with a replacement of the upper lip, staying safe and predictable procedure with minimal risk or side effects. This is a simple 15-30 minutes surgical intervention which limits the movement of hyperactive lip muscles, reducing the appearance of the gums. Of course, it has no impact on other facial muscles, so you’ll be able to speak and express all your emotions with no tension.

Non-surgical treatment of gummy smile

If you are thinking about minimally-invasive surgical alternatives, non-surgical lip repositioning is for you. It’s based on usage of Botox for a gummy smile. A patient gets injections in the nasolabial fold area. As a result, the upper lip ceases to rise. Botox overlaps the sensitivity of the muscles to nerve impulses, so they don’t move up. This technique is simple and painless, so in case it sounds perfect to correct your gummy smile, Botox can be a good choice. The disadvantage of non-surgical lip repositioning is that Botox acts temporarily and you will need to repeat the procedure after 6 months. If you’d like to get a permanent result, take a closer look at the surgical lip repositioning we mentioned above. 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 a drug to achieve a good correction effect. Experts accomplish the desired result, using only 8-15 units of the remedy. This amount can not negatively impact facial expressions if a doctor applied it right. 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. One more idea on how to fix a gummy smile without surgery is lip enhancement. This method allows correcting a smile by using dermal fillers in the upper lip. This will have an effect not only for gums covering but will help to increase the thickness and improve the shape of your lips. If you’d like to add volume and plumpness, dermal fillers can also cope with this. Do you have extra questions? Maybe, you’d like to get a doctor’s feedback on particularly your case? Contact us so we’d be happy to get acquainted and help you shine!