What is a Gummy Smile?

If you expose too much gum tissue when smiling, then you may have what is termed as being a gummy smile. This can occur when the clinical crown, which is the part of the crown above the gum line, is partially covered by gum tissue or it may be due to other reasons. It’s something many people feel self-conscious about. It can also be a problem if the gum line is uneven, as this can affect the overall appearance of the teeth.

What Causes a Gummy Smile?

There are several reasons that can cause a gummy smile including:

• It can be due to the muscle controlling the upper lip being overactive. When this occurs the upper lip can rise up more than normal, exposing an excessive amount of gum tissue.
• Sometimes the upper jawbone can develop slightly differently from the norm, and this may result in a bulge or protrusion of bone underneath the gum tissue.
• The teeth in the upper jaw can sometimes erupt abnormally and may still be covered with too much gum tissue. This can make them appear short, even though they may be the proper length underneath.

The problems caused by a gummy smile are usually just esthetic, but if the teeth have erupted slightly differently due to the way the jawbone has developed, then this could result in an abnormal bite.

 

Getting Treatment for a Gummy Smile

If you think your smile is too gummy then it’s worth visiting your dentist to find out if this is a really the case, and to discover the different options for treatment. The first thing your dentist will want to do is to determine the underlying cause for the excessive gum tissue, and they may need to take x-rays of your mouth so they can see the tooth roots and jawbone.

 

Your gummy smile may be something your general dentist can treat, but they might also decide to refer you to a specialist such as an orthodontist or a periodontist, or even an oral surgeon depending on the cause of the problem.

 

There are several different treatment options that may be possible including:

 

Laser treatment to reshape the gums. Laser surgery is suitable for minor cases of gummy smiles and is a very straightforward procedure. The beauty of using a dental laser is that healing times should be relatively fast, there’s no need for stitches, and any discomfort afterwards should be quite minor. This procedure is known as a gingivectomy.

 

Reshaping the gums through more conventional surgery. This treatment is suitable for more problematic cases of gummy smiles, and the surgeon will use a scalpel to remove the excess gum tissue and possibly some excess bone before stitching up the gums so they may heal. This procedure is called crown lengthening. Once the gums have healed it might be necessary to have the teeth crowned or veneered to give a more esthetically pleasing shape to the teeth.

 

Surgery to lower the lip line. If your gummy smile is due to an overactive upper lip then you may wish to have a lip lowering procedure which restricts the movement of the muscles responsible for pulling the lip up too high. It is a relatively short procedure that can be done under local anesthetic, but can give very good results.

 

For more information about a gummy smile, contact Dr. Bell, your Midland, TX dentist at Health Centered Dentistry today.