A Hollywood Smile in Staten Island

What Does a Perfect Smile Look Like?

 

A perfect smile is an ideal proportion and position of lips, gums, and teeth.
When smiling your upper lip should almost completely cover the gums showing off a straight row of teeth.

 

 

 

Gummy Smile

What Is a Gummy Smile and What Can Cause It?

A gummy smile is when smiling the upper lip opens gums for more than 2 mm. In more advanced cases it looks like gum covers the top portion of teeth showing off even more of the gums and making the teeth look small or sometimes even barely visible from under the gums.

Gummy smiles are not rare so modern dentistry gives options on how to solve this!

 

First, let’s find out what may be the cause of your gummy smile:

 

Abnormal teeth eruption may cause an excessive gum tissue. Sometimes your natural teeth are of a good length but ⅓ or even half of their length is covered under the gums.

 

Small teeth due to genetics

 

Upper lip muscle can be hyperactive and it may cause your lip to rise up higher than normal and expose more of your gum.

 

Too short of an upper lip

 

Gingival Hypertrophy – enlarged gums

 

Upper jaw bone growth manner and development. Meaning it is how your upper jaw bone developed as a child.

 

Habits are one more thing that could influence your bite and excessive gum tissue growth. For example: A habit of biting objects, for example pens, could potentially make things worse.

 

Gum Disproportion Is a Type of a Gummy Smile

 

Sometimes disproportion may take place. This is when one part of the smile line –  right or left has excessive gum tissue.
On the pictures below you may see gum disproportion example and one of the ways to correct it with the help of laser gum surgery and porcelain veneers.


smile correction - gum disproportion correction - Sola Dental Spa

Depending on the reason of gummy smile, the treatment needed may be one of the following or several combined:

 

Crown Lengthening
Orthodontic Treatment
Laser Gum Surgery
Botox
Porcelain Veneers
Dental Crowns
Lip Repositioning Surgery
Orthognathic Surgery

 

Let’s take a closer look at each treatment:

 

Crown Lengthening – Is a surgical procedure that helps to lengthen the crown part of the tooth by removing gum tissue. It is a common procedure done in order to fix a gummy smile. The procedure makes your teeth longer and the visible portion of the gums are reduced. As a result, your smile will have a more harmonious look.

 

Orthodontic Treatment – Is the treatment that involves the correction of the teeth position and the bite overall. Repositioning teeth may change the visible height of gums. The options for this course of treatment would be either a traditional bracket system, Invisalign (also known as clear aligners) or the Six Months Smiles Technique.

 

Laser Gum Surgery – Is a dental surgery in which a laser is used. Using a laser helps to achieve a better result with less discomfort. It is used to remove the unnecessary excessive gum tissue. As a result you’ll have a less noticeable gum line.

 

Botox – Is the easiest procedure for gummy smile improvement. It is usually used for a hyperactive lip. When filled with Botox, the lip will not rise up as high and will cover either most or all of the gums.

 

Porcelain Veneers Are thin teeth shells that are used for to achieve an improved cosmetic look of the smile. They are applied to the front part of the teeth to cover defects and change the shape. How can it help a gummy smile? They can be applied after the crown lengthening procedure if the teeth appear to have an irregular shape, cracks, or spots.

 

Dental Crowns Are the shells that cover a tooth completely. They may be applied if after crown lengthening the released part of the tooth appeared to be decayed, irregular, or fractured.

 

Lip Repositioning Surgery – This procedure refers to plastic surgery and may require hospitalization. The surgeon will reposition the lip and apply the stitches to fix the lip to its new position. This surgery also helps to correct smile asymmetry and can give volume to a thin upper lip.

 

How Do I Know Which Treatment Is Needed in My Case?

 

To determine what should be done in your case a detailed examination will be needed. An X-Ray will show what is hidden under the excessive gum tissue. After carefully viewing the x-ray your dentist will recommend the appropriate treatment in order to correct it.

 

A consultation with a cosmetic dentist is the first step in achieving your desired smile.

 

Schedule an appointment today and ask our dentist any other Gummy Smile questions that you may have.
Sola Dental Spa in Staten Island is a full-service dentistry with the advanced technology used. We combine the art of dentistry and spa procedures you’ll definitely like.



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a Gummy smile before