The “Gummy Smile”
A beautiful smile exudes a balance between the gums and teeth. When a patient shows more gum that teeth, they have a “gummy” smile. A “gummy” smile draws attention to your gums – not your teeth – and can make teeth appear shorter than they really are. Studies have been done with dentists, plastic surgeons, dermatologists and regular folk to assess smiles. Almost everyone agreed that 2mm or less of gum tissue showing was the level where most participants thought the smile looked normal. Participants started noticing the gum tissue at 3-4mm, and thinking that too much gum tissue was showing at more than 4 mm.
What Are The Causes?
Doctors who specialize in cosmetic procedures estimate that about 14% of women and 7 % of men have excessive gingival exposure when smiling. It can be due to the following:
- Short teeth or excessively thick gum tissue
- hyper-mobile lips or short lips
- long protruding upper jaw bone
- A combination of any of the above reasons
Treatment
Short teeth or excessively thick gum tissue can be effectively treated with an advanced laser gum recontouring procedure. These “gummy” smiles can be corrected without extensive surgery and pain. The healing process after laser “gummy” treatment is usually much less painful and faster than actual traditional surgery. Laser gum recontouring is one of the most popularly sought after treatment by patients with gummy smiles.
Short teeth or excessively thick gum tissue can be effectively treated with an advanced laser gum recontouring procedure. These “gummy” smiles can be corrected without extensive surgery and pain. The healing process after laser “gummy” treatment is usually much less painful and faster than actual traditional surgery. Laser gum recontouring is one of the most popularly sought after treatment by patients with gummy smiles.
Serious Cases
When a hypermobile lip is the cause of the “gummy” smile, doctors traditionally will perform a surgery to limit the muscles that elevate the upper lip so it can no longer rise as high.
In extreme cases, they might perform orthognathic jaw surgery, which repositions the upper jaw if it sticks out too much. But this can be complicated often requiring braces and can take up to two years to complete.
Now people are going another route to treat these hypermobile lips or excessive protruding upper jaw bone i.e. Botox. For the last few years, dentists have been injecting Botox into the upper lip “elevator” muscles. It paralyzes the muscles, inhibiting contraction of the upper lip when smiling to prevent the gummy smile.
What You Will Learn
At our Advanced Anterior Aesthetic Course, we will be sharing with you how to perform the laser gum reshaping both soft tissue and osseous recontouring to get an aesthetic smile. Laser settings and use will be covered for the best results. You will also learn how to plan for the gummy smile treatment. How much gummy tissue to reduce for the best results will also be covered.
