Gummy Smile Correction: Causes And Treatment
Table of Contents
What Is A Gummy Smile
A Gummy smile in terms refers to a condition when there is an excessive display of gums (gingival) while smiling. Normally 2/3rd to 3/4th of the upper teeth should be visible while smiling and the rest should be covered by the upper lip. In case the gum show is more ( 2 to 3 mm) while speaking or smiling it gives an unaesthetic appearance.
Usually, patients who visit Dantkriti for gummy smile correction are concerned about their smile looking unpleasant or less attractive. Mostly we seek patients after orthodontic treatment to get their perfect smile.
Other Cosmetic Dental Treatment options for a perfect smile include
- Teeth Veneers, Cosmetic Bonding,
- Braces,
- Teeth Whitening,
- Gum Depigmentation.
There is no consensus as to how much gingiva will display at smiling is considered gummy. a distillation of various studies shows that gums display greater than 2 millimeters academically is considered to be gummy.
Mostly the gummy smile is only an aesthetic concern but in some cases, it can affect the teeth and gum health.
What Causes A Gummy Smile
There are many reasons for a gummy smile, and for each one there is a different treatment modality.
The Height, Shape, and Size of theTeeth
The Teeth may appear short because either they have not erupted properly and remain partially covered by gum tissue. The Teeth are small in comparison to the gums due to wear attrition or genetically small teeth
Too Short Upper Lip
The average length of the upper lip and the philtrum is about 20 to 24 millimeters and the average movement between a lip at rest and a lip at a smile is 6 to 8 millimeters
When the upper lip is normal in length at rest but lifts too high when smiling displaying a lot of gum tissue is called Hypermobile Lips
Gums Hypertrophy
Gum hypertrophy or enlargement can occur due to several reasons such as hormonal changes in pregnancy or puberty, use of certain medications such as phenytoin or cyclosporins, certain gum tumors, or bony tumors arising from jaw bone which can, in turn, show up excess gum tissue.
Vertical Maxillary Excess
Vertical maxillary excess can be simplified as excessive growth of the upper jaw that makes the gums bulge out. These patients usually exhibit lip incompetence (Inability to join upper and lower lip at rest) and present with a long face.
In over eruption of the maxillary anterior a gummy smile is caused by excessive vertical growth of the maxillary anterior Dental alveolar complex.
Mouth Breathing
If the person has the habit of breathing from the mouth due to enlarged tonsils, adenoids, or any other breathing issues they usually present with an open mouth and inflamed gums and cause gums to show up and lead to a gummy smile
Medications
The use of certain medicines such as Phenytoin to treat epilepsy, Cyclosporins for immunosuppressants, or some anti-hypertensive drugs can lead to gum enlargement and excessive display of gums
How Do You Fix A Gummy Smile
Treatment of Gummy Smile is based on its cause.
Gummy smile correction can be done by
- Gum Surgery ( Crown Lengthening )
- Lip Lengthening
- Orthodontic Treatment
- Orthognathic Surgery
- Botox injections for upper lip
- Lip Fillers
- Treatment of Systemic Causes
Gum Surgery / Crown lengthening
Typically the procedure that we do most of the time is what’s called crown Lengthening where we actually sculpt or reshape the gum tissue to make those teeth a little bit longer and more attractive.
At Dantkriti Gurgaon we use Dental Laser for Gum Contouring as it gives bloodless and precise and painless results
Sometimes the bone around the teeth needs to be reshaped as well.
So we reshape the gum sometimes we reshape the bone to give the patient the look that they want and have a normal-looking smile with teeth and proportion to their face.
Another advantage of gum contouring is that it eliminates the deep gum pockets and prevents recurrent gum infections.
The results of gum contouring are permanent and long-lasting and the procedure is very safe.
The cost for gum contouring for gummy smile correction may range from 1500 INR to 4500 INR.
Lip Lowering/ Lip Lengthening
Another procedure that we do is called lip lowering and we actually change the position of lips with teeth.
The procedure is actually done where the teeth are normal length so we really don’t have to do anything to the teeth
So we perform a lip repositioning where we lower the lip by removing a part of connective tissue from inside of the lip, so when the patient smile the lip doesn’t pull up as much.
Another benefit to that is that the lip becomes is fuller and kind of richer looking.
The procedure is safe and usually done under Local Anesthesia. The results are usually long-lasting but some relapse may occur after few years
Botox Injections on upper lip muscles
There is a third option: Botox ( botulinum toxin ) to numb the muscles that retract the upper lip.
The advantage of this procedure is that no surgery is involved.
The disadvantage is that the results are not permanent and have to be done very frequently (4 to 6 months) to keep that effect. Also, your smile may change in case it is overused.
Gummy Smile Braces / Orthodontic Treatment
If upper front teeth have erupted more or forward, we have several options to correct them either by braces or Invisalign treatment.
Orthodontic treatment pulls the teeth behind and repositions the lip in its proper position which drapes the gum tissue and corrects your smile.
Orthognathic Surgery (Jaw Surgery)
If the skeletal deformity is beyond the limit of the above-mentioned treatment as in cases of vertical maxillary excess then we have to go for orthognathic surgery (jaw surgery) where the upper jaw is repositioned surgically to restore the correct facial profile.
Treatment of Systemic Causes
If the reason for excessive gum enlargement is hormonal or is due to medications or tumors, elimination of the causative factor is the cure for the gum enlargement.
To know more about Gummy Smile Treatment contact us on +91-9773505706 or Schedule an appointment
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