A gummy smile arises when the gingival display or the appearance of gums when a person smiles is more than 3mm. A smile filled with excessive display of gums is perceived as being non-aesthetic and hence correcting the gummy smile is sought by such patients. So how is a gummy smile corrected? Let us discuss.
Before we delve into the correction of gummy smile, it is imperative to understand the causes because if the causes are different, then different treatment procedures may be required. Against each cause, the respective treatment procedure is mentioned.
Causes of Gummy Smile
The underlying causes are determined by the dentist after doing a thorough examination of your mouth, teeth and gums. The dentist may recommend taking an X-ray imaging or other digital imaging of your oral area to ascertain the actual cause of the gummy smile.
- Teeth can be covered by excess gum tissues. In other words, the teeth are of normal size internally but in display (when we smile) they appear short as they are covered with gums. This is a minor condition.
Treatment procedure for Excess Gum Tissue
This condition is termed minor. Here same-day laser treatments come in handy to remove the excess gingival tissue and contour them. Usually the correction is done in a single day.
- The upper jaw bone might have grown protruding and bulging too much that they are now showing excessive gums when you smile. So here the gum is not a problem, rather the upper jaw bone that is protruding needs correction.
Treatment procedure for Upper Jaw Bone Protrusion
The treatment procedure may involve multiple procedures like orthodontics (wearing braces) if the protrusion of the jaw bone is mild to moderate.
- Sometimes the upper lip’s muscle can be hyperactive and they are rising up more than normal to expose your gum. So in this case there is no problem with either the jaw bones or the gums.
Treatment procedure for Hyperactive Upper Lip Muscle
Surgical lip positioning is the only option to correct the hyperactive lip muscle that is causing extensive pullback when smiling resulting in wide gum exposure or a gummy smile.