In the past gummy smiles were very difficult to treat. They required crown lengthening or jaw joint surgery. Both surgically invasive procedures that required longer healing periods and resulted in varying degrees of pain.

If you show too much gum when you smile, or think that your teeth are too short,  several treatments are available to improve your smile. Which option you choose will depend on your treatment preference, your situation and the severity of gum exposure.

3 Options

Option 1:

In no particular order is gum contouring: a simple procedure that can be performed in one appointment. Depending on your gums and your condition, it can typically add 1-2 mm to the length of your teeth and correct any gum discrepancies around individual ‘short teeth’.

Option 2 :

Is injecting the muscles responsible for lifting your lip when you smile with a muscle relaxant to reduce their strength – which in turn reduces how high your lip lifts when you smile. It involves 2 small injections close to either side of your nose and will work wonders. It’s very quick and easy but will require top ups.

Option 3:

Crown lengthening. This is where we decrease the amount of gum showing by increasing the exposure of your teeth by removing some bone below the gumline of the teeth. This then allows us to do further gum contouring similar to option 1.

Sometimes all of these procedures will be required to reach the desired result, however, each procedure will produce a significant improvement.

If you are interested in correcting your gummy smile with a smile makeover or cosmetic dentistry arrange a free consultation with us so we can explain the procedures in more detail and go through the costs. But rest assured both procedures are affordable.