Some people show a little more gum than others when they smile and may feel self-conscious about it, however, this is not something you need to be concerned with for the rest of your life. We at Harley Street Dental Clinic can offer you a gum lift that will transform the look of your smile into something that you feel is more aesthetically pleasing than you have at the moment, we, your dentist in Harley Street are all about giving you the confidence you need to step forward in your life.
What causes a gummy smile?
The cause of longer gums and shorter looking teeth can be determined by your dentist in Harley Street but usually, they are caused by an excess of the soft tissue which grows over the tooth enamel making your teeth appear short and your gums longer. This extra gum tissue can be genetic or caused by certain medications or inflammation in the gum tissue.
Hyperactive lip muscles can also be a cause of showing a lot of gum when you smile; this means that the muscle beneath the nose that contract, when you smile, works a little too much and pulls the top lip too high. This is often a genetic trait but can be easily treated with muscle relaxing injections like Botox, this treatment is not a gum lift but can hide a gummy smile in these particular cases which is why it’s important for your dentist to determine what exactly is causing your problem of showing too much gum when you smile.
Poor dental development that isn’t treated in youth or as an adult can cause the upper arch to jut forward making the gums more apparent when you smile. If this is the case, your dentist will first prescribe an orthodontic treatment which will likely fix the issue before determining whether or not you need a gum lift.
The gum lift
If your problems are in fact caused by an excess of the soft gum tissue over the teeth then your dentist in Harley Street will recommend a gum lift, or gum reshaping, to treat and transform your smile. This treatment can involve one of two procedures:
Laser reshaping – for this rather straightforward and painless treatment we will use a specialised laser to reshape the gums into a more aesthetic position on your teeth to give you a smile you can feel confident about.
Surgery – in the case where your issues are a little more complicated, it may be determined that a laser just won’t be enough to help you restore a beautiful smile and we would recommend that you undergo a surgery where we remove bone and gum tissue to shape your smile into something you will be happy with.
Either of these treatments will benefit you by improving the appearance of your smile making it look more balanced, these treatments can offer you better dental health in the long run because gingivitis likes to grow beneath gums so if we can make the area for that growth less you will have a healthier smile for longer.