GUMMY SMILE CORRECTION
What’s considered a gummy smile?
No exact definition exists for a gummy smile. In reality, it largely rests in the eye of the beholder. Your perception of your gumline could be affected by:
- The height and shape of your teeth
- The way your lips move when you smile
- The angle of your jaw compared with the rest of your face
Generally speaking, 3 to 4 millimeters of exposed gumline is considered to be disproportionate, resulting in a gummy smile.
What causes a gummy smile?
According to research, several factors can contribute to a gummy smile. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most common causes.
Differences in the growth of your teeth
Sometimes the way your adult teeth grow in can result in a gummy smile. Though this varies from person to person, a small study found that it may be a family trait.
If your gums covered more of your teeth’s surface when they came in — a condition called altered passive eruption — it might have led to a gummy smile.
If the teeth in the front of your mouth grew in too far, or overerupted, your gums might have grown too far as well. This condition is known as dentoalveolar extrusion.
A gummy smile can also occur due to a condition called vertical maxillary excess. This is when the bones of your upper jaw grow longer than their typical length.
Lip Differences
A gummy smile can happen when your upper lip is on the shorter side. And if your lips are hypermobile — which means they move dramatically when you smile — they might expose more of your gumline.
Medications
Some medications can cause your gums to grow too much around your teeth. This is known as gingival hyperplasia.
Drugs that prevent seizures, suppress your immune system, or treat high blood pressure could cause the overgrowth of your gums.
In this case, it’s important to treat the condition. If untreated, the clinical overgrowth of gums can lead to periodontal disease.
Treatment options
Lip Repositioning Surgery
If your lips are the cause of your gummy smile, your doctor may suggest lip repositioning surgery. The procedure changes the position of your lips relative to your teeth.
It’s done by removing a section of connective tissue from the underside of your upper lip. This will prevent the elevator muscles located in the area of your lip and nose from lifting your upper lip too high above your teeth.
Botox
If moving your lips too far up over your gumline when you smile causes your gummy smile, you may have success with injections of botulinum toxin, also known as Botox.
Hyaluronic Acid
Another way to temporarily correct a gummy smile caused by hypermobile lips involves injections of hyaluronic acid fillers. The fillers restrict the movement of muscle fibers in your lip for up to 8 months.