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Many patient come to Smileworks asking whether their gummy smile can be fixed. And like 99% of things at our practice the answer is yes it can!
There are so many different ways to correct a gummy smile and it’s actually a much bigger cause of anxiety and self consciousness in patients than many people think. So you are not alone and we understand what you might be feeling.
Patient say they have big gums, their teeth are too short or they have gummy teeth. It’s also something that many patients think is difficult to fix or expensive. Both of these are wrong.
There are many different ways of treating excessive gingival display (that’s what we call it) so stop worrying and come and see the professionals and get the smile you deserve. Want to know why Smileworks is so popular? Watch our short 30s video before you read on and see what it’s like to be a patient of ours.
Some patients get such great results from the procedure that their friends think they’ve had major dental work done like a full smile makeover! It’s really that effective. Especially combined with a few tips and tricks that our master dentists and aestheticians have up their sleeves to perfect the outcomes. Read on for all the info. Remember some of the most beautiful people in the world have what dentists, orthodontists and specialists would consider excessive gingival display. here’s a few of them:
Surprisingly one of the most popular treatment options for a gummy smile is Botox® treatment. A few units (£250 worth) of Botox® can get you a great result like this one below. This patient was delighted with his outcome and paid only £250. He will heave to return every 3-5 months though so it’s not a permanent fix.
The botox® is injected in the top lip and relaxes the muscles when you smile so that the smile line drops creating a really natural and attractive result. Many female (and some male) patients will augment their lip filler procedures with a bit of Botox® to drop the smile line and perfect their lip procedure.
Sometimes called gum sculpting, this is literally removing some of the gum that’s overgrown the teeth beneath to create ore white and less pink in your smile. It can be done with specialised instruments and is completely painless. Just 1mm of removed gum is a simple operation and you will heal in a week or so and the procedure is less invasive and rarely problematic at all.
This is a more invasive option and will require the removal of 2-3mm of gum tissue. The healing time is longer. The process may involve more specialised dentists and you need to be aware that this procedure is often carried out in conjunction with veneers treatment and the tooth surface that has been exposed will often be a slightly different shade so whitening will often be required also. Sometimes just gum can be removed but in other circumstances bone must also be removed. This is a job for our master restorative dentist Dr JK.
If you don’t have a short upper lip or a hypermobile lip (discussed above) but have wear or short teeth then these can be lengthened by porcelain veneers. The less invasive option would be composite veneers or composite bonding.
Composite bonding is the least expensive option with composite veneers being more expensive and porcelain costing up to £850 / tooth. At Smileworks we have a stellar reputation for this type of work and you can see some of our before and afters below.
All of the above procedures will take into account the shape, structure, underlying health, budget and – most importantly – what you want out of your treatment.
But be assured, we create some of our most beautiful results with these procedure and you will be surprised at how much planning and tie goes into creating the precise measurements, ratios and proportions to create perfect smiles for our patients. Many (almost all) patients are also surprised at how inexpensive these treatments are especially since 80% of patient pay on finance which can be as little as £45/month.
There are also surgical procedures available that are for people with hypermobile lips or short lips that are like a permanent version of the Botox treatments. Rather than paralysing the muscles for a few months they cut them. This is a very invasive option though and if tiny mistakes are made then revision surgeries are required and the risks are piled on further. For this you would need to look at a Cosmetic Surgery Clinic not a dentist.
Smileworks have your best interests at the heart of everything we do and out reams are committed to getting you the best results. But this doesn’t just meant the dental results but the results for your life, your happiness and how you live your life. That’s our promise. And that’s why we’re number one.
Showing too much gum is what dentists call gingival display or in more severe cases are referred to as excessive gingival display. It is a major concern for many patients because it causes feeling of self consciousness and makes people not want to smile of cover their mouths when they smile. There are 7 clinical reasons for it and they are complicated but you need not really worry too much about most of them apart from the first 3:
→ Short upper lip (most common)
→ Hypermobile lip – this is when your lip moves a lot when you smile and is also common.
→ Wear on the front teeth – so small looking front teeth
There are the three we will focus on but if you’re geeky (like us) then there are also some more causes like:
→ Excessive down-growth of the upper jaw – this is what dentists call vertical maxilliary excess
→ Anterior overeruptuion – this is where the front teeth come out to far from the jaw
→ Altered active eruption – This is where the teeth have not come out far enough from the boneincomplete eruption of gum tissue – this is where your gums just cover too much of your teeth.
There is an imaginary line called the smile line that we usually measure and use imaging technology to analyse for you. Sure it can get complicated but leave that to us. If you have trouble sleeping and are really really interested the it’s a great read and not too hard going.
The smile line should equal the curve of your lower lip when you smile. This is a reference point that dentist use to determine where the smile line should be ad whether you have a gummy smile or not.
But don’t be put off by scary dental words, Smileworks Dentists, Specialist Orthodontists Aestheticians and Dental Hygiene Therapists are the real masters of this part of dentistry because we have a multidisciplinary team who can all take a look at your case in and make sure it’s perfect.
So make an appointment and you’ll be able to see the multitude of methods from Botox® to tooth bonding to gum contouring that can make you feel great when you look in the mirror. Individual smile lines vary greatly and this is a very subjective part of dentistry. High or low smile lines are not associated always with beauty and some of the most beautiful people in the world have high smile lines.
However, there are accepted ratios and relationships that create the most esthetic outcomes. For women, the average length from the bottom of the nose to the cupids bow is 22mm whereas in men it’s 22-24. These are the proportions we work with when determining whether a patient has a high smile line but – of course – each patient is different.
At Smileworks we have a long-standing pedigree n facial anatomy and facial aesthetics and understand better than anybody how to create a balanced and proportionate outcome that will just wow you.
There’s some interesting research about how lay people (non dentists) dentists and orthodontists all disagree about what’s an acceptable amount of gum that should be showing. So please don’t just look at your favourite celebrities and want smile lines just like theirs. It’s up to you and it’s your choice and some people like showing more gum and others less.
So don’t worry and don’t get obsessed with things just because other people might be. If you’re interested it’s here but the TL:DR is that non dentists think about 3mm of gum is ok, orthodontists say 2mm and general dentists say 4mm. Perceptions of Altered Smile Esthetics: A Comparative Evaluation in Orthodontists, Dentists, and Laypersons
Here’s a short 30s video with some of our favourite patient reviews:
If you’re worried about the cost of gummy smile treatment then take a look at our dental plans or aesthetics memberships pages or take a look at the patient finance options here:
