Are you self conscious about your gums when you smile?
When you think about your smile, your first thought is probably your teeth, right? But there are other things that impact the overall appearance of a smile. The gums aren’t just the space around the teeth; they give a smile its healthy appearance and impact how the teeth look. Healthy gums also prevent harmful bacteria from reaching the roots of our teeth.
Feeling self conscious of how much or how little your gums show when you smile is more common that you might think. Fortunately, there are treatments that can alter the appearance of gums for patients who are not happy with theirs.
3D Facial Design is an important stage of creating the treatment plan for any smile makeover. It takes into account the patient’s individual facial features and how they combine into a smile that looks naturally balanced.
Using video, we can analyze how much gum shows when smiling. Depending on how much or how little gum there is, we can shape and alter their appearance in relation with the other parts of the smile.
Many of our patients say they feel self conscious of their “gummy smile”, which is essentially an excessive display of gum tissue when smiling. This is commonly caused by a short - hyperactive upper lip. Botulinum Toxin can effectively manage a “gummy smile”. A minimal amount of Botox applied between the nose and the lip can be a conservative, natural-looking treatment option to decrease muscle activity and decrease the amount of gum tissue shown when smiling. Results typically last around three to four months.
On the other hand, gum recession can affect the overall look of your smile as well. In extreme cases of gum recession, we are able to cover root surfaces and help to prevent further recession. This surgical procedure, called a gum graft, involves taking small amount of from the palate (roof of the mouth) and carefully stitching in place in the area of recession.
There is more to a natural-looking, healthy smile than just the teeth. Just like a completed jigsaw is a more attractive picture than its single pieces on their own, a smile makeover with 3D Facial Design builds a truly attractive smile from a beautiful blend of its unique parts.
