Cosmetic Dentistry in Charlotte: Correcting a Gummy Smile with a “Gum Lift”

Cos­metic Den­tistry can take many shapes and forms, and it is so impor­tant for you to find a cos­metic den­tist who knows about all the options, not just teeth whiten­ing and veneers.  Some­times those are the wrong thing, and that’s espe­cially true for patients with a “gummy smile.”

Some­times Teeth Look Short Because of Too Much Gum Cov­er­ing Them

Mia first came to my office in March 2007 to ask if Porce­lain Veneers could give her the smile she’d always wanted.  Her com­plaint was that her teeth were too short and square, and she hoped that veneers could make them longer.  How­ever, the prob­lem was NOT that her teeth were too short; the prob­lem was that she had too much gum COVERING her teeth, mak­ing them appear shorter than they really were.

Mia’s Smile Before

Don’t Put Crowns Close to Bone, or What is Biologic-Width Invasion?

Mia also had old den­tal crowns and bridges in need of replace­ment.  Twenty years ago, her den­tist put the edges very far under the gum and too close to the bone.  When that hap­pens, your body thinks it’s a for­eign object and tries to get rid of it, but can’t, so the gums get irri­tated, sore, and red — no mat­ter how much your brush and floss.  When a crown edge is too close to bone, we call it a bio­logic width inva­sion.

Cos­metic Gum Surgery, or a “Gum Lift”

So after plenty of con­sul­ta­tion, Mia decided to go with the cor­rec­tive gum surgery.  The tech­ni­cal name is “Esthetic Crown Length­en­ing,” which sim­ply means that we are mak­ing the teeth look pret­tier by mak­ing them look longer.  She told us before­hand that she felt very ner­vous, but after­wards said that it was much eas­ier and  less uncom­fort­able than she’d expected, and her heal­ing was much eas­ier than she’d thought.  Usu­ally the only dis­com­fort is some gum sore­ness, really.

Mia’s Smile After

Mia tells us she is sim­ply THRILLED with her smile now, and it’s easy to see why!

Con­ve­nient Den­tal Care

And for Mia, one of the best parts of the whole treat­ment was that we were able to do every­thing right here at Smiles by Payet Den­tistry, with no need to refer her to a spe­cial­ist.  I really loved giv­ing Mia the smile that she’d always wanted, with no unnec­es­sary drilling for porce­lain veneers that would not have solved her prob­lem in the first place.  We did also replace her old crowns and bridge on the upper right, and with the excess gum tis­sue removed there, too, now she has no prob­lems keep­ing the area clean, and her gums don’t bleed when she brushes or floss­ing.  Next will be the upper left side.

To make an appoint­ment for a Com­pli­men­tary Consultation:

Request an Appoint­ment Online or call us at 704–364-7069.

We’ll look for­ward to meet­ing you soon!