Gummy smile also known as excessive gingival display is a smile that shows an excessive amount of gum under the upper lip. It is a common unaesthetic clinical condition, which can be caused by an abnormal dental eruption (delayed passive eruption), hyperfunction of the upper lip elevator muscle, excessive vertical growth of the maxilla bone, over-eruption of the maxillary anterior teeth, or a combination of the above described factors.[1][2] Several treatment options have been proposed to enhance the smile display and to reduce the gingival exposure.[3]


Gummy smile

 There are different levels of gummy smile severity:
  • Mild: between two to four millimeters of gum are shown.
  • Moderate: four to six millimeters of gum are shown when smiling.
  • Severe: more than six millimeters of gum are shown when smiling

Mild



Moderate


Severe

What causes a gummy smile?

The causes of a gummy smile are numerous:
  • The muscles that control the upper lip are hyperactive and causes the upper lip to lift up higher than usual, which in turn displays more of the gums when smiling than normal.
  • Abnormal dental eruption
  • Excessive vertical growth of the bone
  • Wear of the teeth that have decompensated the proportion between tooth and gum
What Treatment Options are Available for Gummy Smiles?

If you suspect that you have a gummy smile and you want to seek treatment options, please come visit Dr. so can assess your smile and recommend appropriate treatment options. During the examination process, Dr will take a look at your mouth, your gums, and your teeth to determine the possible causes of your gummy smile along with other oral health concerns like gum disease. This examination could be a simple conventional look or it could involve more extensive methods like digital impressions of your gums and teeth. An x-ray image can also help examine your jaw bone and tooth roots.

Here are some of the treatment options available to treat gummy smiles, along with a description of what the treatment is:

Laser gum treatment

With the use of a laser, diseased tissue can be eradicated while healthy tissue is left untouched. This is used for gum disease treatment which can be a cause behind a gummy smile. The laser will make it so that your gum line is ultimately at a level acceptable for Lip repositioning surgery corrects a gummy smile by limiting the elevator pull muscles, which are responsible for lifting the upper lip.

 

Laser gum treatment

Lip repositioning surgery

The procedure restricts how high the upper lip can rise when you smile, keeping it closer to your teeth and minimizing the amount of visible gum.


Lip repositioning surgery

  Maxillofacial surgery

In some cases, a patient’s jaw bone needs to repositioned in order to solve the issue of a gummy smile.


Maxillofacial surgery

Orthodontic treatment

Braces and aligners can help reposition your teeth into a more suitable position which can correct some gummy smiles.


Orthodontic treatment