Is There Help for My Gummy Smile?

Your smile is typically one of the first things that anyone notices about you. But if you have a gummy smile, you might find yourself self-consciously covering your mouth way too often.

You aren’t alone. Around 10% of 20-30-year-olds feel the same way, believing that their smiles show too much of their gums.

Karen Guinn, DDS and our dental team at The Smile Agency in Pasadena and West Covina, California understand how you feel. That’s why we offer treatments that provide ways to correct your gummy smile.

When you smile, you may see a lot of your gums due to:

1. The length of your teeth
2. The shape of your teeth
3. The way your lips move over your teeth
4. The size and angle of your jaw

If you have 3-4 millimeters of your gums showing, your smile might be considered disproportionately gummy.

You can develop a gummy smile for a number of reasons:

As you mature and your adult teeth come in, your gums can cover more of your teeth’s surface, or your teeth can grow in too far, which can cause your gums to grow too far, as well.

If the bones in your upper jaw grow longer than normal, your gums can be more exposed when you smile.

The appearance of your lips can cause a gummy smile. If your top lip is short, when you smile, it can slide up high, causing your gums to be more exposed.

Certain medications that treat hypertension, suppress your immune system, or prevent seizures can cause a condition called gingival hyperplasia, which causes the overgrowth of your gums around your teeth.

Our team offers several methods of treatment to give you a successful outcome. 

Treatment plans include:

Changing the shape of your smile with orthodontic treatments, such as Invisalign®, might be the answer for correcting your gum exposure.

For this procedure, we sculpt your gum line to expose more of your teeth that are underneath.

Botox doesn’t just treat wrinkles. Dr. Guinn injects the solution into your upper lip, where it inhibits the muscles that control excessive lip movement, causing less exposure of your gums.

When you come into our practice, we consult with you about your aesthetic goals and options, and we make a decision together about what’s right for you. 

To learn more about how to change the appearance of your gummy smile, schedule a consultation with our team. Call our friendly practice at either location, or book your appointment online today. We can also answer your questions ahead of time. Just send us a message.