If too much of your gums are visible when you smile or if you feel that your teeth are short comparing to what is visible from their gums then you have gum smile.
Normally, about 1-2 mm of the gums should be seen during a smile. Most people would think that there’s no treatment for it but it can be corrected considering its cause.
Reasons for gum smile
- Abnormal eruption of teeth which causes them to be cover by lots of gingival tissue.
- Excessive movement of muscles controlling the movements of the upper jaw which causes too uplifting of the lip.
- Too much growth in the upper jaw ( excessive enlargement of the maxilla)
Treatment of gum smile
The treatment could be one of the follows with respect to its cause:
- Laser therapy.
- Surgical excision of the excessive gingival tissue.
- Hanging the location of the lip by means of surgery.
- Botox injection in case of over active lip muscles.
- Inward movement of teeth with the help of orthodontic treatment.
- Surgery of the maxilla (upper jaw).
This operation is usually done on the front six teeth of the upper jaw.
