Concerns We Treat
Gummy Smile
A smile that reveals a band of gum above the upper teeth, from a lip that lifts higher than most.
A smile that reveals a band of gum above the upper teeth, from a lip that lifts higher than most.
A gummy smile is one that shows a band of gum above the upper teeth when you smile fully. It is common, and for many a feature carried since youth, made by an upper lip that simply lifts higher than average when the face smiles.
Where the cause is a muscle that pulls the lip up strongly, a small dose of relaxer can ease that pull so the lip rests a little lower over the gum. It does not change the teeth or the gum themselves, only how high the lip rises.
Treatment suits the patient whose gum show comes from a strong lip lift rather than the teeth or bone, who would welcome a softer, lower smile line and is comfortable maintaining it over time. It is at its best as a gentle easing, not a dramatic change.
Most often a gummy smile comes from the muscles that elevate the upper lip pulling it higher than usual as you smile, exposing the gum above the teeth. In some it owes more to the shape and length of the lip, the height of the teeth, or the way the gum and bone sit, which muscle work cannot change.
Reading which of these is at play, and in what measure, decides whether a relaxer is the right answer or only part of one.
You may notice:
A gummy smile is usually present from youth and owes more to anatomy than to age. With the years the upper lip tends to lengthen and descend a little, which can soften a gummy smile on its own. Treatment, where chosen, is a steady rather than a one-time thing, since the muscle resumes its pull as the relaxer wears off.
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