A Gummy Smile
Treatment Information
Also known in medical terms as excessive gingival display, is when you smile and too much gum tissue shows above the top teeth.
There is not a set definition of a gummy smile, as it is not a medical problem.
A gummy smile is mainly based on personal perception.
However, there have been studies to determine what people consider excessive gingival display. In most cases, subjects rated smiles as attractive when two millimetres or less of gum tissue was exposed. At around three millimetres or more, the smile was thought to be gummy.
The most common causes of a gummy smile include:
Teeth that appear short and remain partially covered by gum tissue.
Teeth that are small in comparison to the gums, mainly due to genetics
An upper lip that is too short to cover the gums.
An upper lip that is normal in length when the face is resting, but lifts too high when smiling, hence exposing a lot of gum tissue.
Gingival hypertrophy (enlarged gum tissue)
Maxillary excess (an overgrowth of the upper jaw that makes gums bulge out)
Usually, the condition behind a gummy smile is genetic, so there’s nothing you can do to prevent it.
Botulinum toxin works by temporarily paralyzing the elevator muscles, so that they will not raise your upper lip dramatically whenever you smile. The results typically last around three to four months, so if you are considering eventual lip repositioning or another type of surgery to fix your gummy smile, this option can be a great way to test out what you will look like before undergoing surgery.
Botulinum toxin injections are considered an alternative treatment to extensive surgical procedures for severe gummy smile.
Botulinum is injected under local anaesthesia just above the smile, at the intersection of three muscles called the Yonsei Point. The toxin works by temporarily denervate the elevator muscles that cause the upper lip to excessively lift, hence showing too much gum tissue.
The procedure normally takes less than an hour to perform, with minimal downtime or side effects. Result lasts for around three or four months.