Gummy Smile Treatment

What causes a gummy smile?

There are various reasons why you may have a gummy smile, including genetics. However, some issues of use or poor oral hygiene can also cause excess gum tissue.

Misaligned teeth

Some adult teeth can naturally grow along with excess gum, which is often a genetic trait. These growth traits can be divided into three categories:

• Altered passive eruption: Occurs when adult teeth are significantly covered by your gums when they grow in.
• Dentoalveolar extrusion: If your front teeth grew in too far, your gums may have grown too far alongside them.
• Vertical maxillary excess: The bones of your upper jaw have grown longer than their usual length.

Beyond growth issues, teeth that are crowded or have large gaps between them can seem too short for the amount of gum around them. This can happen even if your teeth are the right size, it is just the illusion created by misalignment.

Teeth or Gum Wear

Usage can cause your teeth to wear down over time, making your upper teeth shift downwards. The gums thus move down alongside the teeth, creating extra gum tissue.

Additionally, poor oral hygiene or excessive mouth breathing can encourage gum overgrowth.

Lip Differences

A gummy smile can be caused by a genetically short upper lip or overactive lip elevator muscles when smiling.

Long Face Syndrome

‘Long face syndrome’ has been known to cause a gummy smile. Difficulties with breathing through the nose during development can cause mouth breathing and failure of the tongue to rest on the palate of the mouth.

This leads to downward growth of the upper jaw rather than widening. This produces a long face, difficulties with closing the mouth, a relatively short upper lip and gum show.

Who is a suitable candidate for gummy smile treatment?

Generally, anyone who has a gummy smile is suitable for treatment. Unless there is an underlying health issue, or impracticality of the procedure pertaining to your particular smile, treatment should be viable.

If you have any concerns or questions, ask your doctor for more information.

Who cannot get gummy smile injections?

The main reason why you may not be able to get your new smile is the placement of your features before treatment.

One issue is if you have a long distance between your nose and upper lip; also known as a cutaneous lip. Aesthetically this treatment may not be possible as the area will lengthen over time, making it less attractive.

Alternatively, if the bottom of your lip’s middle is lower than that of the outer lip when you smile, you cannot use muscle relaxant injections. Normally the muscle that lifts the middle of the lip is relaxed, but if it is lower than the outer part it will drop further after treatment. This is known as a joker smile.

What can I expect during gummy smile treatment?

Here at Victoria Cosmetic Institute, we specialise in anti wrinkle injections and dermal fillers. When it comes to the injections, the exact dosage of muscle relaxants used in the procedure will be determined by your doctor and injected into the chosen lip muscles. Oftentimes a smaller dosage will be used for your initial treatment, and a top up performed if required, to prevent over treatment. Fine needles are used, meaning there will be virtually no discomfort. 

There may be some bruising or swelling around the injection sites at that time, but they should disappear within two to three days. There will be a follow-up treatment needed at some point to maintain your smile.

If your doctor suggests dermal fillers, local anaesthesia will be used prior to fillers being injected with a cannula. Your practitioner will regularly assess the placement and effect of the filler throughout the procedure to ensure the best results.

If having dermal filler, this procedure can take anywhere from thirty to sixty minutes to perform, and will take a few weeks to fully take effect. Some swelling or bruising is likely to occur during this recovery time, and will take a week or two to disappear. If you’re having anti-wrinkle injections the treatment is much quicker to perform, taking anywhere from ten to twenty minutes to perform.

FAQs

Is gummy smile treatment painful?

A numbing agent is used before any procedure, meaning that there should be no pain during the treatment.

How many treatments will I need?

An anti wrinkle injection treatment will take one to two treatments for a perfect smile. Dermal fillers generally only take the one, but both procedures need upkeep, which is determined by how effective the treatment is and how well it lasts. Dermal filler, if performed, would usually be in conjunction with anti-wrinkle injections.

How much does gummy smile treatment cost?

The exact costs depend on which treatment is chosen, as well as the number of treatments needed for your gummy smile. To get an estimate of how much your procedure may cost, our pricing page has a comprehensive list of treatment and consultation costs.

What is the recovery and down time like for gummy smile injections?

There are several rules to follow after a procedure in order to keep your smile healthy. These include:

• Not touching the injection sites for at least six hours
• No lying down for the next four hours
• No makeup for four hours, and no acid face products for at least twenty-four hours
• No heavy exercise or massages that day
• Avoiding excess sun and saunas for at least one week

If you follow these rules, your new smile should maintain its shape with no further issues. If you find the bruising or swelling around your lips have not gone down during the time your doctor has estimated, or you are experiencing any significant pain, you should contact your doctor for consultation.