What Causes a Gummy Smile?

Last updated Monday, November 27th, 2023

So I have been asked, “What Causes a Gummy Smile?” I’m Dr. Hanna Mansoor with Smiles by Hanna, in Gilbert, Arizona. Many patients that have a gummy smile usually have a high, excessive upper lip movement, so their smile shows more gum and bone. It’s not aesthetically pleasing so we can help our patients with that. What we do is we use a laser to make the teeth bigger and take away some of the bone and tissue. It gives the patient a more pleasing smile, not as excessive with the gum tissue and bone. Again, this procedure is done with a laser to there is less bleeding, less swelling and less pain. Its a non invasive procedure, which is a great option.

Sometimes the patient has a very high lip line, so another option is to bring the lip down by stitching it down to the tissue so that it doesn’t move up and down as much. This We also offer Botox Lip Injections as a great alternative as well.

The reasons patients have this is just the way that they developed, the way their skeletal bones developed and the growth pattern. Sometimes we can also fix that with just orthodontics. That is a very conservative option. We can play with the height of the teeth, gum and bone.

So come see us at Smiles by Hanna in Gilbert because you deserve to feel beautiful.