Sometimes, it’s called a gummy smile. But you might call it something else. Either way, your smile has too much gum tissue showing, and it makes your teeth look oddly small. That can be embarrassing enough that you try to hide your smile (or at least never show your teeth and gums when you do).
Cosmetic dentistry can help with more than just your teeth. That’s because your gums play a small but important part of your smile. Call our Nashua, NH dental office today at 603-546-7460 and make an appointment for gum reshaping.
What Is Gum Reshaping?
Gum reshaping is also known as gummy smile treatment or gum contouring because it helps when your smile is more gums than teeth.
Normally, there’s a balance between your teeth and your gums when you smile. That balance should be in your teeth’s favor, with your gums showing just a bit in your smile. But when you have a gummy smile, you have too much gum tissue. It covers more of your teeth. This throws your smile out of balance and can make your teeth look too small.
There are several reasons this can happen, but it often comes down to simple genetics: You were born having larger gums than you should. In gum reshaping, the gumline (where your gums stop and your teeth begin) is moved away from your teeth. This helps balance your smile so you’re not embarrassed to show it to others.
Virtually Painless Dental Laser
At Nashua Family Dentistry, Dr. Nguyen is our periodontist (a dentist who specializes in gums). He is a member of the American Academy of Periodontology, giving him specialized training in gum reshaping. In fact, you can get gum reshaping with one of the latest technological advances in dentistry: the dental laser.
This soft tissue laser is used to gently remove tiny portions of your gums. Normally, you’d have to remove excess gum tissue through surgery. By using the laser instead, you’ll have much less bleeding and a faster recovery time. Even better, gum reshaping with a dental laser is virtually painless.
How You Can Benefit From Gum Reshaping
Here are a few ways getting gummy smile treatments from our Nashua, NH dental office will benefit you.
BALANCE GUMS AND TEETH
This is probably the most immediate benefit. When you have a gummy smile, you can be worried about how it looks to other people. Then again, you could wish you didn’t see it in the bathroom mirror. Either way, gum reshaping will bring back the balance you want between your teeth and your gums.
PREPARE FOR DENTAL RESTORATIONS
A gummy smile can get in the way of some dental restorations. Dental veneers and dental crowns both cover your teeth. If your gumline is too low, there might not be enough of your teeth available to safely hold onto your veneers or crowns. Gummy smile treatments with our dental laser can move your gumline so your dental restorations can be successful.
MAKE YOUR TEETH LOOK LONGER
One of the cosmetic dentistry problems with a gummy smile is that your teeth look small. While there certainly is a problem with showing too much of your teeth, showing too little still detracts from your otherwise great-looking smile. Gum contouring gently removes excess gum tissue. This can make your teeth have the right length and size.
EVEN OUT YOUR GUMLINE
Straight lines in your smile look better. That’s why people get Invisalign and straighten out their teeth. Because your gums play an important role in your smile, you also need your gumline to be straight. With a crooked gumline, your smile looks slanted. Thankfully, gum reshaping can selectively remove excess gum tissue until that line is straight and even.
BOOST YOUR SELF-ESTEEM
When you have a gummy smile, your confidence and self-esteem can be lower. That’s because you don’t like how it looks when you smile. Gum reshaping gets that balance back that you need to look good. Once that’s done, your self-esteem can get a boost because you’re more confident in how your smile looks to others.
Call Nashua Family Dentistry today at 603-546-7460 or use our convenient online form to schedule your next appointment for gum reshaping.