Gummy Smile

What Is a Gummy Smile?

A gummy smile — clinicians call it excessive gingival display — is a smile in which more upper gum tissue is visible than the person considers proportionate. It reshapes how the teeth, gums and lips relate to each other: the teeth can look short, the gumline can dominate the smile, and the overall balance of the face can feel altered. It is rarely a medical emergency, and in many cases it does not indicate poor oral health at all. It is, first and foremost, a question of proportion.

There is no single measurement that defines a gummy smile for everyone. Smile aesthetics vary by facial structure, culture, age, gender, tooth shape and personal preference. One person is entirely comfortable with a visible band of gum; another finds the same amount distracting in every photograph. What matters clinically is not the millimetre count on its own, but whether the gum display is caused by a correctable factor — and whether treatment can be carried out without harming the gums, the teeth or the bite.

If you are researching what is a gummy smile and whether yours can be changed, the most useful starting point is this: the same visual result can come from at least five different anatomical sources, and the right treatment is different for each. That is why this page spends as much time on diagnosis as it does on procedures.

What is a gummy smile caused by?

A gummy smile is caused by one or more of the following: excess gum tissue covering part of the teeth, a developmental pattern called altered passive eruption, teeth that are genuinely short or worn, an upper lip that lifts more than average during smiling, a short upper lip, increased vertical height of the upper jaw, or upper teeth positioned lower in the face than the bite ideally requires. Gum enlargement linked to inflammation or to certain medications can also add to the effect. Several of these causes can coexist in the same person, which is why treating only one of them sometimes produces a partial result.

Is a gummy smile rare?

No — a gummy smile is not rare. Dentists and periodontists see it routinely, across all age groups and in every population. It tends to be more noticeable in younger adults, because the upper lip naturally lengthens with age and gum display often reduces over the decades. Some people have shown gum since childhood; others notice it after orthodontic treatment, gum changes, dental restorations or shifts in the upper lip and facial muscles.

Is a gummy smile beautiful?

It can be. Some visible gum is widely considered youthful, and many people with generous gum display have smiles that suit their faces very well. Beauty here is subjective and cultural, not clinical. This matters for treatment planning: the goal of correction is harmony between teeth, gums and lips, not the removal of every visible millimetre of gum. Overtreatment can make a smile look flat or artificial, and a thoughtful clinician will say so plainly.

When a Gummy Smile Affects the Way You Feel About Smiling

A smile is often one of the first features people notice, and self-consciousness about it tends to surface in specific, everyday moments — photographs, laughter, presentations, first meetings. Patients describe the same concern in different words: “My gums show too much when I smile.” “My teeth look short.” “My upper lip lifts too high.” “My smile does not match the rest of my face.” Some hold their lips deliberately when they smile; some avoid smiling fully in pictures altogether.

None of this makes the concern trivial. Confidence in your own smile affects social ease, professional presence and how you carry yourself. At the same time, it is worth stating the honest baseline: a gummy smile in itself is usually not a disease. The decision to treat it is elective in most cases, and it deserves the same careful weighing as any elective procedure — what the cause is, what the options are, what each option costs you in tissue, time and maintenance, and what a realistic result looks like for your particular anatomy.

The one exception to “purely cosmetic” is when the gum display is connected to an underlying oral health issue: swollen gums from gingivitis, medication-related gum overgrowth, tooth wear from grinding, or bite problems. In those situations, the aesthetic concern is the visible edge of something that benefits from treatment in its own right.

What Is Gummy Smile Treatment?

Gummy smile treatment is a group of dental, periodontal, orthodontic, surgical and minimally invasive aesthetic techniques used to reduce excessive gum display during smiling. Depending on the diagnosis, treatment may reshape the gumline, lengthen the visible part of the teeth, adjust tooth position, improve dental proportions, relax an overactive upper lip, or address jaw-related causes when the skeletal structure is the primary factor.

The main options, matched to their causes, are:

• Gum contouring (gingival reshaping) — removes or sculpts excess gum tissue to create a more even gumline and reveal more of the natural tooth surface.
• Crown lengthening — a periodontal procedure used when gum and sometimes bone tissue cover part of the tooth, so that the gum margin can be repositioned stably.
• Restorative dentistry — veneers, crowns, bonding or whitening, when tooth size, shape or colour contributes to the appearance.
• Orthodontic treatment — braces or aligners, when tooth position or the bite relationship is part of the cause.
• Muscle-relaxing injections — a minimally invasive, temporary option for a hyperactive upper lip.
• Orthognathic (jaw) surgery — reserved for specific structural indications such as pronounced vertical maxillary excess.

Because several factors can produce the same visual concern, gummy smile treatment is best planned after a comprehensive smile analysis: dental examination, periodontal evaluation, photographs, digital imaging, bite assessment, and X-rays or three-dimensional imaging when indicated. The treatment is selected according to the diagnosis — not simply according to how much gum is visible.

Is it possible to get rid of a gummy smile?

In many cases the amount of visible gum can be reduced meaningfully, but the honest questions are how much, by which method, and with what trade-offs. If the cause is excess gum tissue, contouring or crown lengthening can change the smile in a lasting way. If the cause is lip hyperactivity, injections reduce the display temporarily and require maintenance. If the cause is skeletal, only jaw surgery changes the underlying structure, and that is a major undertaking most patients do not need. A well-planned result is an improvement in balance; a promise of complete elimination should make you cautious, because healthy anatomy sets limits that a responsible clinician will respect.

How to fix a gummy smile?

How to fix a gummy smile depends entirely on why the gums show. Start with a diagnosis that separates the possible sources — gum tissue, tooth size, tooth position, lip movement, jaw structure — because each points to a different procedure. Removing gum tissue when the true cause is jaw position or lip hyperactivity produces an incomplete result. Using injections when the teeth are covered by excess gum gives only limited improvement. The step-by-step treatment pathways are described in detail further down this page.

Who May Need Gummy Smile Treatment?

People seek gummy smile treatment when gum visibility affects facial balance, smile confidence or dental aesthetics. The concern may be mild and purely cosmetic, or it may be connected to functional issues such as altered eruption, gum overgrowth, tooth wear, bite problems or jaw position. A careful consultation distinguishes aesthetic preferences from conditions that need more structured dental or surgical care.

Typical concerns include:

• Excessive gum show during a full smile
• Teeth that appear shorter than expected, even when well aligned
• An uneven gumline that creates asymmetry
• A smile that looks “high” or strained
• A visible band of gum above the upper teeth in photographs
• An upper lip that rises quickly or dramatically when smiling

Some patients are good candidates for a relatively simple procedure such as gum contouring. Others need combined care: crown lengthening if the teeth never fully emerged after development, orthodontic planning if the bite is deep or the upper teeth sit too low, a surgical consultation if the upper jaw has excessive vertical height, or temporary muscle-relaxing treatment if strong lip movement is the main driver.

Treatment may not be recommended immediately — or at all — if there is untreated gum disease, active infection, uncontrolled dental decay, poor oral hygiene, unrealistic expectations, or medical factors that affect healing. In those situations, the first step is to stabilise oral health and clarify what treatment can reasonably achieve. This is not a delay tactic; contouring inflamed tissue produces unpredictable results, and no reputable clinician will reshape gums that are actively diseased.

Causes and Smile Concerns Gummy Smile Treatment Can Address

Identifying the cause is the foundation of choosing the right method and avoiding overtreatment. The following patterns account for most gummy smiles, alone or in combination.

Excess gum tissue

Excess gum tissue can make otherwise normal teeth appear short or square. It can occur naturally, develop after orthodontic treatment, or result from gum enlargement related to inflammation or certain medications. When the underlying tooth and bone anatomy allow it, gum contouring improves the gumline and reveals more of the natural tooth surface. The key diagnostic question is where the bone sits beneath the gum: if the bone is close to the planned new gum margin, simple contouring will not hold and crown lengthening is the more stable choice.

Altered passive eruption

Altered passive eruption is a developmental pattern in which the gum tissue does not recede to its expected position after the teeth erupt. The teeth are usually normal in size, but too much of each tooth remains covered by gum, so the visible crowns look short. In these cases, crown lengthening or periodontal reshaping may be considered, sometimes with bone contouring to establish a healthy, stable gum margin. This is one of the most rewarding diagnoses to identify, because the “short” teeth are often perfectly proportioned once uncovered.

Short clinical crowns

Short clinical crowns can result from tooth wear, tooth shape, genetics or previous dental conditions. When the teeth are genuinely small or worn — rather than covered — gum reshaping alone will not create the desired proportion. Restorations such as bonding, veneers or crowns may be used to improve tooth length and shape while preserving function and bite stability. If grinding or acid erosion caused the wear, that cause needs managing too, or the new restorations will wear the same way.

Hyperactive upper lip

A hyperactive upper lip elevates more than average during smiling, exposing gum that is entirely normal in quantity. In carefully selected patients, minimally invasive muscle-relaxing injections can reduce the degree of lip elevation. The effect is temporary and must be planned conservatively enough to preserve natural expression, speech and smile dynamics. For some patients this works well as a trial run before considering longer-lasting procedures; for others it becomes a maintenance treatment they repeat by choice.

Vertical maxillary excess

Vertical maxillary excess means increased vertical height of the upper jaw. It can create significant gum display, a long lower facial third, or difficulty closing the lips comfortably at rest. Mild cases can sometimes be camouflaged with dental or soft-tissue procedures. More pronounced cases warrant evaluation by maxillofacial surgery specialists, because no amount of gum contouring changes the position of the jaw itself.

Tooth position and bite issues

Tooth position and bite relationships contribute to a gummy smile when the upper teeth sit too low, the bite is deep, or the dental arch is not positioned harmoniously within the face. Orthodontic treatment can reposition teeth and improve smile balance, sometimes in combination with periodontal or restorative procedures. This route takes longer than a single-visit procedure, but when tooth position is the true cause, it addresses the problem rather than disguising it.

Uneven gumline

An uneven gumline can create asymmetry even when total gum display is modest — one tooth framed higher than its neighbour draws the eye. Depending on the cause, this may be addressed with localised gum contouring, periodontal treatment or restorative planning. Asymmetry caused by recession is a different problem from asymmetry caused by excess tissue, and the two are treated in opposite directions.

How a Gummy Smile Is Diagnosed

Diagnosis begins with listening: what exactly bothers you, since when, and what you would like to change. The clinician then evaluates the smile at rest, during speech and during a full smile. This matters because a smile is dynamic — a gumline that looks well designed at rest can behave differently when the lip is in full motion. Tooth display at rest, gum display during a posed smile, lip length, lip mobility, gum thickness, tooth proportions, bite relationship and facial profile all influence the plan.

The dental and periodontal examination assesses gum health, plaque control, inflammation, pocket depth, bone levels and tooth support. If the gums are swollen from gingivitis, medication effects or inadequate home care, treatment begins with periodontal care before any aesthetic reshaping is considered. Imaging — X-rays and, when indicated, three-dimensional scans — evaluates tooth roots, bone contours and eruption patterns.

Digital planning is genuinely useful here because gummy smile correction is measured in millimetres, and small changes affect the whole smile. Digital smile analysis, intraoral scanning and standardised photography let the clinician evaluate symmetry, proportions and the relationship between the gumline and the upper lip. In some cases a temporary mock-up is placed on the teeth to preview proposed changes in tooth length or shape before anything irreversible is done. If you are offered treatment without this kind of analysis — particularly veneers or gum surgery proposed at a first glance — treat that as a reason to slow down.

How Gummy Smile Treatment Is Performed

Whatever the eventual procedure, the pathway follows the same sequence:

1. Consultation and history. Goals, dental history, prior orthodontic or cosmetic work, medical history, current medications, smoking status and healing factors are discussed. Existing X-rays, photographs or records can often be reviewed in advance.
2. Smile analysis. Static and dynamic assessment, photographs, scans and imaging as described above.
3. Preparation. Any inflammation, decay, leaking restorations or bite instability is addressed first. Healthy tissue is a precondition for accurate contouring and predictable healing. Medication that affects gum tissue or healing is reviewed with the treating physician — any adjustment is that doctor’s decision, never something to change on your own.
4. The procedure itself. Matched to the diagnosis, as detailed below.
5. Follow-up and maturation. Gum tissue continues to settle for weeks to months; final restorative work, where planned, waits for stable tissue.

Gum contouring (gingival reshaping)

For simple gum contouring, local anaesthesia is used to keep the area comfortable. The clinician marks the intended gumline based on planned tooth proportions and symmetry, then reshapes the excess tissue with periodontal instruments, laser-assisted tools or electrosurgical techniques, depending on the case and the clinician’s judgement. The aim is to sculpt without removing too much tissue or compromising tooth support. Many contouring procedures are completed in a single clinical visit after planning, though follow-up remains part of the treatment.

Crown lengthening

Crown lengthening is more involved because the gum margin must sit in a stable relationship with the underlying bone. After local anaesthesia, the gum tissue is gently lifted or reshaped, and small amounts of supporting bone may be contoured where necessary to create a healthy relationship between tooth, bone and gum margin. Sutures may be placed. Healing takes longer than superficial contouring, and any final restorative work is usually delayed until the tissues have matured — rushing this stage is a common cause of results that drift.

Restorative dentistry: bonding, veneers and crowns

When tooth size or proportion is part of the cause, restorative dentistry enters the plan. After diagnostic planning, teeth may be enhanced with bonding, veneers or crowns — sometimes as part of a broader smile makeover when several aesthetic concerns are being addressed together. These are not cosmetic add-ons: they must fit the bite, protect tooth structure and maintain gum health. Before veneers or crowns are placed, the dentist evaluates enamel thickness, alignment, colour, gum levels and long-term maintenance needs. Reshaping a smile without first diagnosing the gum and bite environment leads to irritation, unstable margins or restorations that age poorly.

Orthodontic treatment

When tooth position or a deep bite contributes to the gum display, braces or aligner systems can move the teeth into better positions and reduce the display caused by dental positioning. In selected cases, temporary anchorage devices or other orthodontic mechanics are used to intrude upper teeth — to move them slightly upward within the bone — which directly reduces how low the teeth and their gum margins sit in the smile. This requires careful planning and monitoring, and the timeline is measured in months rather than visits.

Can clear aligners fix a gummy smile?

Sometimes — but only when tooth position is the actual cause. Aligners can improve a deep bite and reposition teeth, and in suitable cases this reduces gum display. Significant intrusion of upper front teeth is mechanically demanding for aligners alone and often needs auxiliary techniques or fixed appliances. Aligners cannot remove excess gum tissue, change lip movement or alter jaw height, so if your gum display comes from those sources, aligners will straighten your teeth and leave the gum display largely unchanged. An orthodontist can tell you before treatment which category you fall into; that conversation is worth having before committing to a long aligner plan for this reason.

Lip repositioning and injections for a hyperactive lip

For a hyperactive upper lip, targeted muscle-relaxing injections reduce the excessive upward pull during smiling. The appointment is short and downtime is typically minimal, but the effect is temporary and dosing must be conservative to preserve natural expression. For patients who like the injected result and want something longer-lasting, a surgical lip repositioning procedure — which limits how far the lip can elevate — may be discussed in selected cases, with its own healing period and its own limits.

Orthognathic surgery for jaw-related cases

When vertical maxillary excess or a functional bite problem is the primary cause, evaluation involves orthodontists and oral and maxillofacial surgeons together. Orthognathic surgery repositions the upper jaw itself. It is a major pathway — imaging, orthodontic preparation, surgical planning and a structured recovery — and it is not necessary for most gummy smile patients. It is, however, the appropriate discussion when the skeleton is the cause, because every other option in these cases is camouflage. Patients weighing surgical options can read how surgical risks and safety checks are explained before treatment as part of preparing for that conversation.

How long does treatment take?

It depends on the method. An injection appointment is short. Gum contouring is often one clinical visit after planning. Crown lengthening needs more recovery and follow-up. Restorative dentistry involves multiple visits, including laboratory stages. Orthodontic or jaw-surgery pathways run for months or longer. A personalised timeline — reflecting your diagnosis, the sequence of care and your own scheduling constraints — should be part of the consultation, not an afterthought.

Non-Surgical Gummy Smile Correction Options

Non-surgical gummy smile correction options exist for several of the causes described above, and for many patients they are the sensible place to start. The main non-surgical routes are:

• Periodontal therapy. If the gums are swollen from inflammation, professional cleaning and improved home care can reduce the tissue volume without any cutting at all. Bleeding when brushing is a common sign that this applies — a concern covered in more detail on our bleeding gums page.
• Muscle-relaxing injections. Temporary reduction of upper-lip elevation, repeated at intervals if the patient wants to maintain the effect.
• Orthodontics. Braces or aligners, when tooth position is the cause — non-surgical, though not quick.
• Whitening and bonding. Where colour and minor shape contribute to the impression of a gum-dominated smile, conservative additions can shift the visual balance without removing tissue.

The honest limitation: non-surgical options cannot uncover tooth structure that is buried under gum and bone, and they cannot change jaw height. When the diagnosis points there, a procedure is the effective answer, and stretching a non-surgical option beyond its indication wastes time and money. An overview of what conservative approaches can and cannot do across specialties is available on our non-surgical procedures page.

Why Acting Early Matters

Because a gummy smile is often an aesthetic concern, many patients reasonably ask whether evaluation can simply wait. Often it can — treatment is elective in most cases. But delaying evaluation allows underlying problems to progress when the gum display is related to inflammation, gum enlargement, bite trauma, tooth wear or eruption issues.

Early assessment establishes whether the visible gum is cosmetic or part of a larger oral health pattern. Swollen gums from gingivitis can improve substantially with periodontal care, while untreated inflammation can progress to bleeding, recession, bone loss or tooth mobility over time. Tooth wear that makes the teeth appear short will continue if grinding, acid erosion or bite imbalance is not managed. Uneven gum levels may signal recession or periodontal defects that need attention before any aesthetic work.

Acting early also preserves options. When gum and bone levels are healthy, conservative procedures are often possible; once disease progresses or tooth structure is lost, treatment becomes more complex and more expensive in tissue terms. Patients considering veneers or crowns should be especially deliberate here — the diagnosis has to come before the restoration, not the other way round.

Early planning is also simply practical. Reviewing existing records, photographs and X-rays before committing to a plan clarifies whether treatment can realistically be completed in one visit or whether staged care is safer. That knowledge prevents rushed decisions and leaves proper time for diagnostics, healing, laboratory work and follow-up.

Potential Benefits of Gummy Smile Treatment

When the treatment is matched correctly to the cause, patients may see aesthetic, functional and oral health benefits together. The table below summarises what each benefit means in practice — noting that individual results depend on diagnosis, anatomy and healing.

Benefit	What It Means for You
Improved smile balance	The teeth, gums and lips can appear more proportionate, creating a smile that better fits your facial features.
More natural tooth proportions	Teeth that looked short because of excess gum tissue may appear longer and more harmonious after appropriate reshaping.
Enhanced gumline symmetry	Uneven gum margins can often be refined to create a more even frame around the teeth.
Conservative treatment options	Some causes can be treated with minimally invasive techniques, depending on gum health, tooth anatomy and lip movement.
Better foundation for restorative dentistry	When veneers, bonding or crowns are planned, gum and tooth proportions can be coordinated for a healthier long-term result.
Increased confidence when smiling	Many patients feel more comfortable smiling in photographs, social settings and professional interactions.

Recovery Timeline After Gummy Smile Treatment

Recovery depends on the technique. Injections involve little downtime; gum contouring heals over days to weeks; crown lengthening takes longer to mature. The timeline below gives a general sense of what many patients experience after the common procedural options.

Time Period	What Patients Can Expect
Day 1	Mild tenderness, swelling or sensitivity may occur after gum contouring or crown lengthening. Soft foods and specific oral hygiene instructions are usually advised.
First Week	Initial healing begins. The gumline may look improved but still slightly swollen. Sutures, if placed, are checked or removed according to the plan.
First Month	Gum tissues continue to settle and sensitivity usually decreases. If restorative treatment is planned, the clinician waits for stable tissue before finalising veneers, crowns or bonding.
Several Months	After crown lengthening or more advanced periodontal procedures, the gumline continues to mature. Final aesthetic judgement is most accurate once tissues have fully stabilised.
Longer Term	Results are maintained with good oral hygiene, regular dental visits, stable bite function and any planned maintenance for temporary treatments such as lip-relaxing injections.

After gum contouring, most patients return to light daily activities quickly, with tenderness or sensitivity for several days while the gums heal. After crown lengthening, the gums take several weeks to settle and longer to fully mature — patience at this stage is what protects the final result. Restorative work may involve temporary sensitivity between visits. After lip injections, patients are usually advised to avoid rubbing the area or strenuous activity for a short period. Orthodontic and surgical pathways carry their own structured follow-up schedules, set by the treating team.

What Influences the Outcome of Gummy Smile Treatment?

A good result rests on three things: correct diagnosis, precise planning and healthy tissue. The same amount of gum display can have very different causes, and mismatched treatment is the most common route to disappointment — removing gum tissue when the cause is jaw position gives an incomplete result; injecting the lip when the teeth are covered by excess gum gives only limited improvement.

Gum health comes first. Inflamed or swollen gums do not heal predictably and distort the appearance of the gumline, so professional cleaning, periodontal treatment and consistent home care may be required before aesthetic work begins. Smoking slows gum healing, and conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes raise the risk of complications — these factors should be discussed honestly at consultation, because they shape what is safe to offer.

Tooth proportions set the ceiling on what gum work alone can achieve. If teeth are naturally small, worn or misshapen, contouring reveals more tooth but may still not create the desired proportion, and restorative planning becomes necessary. Conversely, if the teeth are normal but hidden, periodontal treatment alone may be sufficient — the more conservative answer, when it applies, is the better one.

Lip movement determines how the smile behaves in motion. A gumline that looks well designed at rest can still show generous gum in a full, spontaneous laugh if the upper lip elevates strongly. Dynamic assessment — photographs and sometimes video — is what catches this before treatment rather than after.

Bite and tooth position matter for stability. If the upper teeth sit too low or the bite is deep, orthodontic movement can offer a more stable correction than reshaping soft tissue around a positional problem. Controlled tooth movement takes time, and there is no honest shortcut around that.

Healing biology varies from person to person: gum thickness, bone shape, immune response, oral hygiene, medications and genetics all influence how tissue settles. This is why follow-up visits are built into the plan, particularly after crown lengthening or combined periodontal-restorative care.

Expectations carry as much weight as technique. A refined result should look natural when speaking, laughing and smiling fully — an improvement in harmony, not the erasure of every millimetre of gum. Some gum show is youthful and attractive; overtreatment flattens a smile. A thoughtful plan respects both your preferences and the limits of healthy anatomy, and a clinician who explains those limits before treatment is doing their job properly.

How Gummy Smile Care Is Organised at Acibadem

Patients who come to Acibadem for a gummy smile concern are usually looking for more than a single aesthetic procedure — they want the diagnosis done properly before anything irreversible happens. The approach brings dental, periodontal, restorative, orthodontic and, when needed, oral and maxillofacial expertise together within a hospital-based healthcare system, which matters most in exactly the cases where a gummy smile is not a one-procedure problem.

Multidisciplinary thinking is particularly valuable here. A periodontist evaluates gum and bone architecture. A restorative dentist assesses tooth proportions and future veneer or crown design. An orthodontist determines whether tooth position contributes to the smile. A maxillofacial surgeon is consulted if jaw structure is a major factor. In complex cases, collaborative case discussion aligns the plan before irreversible steps are taken — the working principle is that the conservative option is tested against the diagnosis first, and escalation happens only when the anatomy requires it.

Technology supports judgement rather than replacing it: digital imaging, intraoral scanning, dental photography, radiographic evaluation and computer-assisted smile planning make tooth length, gumline symmetry, bite relationships and facial proportions measurable and visible, so the plan is easier for you to understand and question. When surgery is involved, advanced imaging helps evaluate bone contours and anatomical limits.

Planning around time is treated as part of the clinical work, not an add-on. Some procedures fit into a compact schedule; others are safer staged, with healing or laboratory phases between visits. Reviewing records, photographs and imaging at the start of planning clarifies which category a case falls into, so that appointments, healing windows and laboratory stages can be sequenced realistically rather than compressed.

Experienced clinicians also protect patients from overly aggressive aesthetics. A well-made gummy smile result is not simply a lower gumline or longer-looking teeth; it requires respect for periodontal health, enamel preservation, bite function, facial expression and long-term maintenance. A recommendation for veneers, gum surgery, injections or jaw surgery — wherever it was made — is always worth testing against the diagnosis: does it match the actual cause of the gum display, and does it belong before or after any orthodontic or restorative work?

Making the Decision: Diagnosis Before Procedure

If a gummy smile bothers you, the most valuable first step is not choosing a procedure — it is getting an accurate diagnosis. Excess gum display can come from the gums, the teeth, the lips, the bite or the jaw, and the right treatment follows from identifying which of these, alone or in combination, is at work in your smile. A careful evaluation tells you whether a simple procedure is enough or whether a combined plan would produce a safer and more natural result.

The questions worth taking into any consultation, anywhere, are simple: What is causing my gum display? Which option addresses that cause rather than masking it? What does the conservative version of the plan look like? How will the result behave when I laugh, not just when I pose? And what maintenance does the result need over the years? A clinician who answers those questions specifically — with your photographs, your measurements and your anatomy in front of them — is giving you the basis for a decision you will still be comfortable with long after the smile has healed.