Gummy smile. If you have excessive gingival display, you’re probably familiar with its colloquial synonym. This is when your gums are tall, or your teeth appear short—really, it’s both. In many such cases, an overabundance of soft tissue and bone may be hiding perfectly healthy dental structure. And there is something we can do. At Edgewater Dental, we offer two treatments for this type of gummy smile: crown lengthening and gingivectomy.

Note: There can be other causes for a gummy smile, such as worn teeth, where suitable treatments might be veneers or direct bonding.

What is Gingivectomy?

Gingivectomy is a treatment that recontours the gum tissue that covers a portion of the teeth. Dentists use either a laser or a scalpel to perform gingivectomy, but at Edgewater Dental, it’s almost always performed using a laser. This makes it a quick and painless procedure. The laser also sterilizes and cauterizes the gum tissue as we work, which promotes fast healing and recovery.

In addition to cosmetic enhancement, we can also reshape damaged or irregular gum tissue with laser gingivectomy.

What’s Crown Lengthening?

Crown lengthening is a similar treatment to gingivectomy, but it involves recontouring some bone tissue in addition to gum tissue. The more common scenario with excessive gingival display is that the healthy tooth structure we want to expose is hidden under both gum and bone. No worries—we can still use a laser, and it’s still a fairly easy procedure!

The dentist may recommend local anesthesia for crown lengthening, and any residual soreness is usually minor and manageable with over-the-counter NSAIDs.

Non-Cosmetic Crown Lengthening

Occasionally, crown lengthening is clinically indicated in order to place a dental crown. This happens when a tooth has deep decay that extends under the bone and gum tissue but is otherwise salvageable. In these cases, you're typically getting a root canal, and your doctor will let you know if crown lengthening is needed as part of the restorative plan.

Laser Crown Lengthening and Gingivectomy

Book an appointment at Edgewater Dental to learn more about how crown lengthening or gingivectomy can help reveal your full, gorgeous smile!