When your smile reveals a significant amount of gum tissue, it detracts from your teeth and may make you reluctant to smile. The technical name for this condition is excess gingival tissue, but you probably know it as a ‘gummy smile.’ It makes your teeth appear short even when they are normal size. Gum contouring therapy reduces the amount of visible gum tissue, while increasing the proportion of teeth that show above your gum line. People can develop a gummy smile for the following reasons:
Cardiologists and neurosurgeons have used a procedure called bi-polar electrosurgery for many years with great success. This procedure has recently become available to dentists as well. In the past, dentists used crown lengthening surgery to hide excess gum tissue for patients who felt dissatisfied with their smile. While it produced good results, it also had many drawbacks. Specifically, patients objected to the amount of bleeding and pain associated with crown lengthening surgery. It also required dentists to place protective dressing over the patient to complete the oral surgery.
Bi-polar electrosurgery enables dentists to contour affected gum tissue with extreme precision. Best of all, it takes just one hour for your dentist to completely re-contour your gum line. The results are immediate, which means you walk out of the office with a new smile and no need to allow for recovery time.