Re: Gummy Smile correction

brittludwig@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

Hello -

I have been investigating orthognathic surgery to help correct some
excess bone growth in my upper jaw (had bad allergies as a kid/mouth
breather). I originally started looking into this because I have about
5mm of gum that shows when I smile and I would like to correct that. I
went to a denist today and he suggested crown lengthening instead. I've
looked it up online and my concern now is this: crown lengthening is
usually used to correct gummy smiles where the gums are over grown,
making the teeth short. I do not have short teeth, they're about 10mm.
He mentioned something about removing some bone and pushing the teeth
up, which kind of didn't make sense to me and I haven't read anything
about it. I'm going to speak to a periodonist about it but I'm
impatient, because I would LOVE to not have to go through 2 years of
braces and a major surgery.

Thanks for any help you can give.


It's a matter of degree. Also, orthognathic surgery, while it can address the gummy smile, has the ability to more drastically change the configuration of your face. If your upper jaw is too long, crown lengthening won't do anything to address that. Obviously you're limited in how much gum tissue and bone can be removed in a crown lengthening procedure.
In short, you should be very informed about exactly why orthognathic surgery is being done.

Steve

--
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS
http://www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-258-5001
.