A great smile does wonders to enhance a personality and increase one’s confidence in how others perceive them. Ever wondered what exactly makes up a ‘perfect’ smile? An ideal smile is not just white teeth, but also involves a balance of how both the teeth and gums are displayed with an individual’s face. The size, shape and hue of teeth, the shape of the gum line framing the teeth and the degree of lip parting all add up to make a smile ‘just right’.
Aesthetic dentistry is aimed at producing dental work that enhances an individual’s appearance, especially that of highly visible front teeth. While these include cosmetic teeth reshaping and veneering to alter the look of teeth, simply changing the teeth may not always suffice to change a smile. In some cases the gum line requires alteration as well. The cosmetic procedure of gum or gingival contouring involves selectively reshaping the gums to produce a more pleasing appearance.
‘Gummy smiles’ or excessive gum display, small-appearing teeth and uneven-looking teeth are common issues that can often be attributed to excess gum tissue or an imbalanced gum-line.
Cosmetic gum contouring can be planned as a part of an overall ‘smile designing’ treatment, where the shape of teeth are changed by veneers or orthodontics, and gingival reshaping is done as well. Orthodontic braces produce changes in the positioning of teeth and predispose to gum inflammation as they make brushing difficult and are often associated with some gum overgrowth. Thus, when the braces are removed, even though teeth may be aligned, their appearance may be short due to some areas of overgrown gum tissue. This usually requires cosmetic gum contouring to refine the aesthetics.
Prior to planning gum contouring, the dental team usually performs a smile analysis. Gum contouring, technically known as gingivectomy or gingivoplasty, can be done in a single sitting under local anesthesia. The procedure is minimally invasive, rarely requires stitches and produces no or mild post-operative discomfort.
To learn more about gum contouring and the procedures available at Benjamin T. Duval DDS, LLC, call the friendly team at 912-352-4867 to make a consultation.
