Gummy Smile

Whenever we raise the corners of our mouths in a smile, it exposes our teeth and a portion of the gums above them. However, some people’s smiles show more of the gums than others. Those people with smiles that show a significant portion of the gums are considered to have a gummy smile. Most ideal smiles show approximately two millimeters of gum above the teeth. Smiles that show three to four millimeters or more may look too gummy. While all smiles are beautiful and unique in their own way, individuals with a gummy smile may feel self-conscious about the appearance of their smile, even going so far as to avoid smiling big or smiling at all. There are now non-surgical treatment options to address this concern.

If you feel self-conscious about your gummy smile, you may be wondering what your treatment options are. For many years, the only option was surgery, and even this wasn’t a viable option for everyone. But there are now better options to help you correct your gummy smile. At Uptown Medical Aesthetics, we offer two non-surgical treatment options for this issue – dermal fillers and Botox®. Our team can determine which of these options is right for you or whether a combination of the two will best address your concerns. You can trust that we will build a customized treatment plan tailored to your unique needs and desired outcome.

Dermal fillers can be used to add volume to areas of the face that do not naturally have much or that may have lost it due to age. These injectables often use a serum that contains hyaluronic acid, which subtly plumps up the area. If you have a gummy smile that is caused by a thin upper lip, dermal fillers can be used to add volume to the area. With more volume in your upper lip, less of your gums will show when you smile, helping to address the issue of a gummy smile. In some patients, dermal fillers adequately address the problem, but you can also use this treatment in combination with other solutions to provide better results.

Botox® can address your concerns about a gummy smile by targeting the hyperactive muscles that control the upper lip. Many gummy smiles occur due to an overactive muscle that makes your smile bigger and exposes more of your gums. A few Botox® injections can solve this problem. These injections temporarily hinder the contraction of muscles in the area, effectively weakening them and reducing the elevation of the upper lip when you smile. Because the lip cannot raise as much as it used to, less of your gums will show when you smile.