Gummy Smile Correction: Before-and-After Comparison｜A Different Smile

Hello,

This is Yeonsei Baro Dental Clinic, an orthodontic clinic in Gangnam.

Today, we would like to introduce gummy smile correction.

23.04–24.10

Many people visit us simply because they want to correct protruding teeth, but they are often unaware that a significant amount of gum shows when they smile.

Q. Can a gummy smile, where a lot of gum shows when smiling, be improved with orthodontic treatment?

The appearance of excessive gum when smiling is commonly called a “gummy smile” or “gingival smile.”

More people than you might expect come in for an orthodontic consultation because of protruding teeth or crooked teeth, only to learn for the first time during the consultation that they have a gummy smile.

Today, we would like to introduce an actual case in which both a gummy smile and protruding teeth were improved through orthodontic treatment.

23.04

This patient in their 30s visited us because of protruding and crooked teeth.

The patient traveled from outside the metropolitan area.

A deep overbite, crooked teeth, and a discrepancy between the upper and lower dental midlines can be seen.

23.04

The front teeth were misaligned.

In the side-profile analysis, the angle of the front teeth was normal and lip protrusion was not significant, so we decided to use the space from the wisdom teeth and aim for only a small degree of improvement in the protrusion.

At the same time, we planned treatment to intrude the front teeth in order to improve the amount of gum showing when smiling.

Non-extraction orthodontic treatment for protruding teeth typically has an estimated treatment period of 18 months.

The patient chose and underwent Clippy-C orthodontic treatment.

24.03

This was the patient’s appearance 11 months after treatment began.

24.03

Mini-screws were placed, and the entire dental arch was being moved backward into the space from the wisdom teeth.

24.10

Treatment was completed 1 year and 7 months after it began.

The dental midlines matched precisely, and the deep overbite of the front teeth had been resolved.

23.04–24.10

The molar occlusion, which was originally good, was maintained well.

The protrusion of the front teeth was resolved.

23.04–24.10

The teeth were also aligned neatly.

23.04–24.10

Because the two upper front teeth were relatively large, a small amount of interproximal reduction was performed to refine the contours of their sides and improve the aesthetic result.

Does interproximal reduction weaken the teeth?

This is something many people wonder about.

If the patient’s teeth became sensitive or weakened, we would be responsible for them for the rest of the patient’s life, so we do not perform that much interproximal reduction.

The procedure is carried out within the permitted range and only to the extent of natural tooth wear.

23.04–24.10

As the amount of gum exposure decreased, the gummy smile improved significantly.

A small amount of buccal corridor also developed, and a buccal corridor that is not excessive can enhance the aesthetics of a feminine smile.

23.04–24.10

The front teeth now have an appropriate angle, forming a clean, straight line without protruding or tipping inward like “buck teeth,” along with an improved amount of gum exposure.

When patients see the before-and-after photos, they often exclaim, “I didn’t realize that so much of my gum had been showing.”

23.04–24.10

The lips moved backward by approximately 1–2 mm.

The roots of the teeth are well aligned in parallel, and no complications such as root resorption were observed.

Gummy smile correction can improve the overall quality of a smile after treatment by 200%.

Gummy smile correction is not simply a treatment to straighten the teeth.

It is an important area of aesthetic orthodontics that can greatly improve the impression created when smiling and the overall quality of the smile.

We hope this case was helpful to those who are concerned about a gummy smile.