Keep Smiling With Wisdom Teeth Removal
October 16, 2016
An Advanced Approach To Teeth Replacements
October 20, 2016
“Say cheese!”
“On the count of three, everybody smile … 1, 2, 3!”
When someone asks you to smile for a picture, what do they want to see? They want to see your teeth.
If you have a gummy smile, this can create an uncomfortable feeling. Instead of a big smile that shows off your pearly whites, you may smile with your lips pressed firmly together. You may not smile at all.
Sunrise Dental wants to change that. Our dentists want you to feel confident about your smile. If you make an appointment at any of our offices in Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, or Cary, we can show you how lasers can change how your smile looks and maybe how you feel about sharing your smile.
What Makes A Gummy Smile?
This is somewhat subjective.
When we see photos of smiling celebrities in magazines, we often see photo with their teeth prominently featured between their lips. Their gums are the there, but they have a supporting role, in a manner of speaking.
In general, you could say a gummy smile is one in which your gum tissue is as prominent as or more prominent than your teeth. One person may consider a smile “gummy,” while another person may think he or she has the right balance of gum-to-teeth.
What matters is whether you think your smile is too gummy. If you do, then Sunrise Dental has the tools and the skill to help you change it.
Two Ways Smiles Can Be Considered Too Gummy
Both of these scenarios depend on your tooth-to-gum ratio. Fixing both of them means tilting that ratio in favor of your teeth.
One possibility is that you have gums that are larger than the average person. It happens. It’s really no different than someone having fingers that are longer than average.
The extra gum tissue may affect how your lips part during a smile. As a result, you may reveal more of your gums than your teeth.
Another possibility is that your have “short” teeth. This may be a bit of a misnomer. It may not be that your teeth are physically smaller than you would expect. It could be that your teeth did not erupt as far outside of your gums as other people.
As a result, your teeth may appear short in comparison to your gums.
To give you a more “toothy” smile, you can remove a portion of your gum tissue. This will either change how your lips part or reveal more of your teeth. The result is a more typical smile in which the teeth are the primary feature.
Lasers Can Change Your Smile
In the past, the most common way to address gummy smiles would have been surgery.
Yes, someone would have cut into your gum tissue with a scalpel. As you can imagine, this would be messy, and you would need time to heal from the procedure.
In some cases, you may have needed stitches to close the gum tissue, which meant a second appointment to have the stitches removed.
Like we pointed out, that was the old way of doing things. At Sunrise Dental, we have added a dental laser, the PerioLase, which gives us a more modern way of dealing with excess gum tissue.
This laser isn’t quite as fancy as the kinds depicted in science fiction, but it is more practical for you and our other patients.
In cosmetic dentistry, the PerioLase can be used to evaporate gum tissue. There is no cutting, which significantly reduces bleeding.
The laser has another big advantage for you. As the laser evaporate gum tissue, it also seals the remaining tissue.
This reduces the time it takes to heal after this procedure. It also means you won’t need stitches in most cases.
The Smile You Want
At Sunrise Dental, we are using technology to improve cosmetic dentistry as well as preventive and restorative care.
Our dental laser is just one of the ways we can make changes that you want to see. Gummy smiles treatments are just one of the many ways we can transform your smile.
Ready To Make An Appointment?
The first step in any cosmetic treatment should be a consultation at the nearest Sunrise Dental. Our dentists can be found in Durham, Raleigh, Cary, and Chapel Hill.
During your initial visit, we can discuss the change you want to make, and we can develop a plan to make those changes happen.
Just call the office closest to you or use our online contact form to request your appointment. Do it today, and you can have your new smile before you know it.