An ideal smile is wide, showing a full set of teeth, a broad palate, and showing as few gums as possible.
If your bottom teeth aren't visible when you smile, you probably have a gummy smile. Gummy smiles have an overgrowth of gum tissue that covers most teeth. You can get a gummy smile due to facial recession and certain medications. You can expose more of your lower teeth by undergoing procedures like gum reshaping.
gummy smile
Typically, most people's bottom teeth aren't visible when they smile because they have a smile that's too rubbery. His teeth may not be really short: his teeth are covered with a lot of gums.
Gummy smiles are common. About 10% of people in their 20s, usually women, think they have a gummy smile (Jerby and others, 2020). However, it can still be problematic for people as a gummy smile can ruin their confidence.
What Causes a Gummy Smile?
There are many reasons you might have a gummy smile covering your bottom teeth. Two common reasons for a gummy smile are:
facial recession
Many people who have a gummy smile often have facial recession. A facial recession can include a receding chin, which means you have poor jaw growth.
A facial recession can significantly affect tooth and jaw development and result in a rubbery smile. For example, you may have excessive gum growth if your jaw sags or protrudes.
A facial recession is usually the result of mouth breathing. Mouth breathing affects the development of the face and jaw and impairs the growth of gums and teeth. If a child is a mouth breather, they can completely change their appearance as they get older and so continue to breathe..
When a mouth breather breathes, their jaws are very relaxed and they have poor tongue and mouth position. Poor posture leads to a weak jaw and receding chin.
An underdeveloped jaw and chin can affect teeth and gums. There would not be enough space for all your teeth and you would end up with crowding. The jaw can also point downward and inward, leading to excessive gum growth.
medication
Certain medications can cause excessive gum growth, known as gingival hyperplasia. These usually include medications that treat high blood pressure, suppress the immune system, and prevent seizures.
Of course, you shouldn't stop taking your medication to get rid of that gummy smile. Instead, it would be better if you focused on treating gingival hyperplasia.
If you want to treat it, you can consult a periodontist. Typically, a periodontist performs a procedure to remove inflamed or diseased gum tissue. In some cases, they may also use stitches to repair the remaining gums.
The exact procedure depends on your case. Some standard procedures include laser excision, electrosurgery, gingivectomy, etc.
How can I fix a gummy smile to show my bottom teeth?
recontoured gums
An easy way to expose more of your lower teeth is through gum reshaping. In many cases, you may not have short bottom teeth. There is a lot of gum tissue covering the lower teeth.Gum contouring, or gingivectomy, removes excess gum tissue.
To perform the procedure, you will be given a local anesthetic to avoid pain during the procedure. A surgeon uses a laser or scalpel to reshape and trim your gums to expose your teeth.
Surgeons generally prefer lasers to scalpels. Lasers allow the surgeon to make more precise cuts and there is less bleeding and pain.
Recovery depends on whether your surgeon used a laser or a scalpel. If they used a scalpel, you could have sore gums for a week. They are also prone to bleeding.
If the surgeon used a laser, your recovery would be faster. You don't have any open wounds and your surgeon doesn't have to use sutures.
Crown Lengthening Surgery
In more severe cases, a periodontist may suggest crown lengthening surgery to correct a gummy smile.
Gum contouring simply removes excess gum tissue to reveal more teeth. Crown lengthening surgery removes excess gum tissue and sometimes bone around the teeth to lengthen the visible enamel. Therefore, crown lengthening surgery can help you uncover more teeth when the bottom teeth are not visible.
Sometimes when some people undergo crown lengthening surgery, the bone level is adjusted to expand the size or height of the visible tooth beyond the gum line. However, it is not always done. It is necessary when you need more dental restoration work.
This way there will be enough tooth structure to hold the new restoration in place. For example, crown lengthening is common when you need veneers, crowns, etc. as it can help anchor the new restorations.
Crown lengthening surgery can also be performed to repair severe decay below the gum line. It may also be necessary if the tooth breaks or breaks below the gum line.
It's raining
Meowing can stimulate upward and forward facial growth, which can greatly improve facial aesthetics and potentially reduce gummy smiles. While it won't completely fix a gummy smile, it can prevent it from growing further.
You press on the roof of your mouth when it meows. By doing this, you encourage half of your face to move up and forward, accentuating your cheekbones and eyes. Meowing also stimulates the lower jaw to move up and forward, which reduces facial recession.
Meowing is also great for mouth breathers. Not only does it help improve your chin and mid-face, but it also encourages you to breathe through your nose.
Breathing through your nose can help you cope with snoring and sleep apnea. In addition, more oxygen can reach active tissues.
When meowing, it corrects the position of the tongue, jaw and mouth. To correct tongue position, you must rest the tongue against the roof of the mouth.
It is ideal to exert the greatest pressure on the hard palate with the back third of the tongue. Your tongue should be flat, covering as much of your roof of the mouth as possible. However, it would be better if you were careful not to touch your teeth.
To correct mouth position, you need to keep your lips closed but relaxed. Your upper and lower teeth should be together to correct jaw alignment, but never touching.
To learn how to meow like a pro, check out ourguide.
To deal with facial recessions, you need to make sure you know all the tricks to meowing. For example, you need to learn proper swallowing and chewing technique.
Proper chewing technique requires you to focus on using the masseter muscles and teeth to chew your food. You can use your tongue to move the food around. You should not use the buccinator muscles to chew or move food.
you can clickHereLearn to chew properly when you meow.
Proper swallowing technique requires you to use your tongue and suprahyoid muscles to swallow. You shouldn't use your cheeks to suck food into the back of your mouth.Instead, you should use your tongue to roll the food with your tongue. Pick up the food and lift the tongue so the back third of the tongue presses against the hard palate to swallow. You should see your thyroid cartilage moving.
Be careful though, meowing really only works in children when tongue position drives facial growth. While it works for adults, it will take years or decades before you get a millimeter or two of change. If you want to correct the root cause of facial recession in adulthood, you need LeFort surgery.