To have a beautiful smile it is obvious that you need to have straight white teeth. However a lot of people may not appreciate that you also need to have healthy looking and shaped gums. Some people have very thick or uneven gums giving a low gum line. This can mean that the gums are very visible when you smile giving you a ‘gummy smile‘. This is also called a high lip line as when you smile your top lip is very high in relation to your teeth.
There are several ways that we can treat this depending on the degree of correction that is required. In this blog we are only going to look at minor correction with a dental laser.
Gum contouring with a dental laser
If there is a small amount of gum contouring required then it is possible for us to use a dental laser to cosmetically contour your gums around your teeth. Sculpting the gums with a dental laser is an excellent option as treatment with the laser can usually be completed in a single visit with instantly visible results.
The main question that most people ask is how painful is gum contouring? During treatment your gums are anaesthetised so that you will feel no pain at all. Also by using a dental laser the wound is healed as it shapes your gums so there is no bleeding afterwards and there is no need for any stitches. Following treatment healing is pretty quick but your gums will probably feel slightly tender for a few days. Over the counter pain medication should be adequate to control this. We would also recommend that you brush the gums very gently and avoid smoking as this can delay healing.
Cosmetic gum contouring with a dental laser is the ideal treatment for people with a gummy smile as it is a very quick and simple procedure with instant result and a short healing time. This means that you will not need to take any time off work and that your smile will be improved when you leave us.
If you would like any more information regarding this treatment then please contact us.