The gummy smile

Abstract

A gummy smile is one in which excessive amounts of gingival tissue are revealed as individuals begin to laugh or when they show their teeth in a smile. In addition to cosmetic methods of concealing this condition, a variety of orthodontic and surgical procedures can, independently or in conjunction, modify the structural elements that constitute a gummy smile. Nevertheless marked gummy smiles are always characterized by specific dento-maxillary discrepancies, a global vertical maxillary excess or overdevelopment of the alveolar processes, the premaxilla and the proalveolus constituting excess anterior vertical dimension. For each of these instances, the author proposes therapeutic treatment plans and illustrates them with corresponding clinical cases.