Gummy Smile

Gummy Smile Correction in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and Worldwide

Do you want a bright, beautiful smile that can light up a room and endear you to others before you’ve even spoken with them?

Contrary to what you might think, having what many consider to be the perfect smile is not just about straight white teeth. There’s also a certain balance between your teeth and gums that you must strike if you want to have that dazzling grin.

While some are fortunate enough to simply be born with a smile that belongs on the cover of a magazine, many are not. Some have naturally misaligned teeth, crooked teeth, or teeth with spaces in them, and others have an overly gummy smile.

There are a few different reasons you may have a gummy smile, including side effects of medication, genetics and anatomy, and poor oral hygiene.

While some people don’t feel overly self-conscious about this issue, many wish to rectify their gummy smiles. If you’re one of those people, we may have the solution you’ve sought.

Dr. Alex Farnoosh and the team at The Total Smile offer gum correction services for anyone looking to treat issues with overgrown gingival tissue and transform their smile.

Dr. Farnoosh pioneered a gummy smile correction procedure of his own back in 1988 that has since been used throughout the country and around the world.

A simple lip-lowering procedure from The Total Smile can change your life for the better by replacing the feeling of self-consciousness you have whenever you smile with a sense of self-confidence and pride.

What is a Gummy Smile?

A gummy smile, also known as excessive gingival display is just what it sounds like: a smile that reveals a disproportionate amount of gum tissue when compared to the average person.

Most people consider a “perfect” smile to be one that reveals very little gum tissue, with the lips resting just above the tooth line.

In a gummy smile, the tooth-to-gum ratio can almost be even. While this isn’t necessarily unhealthy, it can be deemed unattractive by some, damaging your self-confidence if you display excessive gum tissue when smiling.

If you do have a gummy smile, you’re far from alone. It’s believed that up to 15% of all Americans display a disproportionate amount of gum tissue when they smile. It is particularly prominent among young people and women.

Causes of a Gummy Smile

There are several different reasons why you may have a gummy smile. Some are simple genetic or anatomical features involving the lips or the teeth, while others result from gum tissue overgrowth, which various factors can cause.

To better understand your gummy smile and how a clinic can correct it, let’s look at some of the causes of the issue:

• Improperly erupted teeth
• Teeth that are smaller in size
• Hypermobile upper lip which rises higher than normal
• An upper lip that is too short
• Overbite
• Vertical maxillary excess (bulging gums)
• Gingival hypertrophy (overgrown gum tissue)

Some people are simply born with one or more of these factors, and others develop gingival hypertrophy later in life, which leads to an excessive amount of gum showing when they smile.

Fortunately, Dr. Alex Farnoosh and the team at The Total Smile can provide effective gummy smile correction treatment regardless of the source of the disproportionate amount of gingival tissue in your smile.

What Causes Gingival Hypertrophy?

Gingival hypertrophy is when the gum tissue becomes swollen and overgrown, which can lead to an imbalance in the tooth-to-gum ratio of your smile. If you have gingival hypertrophy, it’s likely the result of one of the following:

Prescription Medications

Certain prescription medications can have the unwanted side effect of gingival hypertrophy. It’s what’s known as drug-induced gingival overgrowth, and it can be caused by any of the following types of pharmaceuticals:

• Blood pressure medications
• Medications for heart conditions
• Anti-seizure medications
• Immunosuppressant medications

The good news about drug-induced gingival overgrowth is that it’s not permanent, so switching to a different medication or stopping the medication altogether may reduce the inflammation in the gum tissue.

If this is not an option, gummy smile correction is probably right for you.

Poor Oral Hygiene

Plaque and tartar buildup leads to inflammation of the gums, which may very well be the reason for your gingival hypertrophy.

Better oral hygiene can reduce inflammation, but in certain instances, you may need to visit your dentist for gummy smile correction to handle the issue properly.

Hereditary Gingival Fibromatosis

Although it is rare, gingival hypertrophy can be caused by a genetic condition known as hereditary gingival fibromatosis.

This condition is characterized by the progressive growth of the gum tissue, generally beginning in childhood and continuing through adulthood.

Gummy smile correction can help you counteract the effects of hereditary gingival fibromatosis.

Options for Gummy Smile Correction

If you’re interested in gummy smile correction, there are various procedures that you should explore.

Some are non-surgical and minimally invasive, while others require a small amount of surgery but ultimately are not very invasive.

The gummy smile correction treatment options offered by Dr. Alex Farnoosh and the team at The Total Smile include:

Gummy Smile Surgery

This lip lowering procedure was pioneered by Dr. Farnoosh in 1988 as an alternative to a far more invasive jaw surgery commonly used for gummy smile correction.

Rather than performing surgery on the jaw, Dr. Farnoosh simply lowers the upper lip with a set of careful incisions and then employs a technique that prevents the lip from moving too far up when the patient smiles.

The procedure requires only a local anesthetic and has a shorter recovery time and far fewer risks and side effects than the commonly used jaw surgery. This treatment is sometimes used in tandem with other gummy smile correction treatments.

Gum Contouring / Gum Leveling

Depending on the cause of the gummy smile, there are certain instances where gum contouring can prove highly effective at evening out the tooth-to-gum ratio and providing patients with a more attractive smile.

The procedure is performed with either a scalpel or a laser, and it works to give the teeth a longer appearance by removing overgrown gum tissue. This procedure is most effective when paired with lip-lowering surgery.

BOTOX® Injections

If you’re curious about having a trial run before committing to lip-lowering surgery, you can try BOTOX® cosmetic injections.

BOTOX® can reduce movement in your upper lip to not expose as much gum when you smile. It takes about a week to show results, and the results last for about two weeks.

If you use this treatment and feel it does the trick for you, you can consider lip-lowering surgery as a more permanent solution.

How Much Does Gummy Smile Correction Cost?

Several factors will determine the cost of your gummy smile correction treatment, including the type of treatment you choose and the cause of your gummy smile.

It’s difficult to put a price on your treatment until you’ve had a consultation, but you can expect to pay somewhere between $2,000 and $5,000 or more.

Dr. Alex Farnoosh offers financing options that can help you pay for your procedure.

If you have any more questions about gummy smile correction, read our FAQ.

Do You Need Gummy Smile Correction?

You deserve to have a beautiful smile that you can be proud of. If you think gummy smile correction can help you achieve that smile, request a complimentary consultation with Dr. Alex Farnoosh today.

While healthy, beautiful teeth and gums are essential for an attractive smile, overexposed gums make many people feel self-conscious and unattractive.

In 1988, gum specialist Dr. Alex A. Farnoosh developed a simple procedure to correct excessive gum display that has helped thousands of people from Los Angeles, around the U.S., and across the world smile more confidently. This lip lowering procedure is just one of the treatments he offers for gummy smile correction at his Beverly Hills practice.

You can start enjoying attractive gums and smiling with total confidence when you choose gum correction surgery. Request consultation with celebrity periodontist and cosmetic dentist Dr. Farnoosh, or call (310) 928-1796 to set up an appointment.

Gummy Smile Surgery

More than 25 years ago, Dr. Farnoosh developed a lip-lowering procedure that he performs as an alternative to invasive jaw surgery (orthognathic surgery). This treatment involves repositioning the upper lip so that less gum line is exposed when smiling. Orthognathic surgery can be very invasive, and Dr. Farnoosh was approached by many patients looking for a less invasive alternative. This led Dr. Farnoosh down a path to creating a solution to help patients who suffer from the excessive display of their gums when smiling.

Lip lowering requires a significantly shorter recovery than jaw surgery and has substantially fewer risks and side effects.

In most cases, Dr. Farnoosh performs lip-lowering surgery using only a local anesthetic. First, he makes a set of careful incisions in the existing tissue that connects your lip to your gums. These incisions are made entirely inside the mouth in the gum and upper lip, allowing them to be concealed and invisible to the naked eye.

Then, he uses a technique that limits the vertical movement of the upper lip, which will keep the lip closer to your teeth when you smile.

Depending on your unique needs, Dr. Farnoosh may combine lip-lowering surgery with other gummy smile treatments (described below).

Revision Gummy Smile Surgery

Several dentists who are not experts in gummy smile surgery offer procedures they advertise that will improve the appearance of a gummy smile. Unfortunately, in many cases, these dentists will not be able to achieve the results their patients expect.

In these cases of failed gummy smile surgery, Dr. Farnoosh is often called upon to perform revision procedures because he has performed numerous procedures on hundreds of patients.

If you have had lip repositioning surgery with another doctor and are not happy with the result, please contact us for an individual consultation.

Your Personalized Gummy Smile Correction Plan

In the past, the only gummy smile correction procedure involved invasive, risky jaw surgery (orthognathic surgery). But today, many options exist for people who want to correct a gummy smile. A pioneer in these techniques, Dr. Farnoosh, offers both surgical and non-surgical options. He also offers gum bleaching to enhance the appearance of darkened or discolored gums.

At your consultation, Dr. Farnoosh will develop a personalized treatment plan to determine the underlying cause of your excessive gingival display.

Once he determines the appropriate treatment plan, he will walk you through the steps of your treatment so you know what to expect during the procedure and afterward. He will take the time to answer all your questions to help you feel comfortable about moving forward.

Review his Gummy Smile Correction FAQ for details about gummy smile treatment and recovery for examples of his work and answers to your most frequently asked questions regarding gum correction treatment.

Improvements from Gummy Smile Correction

You probably already know why you are considering treatment for your gummy smile, but it can be very motivating to see exactly what treatments can do. Gummy smile treatment may provide one or more of the following improvements:

• Allow your teeth to be the focus of your smile
• Expose more teeth more evenly
• Improve confidence when you’ve always been afraid to smile
• Enhance the fullness of the upper lip
• Create a smile that looks relaxed
• Achieve harmony and balance between your smile and the rest of your face

If you or someone you love has been dealing with excessive gum display and are looking for solutions to your gummy smile, arrange a complimentary consultation with Dr. Alex Farnoosh to learn about all the options he has available to correct your gums and help improve your confidence. He has helped thousands of patients in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and all around the world enhance their smiles and improve their function with gum correction surgery, and he can help you too. Contact him today and let his 30+ years of experience work for you.

Gummy Smile Video FAQs

• What is a Gummy Smile?
• What is a Hyper Mobile Lip?
• What Causes a Gummy Smile?
• How is Gummy Smile Surgery Different From Orthognathic Surgery?
• Does a Gummy Smile Change With Age?
• What are the Types of Treatment for a Gummy Smile?
• How Long Does the Gummy Smile Procedure Take?
• How Long is the Recovery Time for a Gummy Smile Treatment?
• Does the Gummy Smile Procedure Require Stitches?
• Will I Be Awake During the Gummy Smile Procedure?
• How Long Does it Take to See Results From a Gummy Smile Treatment?
• What Should I Do or NOT Do After a Gummy Smile Treatment?
• How Long Does Gummy Smile Treatment Last?
• How Much Does Gummy Smile Treatment Cost?
• Who is a Good Candidate for a Gummy Smile Treatment?

Dr. Farnoosh does incredible work. It’s horrible to be embarrassed by a gummy smile or unattractive gums. You need to look no further than here. As a person who used to loathe the dentist, let me tell you that with Dr. Farnoosh, you will start looking forward to going to the dentist. He and his staff are helpful and friendly and meet you at your needs, they do not try to upsell or swindle you into something you don’t need. I guarantee you will have even more of a reason to show off your smile after you visit him! – Cassi S.