Will the Crown Lengthening Create Gaps Between my Teeth?

Question

I have a gummy smile and will have cosmetic crown lengthening done. Will the crown lengthening create gaps between my teeth?

Elizabeth Jahanian, DDS · Answer

Crown lengthening is a procedure that will lengthen the crown the tooth by reducing the bone around the tooth. This will make the tooth appear longer, but will not create gaps between teeth. This is a recommended treatment for a gummy smile, since the gums follow the contour of the bone. Best, Dr. Elizabeth Jahanian

Zina Kaleinikova, DDS, MS · Answer

Crown lengthening performed by experienced periodontal specialist is not a challenging procedure and outcome should not create any gaps. I hope that you are working with a restorative dentist (hopefully prosthodontist) who analyzed your smile, made an ideal wax-up of your new gingival margin levels and communicated that information to your periodontal specialist. Also depending on how much gingival tissue will be removed you might need some kind of restorations ( maybe veneers or crowns) to achieve the best aesthetic result, but then again, that should be discussed with your restorative doctor in preparation to the crown lengthening procedure and you (I hope) already aware of it. Good luck!

Wendy S. Spektor, DDS · Answer

There are many ways to treat a gummy smile, so before you have the procedure done, get good advice.  That may mean you need to do your research.  The key is that you can get black triangles after crown lengthening so you need to know exactly what to expect.  We can not guarantee results but we can give you an idea of what we think, so you are prepared.

	When you do crown lengthening you can get rid of the gummy smile but you need to know if your teeth are small, if they had delayed erruption, if your top jaw is misaligned, etc.  Why do you have a gummy smile?

	Depending on what challenges you are dealing with, that will affect the outcome.  When the surgeon does crown lengthening, if your papillae(the area of gum inbetween your teeth) are altered, you can get black triangles.  You need to find find out what your needs are and go from there.

	You can sometimes treat a gummy smile with Botox.  Black triangles can sometimes be solved with bonding and/or veneers as well.  Good luck.

Howard Perlmutter, DMD · Answer

A Gummy Smile is a major indication or reason to have Cosmetic Crown Lengthening performed. Allow for a pretreatment consultation with your Dentist so these important ant issues can be addressed. The quality of your gingiva in terms of thickness ,thinness, and preoperative health are important parameters to gauge post operative healing and success. In experienced hands the triangle of tissue known as the Inter dental Papillae should be able to be maintained so as to avoid that black triangle or gap effect after Crown Lengthening healing. However, it is always possible that some tissue or space may result after Crown Lengthening due to the patients gingival health and to the sometimes unpredictable nature of healing. Generally speaking patients who exhibit thin zones of attached inter dental papilla may have more post operative spaces than those who have thicker bands of tissue preoperatively. If the patient is considering new Cosmetic Crowns after Crown Lengthening sometimes small amounts of "Pink Porcelain" can be included so as to create a pseudo inter dental papilla to mask or correct any type of postoperative space or gap.

Fred Peck, DDS · Answer

Surgical crown lengthening is a very effective procedure to treat a gummy smile. If the bone levels are correct, there will not be any gaps or dark areas between your teeth. The dentist performing this procedure should be able to predict exactly where the gum tissue will end up and discuss that with you prior to the surgery. Today this procedure is predictable and you should be able to know the outcome and have your questions answered so you can feel comfortable about the process.

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