Gummy Smile – Causes & Treatments

When you smile, do you feel the appearance of your upper teeth is overshadowed by excessive gum tissue? Are you of the opinion that your upper teeth appear too short compared to the amount of gingival tissue displayed when you smile? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, you may have a condition that is commonly called a “gummy smile” or excessive gingival display.

Gummy smile can have a negative affect on the esthetics of your smile. The good news is that a gummy smile can be corrected through various treatment options.

Causes

• An excessive display of gum tissue in your upper jaw can result from the abnormal eruption of the teeth. Teeth covered by excessive gum tissue appear short, even though they may actually be the proper length.
• The muscle that controls the movement of your upper lip could be hyperactive, causing your upper lip to rise up higher than normal. When this occurs, more of your gum tissue is exposed when you smile.
• The manner in which your upper jaw bone grew and developed could cause the appearance of a gummy smile. For instance, if there was an excessive bulging protrusion of the upper jaw within the gum tissue, you would experience an obvious gummy appearance when you smile.

Treatments

If you think you have a gummy smile, visit your dentist for confirmation and treatment options. Your dentist will examine your mouth, teeth and gums to determine the extent of the excessive gingival display and any possible causes. This examination may involve conventional and/or digital impressions of your teeth and gums. You may also need X-ray imaging so that the tooth roots and jaw bone can be carefully examined.

Your dentist may refer you to a specialist, like a periodontist, orthodontist or an oral surgeon. Depending on the nature of your specific clinical condition, treatment could include one or more of the following:

• Same-day laser treatments (in minor cases).
• Surgical lip repositioning.
• Orthodontics (braces) to move the teeth into more suitable positions.
• Surgical Sculpting of the gingival tissues and bone to create healthier and more attractive looking gum contours.
• Maxillofacial surgery to reposition the bone.

For example, according to the American Academy of Periodontology, a periodontist – a dentist specializing in the gums, soft tissues and other structures supporting the teeth – can perform a “crown lengthening” procedure to correct the appearance of a gummy smile. During this procedure, the periodontist will remove the excess gum tissue – and possibly bone – in order to expose more of the tooth’s surface. This Surgical Sculpting procedure can be performed on one or more teeth to create an even gum line or a more natural looking smile.

Saliva is a watery substance that is found in the mouths of all people. This substance is a natural part of the body that is used for chewing and swallowing food and it is also used to aid in the digestion process. Saliva not only helps us with the eating process it is also used to destroy bacteria, reduce incidence of tooth decay and it helps us to talk. Let’s check out some fun facts about saliva and how important this substance is for parents and their kids.

• Food molecules must dissolve in saliva in order to be recognized by taste buds.
• Saliva protects teeth and gums, lubricates the mouth, and helps regulate the acid balance of the mouth.
• Saliva is essential to the breakdown of food.
• Saliva can be analysed to monitor alcohol intake, smoking, and drug use. It may also be useful in diagnosing disease.
• Saliva contains enzymes that start the digestive process by helping to break down starches and fats.
• Saliva helps wounds in the mouth heal faster than wounds elsewhere on the body.
• When you are nervous or frightened, saliva production is reduced.
• Chewing sugar-free gum increases saliva production and is good for your teeth.

Why we love Saliva

Saliva is the mouths primary defence against tooth decay. Decay result from bacteria in plaque that generate acids, which attack tooth minerals. The buffering systems of saliva help counteract this acid formation. Saliva flow helps wash away the sugars and food particles that, when broken down, also produce tooth-damaging acids.

For instance, when you eat high-starch foods such as bread, the carbohydrates they contain block natural saliva flow and aren’t easily dissolved. To ensure its free flow throughout the mouth, saliva contains amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch into sugars that clear the mouth and facilitate salivary flow.

Mineral salts in saliva — calcium and phosphate ions — slow demineralization of tooth structure and encourage ongoing re-mineralization of tooth enamel, thus reversing the decay process!

           
If you have ever seen someone with missing teeth you may have noticed that their jaw has recessed, and their face could appear as if it’s sagging. Facial sagging due to bone loss and an absence of structure due to tooth loss is common. Even patients with traditional dentures may experience some degree of facial sagging.
Tooth and bone loss can actually change the form of your facial structure altering your overall look. Facial sagging will cause premature aging and may take a toll on a patient’s self-confidence. Tooth loss destabilizes the whole structure of the jaw. With an empty root socket, space is made and allow teeth to shift. Empty sockets also weaken the bone tissue and eventually results in the bone tissues breaking down and wearing.
How am i able to stop facial sagging if I actually have missing teeth?
Missing teeth can have psychological, functional and aesthetic consequences. Replacing missing teeth promptly once a loss is an optimal solution for preventing facial sagging. Dental implants are the most supportive treatment possibility for replacing missing teeth and promoting healthy bone structure. Dental implant secured dental restoration can facilitate rebuild your overall look. For patients World Health Organization have already experienced delicate to advanced bone loss, bone attachment or other surgical treatments can be performed to reconstruct the jaw.
DENTAL IMPLANT may be used to replace a single missing tooth or to secure a dental restoration for the replacement of the many missing teeth. Implants are the most natural possibility for restoring a smile with missing teeth. Dental implants will facilitate prevent facial sagging and help stabilize the integrity of the facial structure.
Supporting Facial Integrity after Tooth Loss
Replacing teeth with dental implants will stabilize the jaw bone preventing extra tooth loss, bone loss, and facial sagging. dental implant posts mimic the natural tooth root and really help regenerate healthy bone tissue. Dental implants are made from medical grade, biocompatible materials that fuse to the jaw making a stable and lasting bond.

• A bright, shining smile will provide you with confidence in your look and let you laugh with no reserves. However poor oral health will have an effect on more than your smile.
• Oral health problems like cavities and untreated tooth decay could lead to periodontal disease.
• Inflammation caused by periodontal disease will cause an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Untreated Cavities and Heart Disease

• If you let an untreated cavity live in your mouth for too long, it will cause periodontal disease.
• Periodontal disease causes your gums to recede from your teeth that create a gap beneath the gum line where bacteria will hide and grow. From this gap, bacteria will enter your bloodstream and travel to your heart’s arteries.
• If the bacteria in your heart’s arteries harden, it will cause a condition known as atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis causes plaque to grow on the inner walls of your heart’s arteries, which might restrict blood flow throughout the body. And restricted blood flow to and from your heart is the catalyst for cardiovascular disease.

Bleeding Gums and Endocarditis

Poor oral hygiene also can cause a gum infection. Infected gums can be red, sensitive, and may bleed during brushing, flossing, or during a dental cleaning. This type of bleeding might trigger a rare however serious heart disease known as endocarditis.

Bacterial growths in your heart’s inner lining will prevent your heart’s valves from operating properly. And once your valves aren’t operating efficiently, you’re at a heightened risk of heart attack

Brush Well to Protect Your Heart

Brush well to shield Your Heart An effective at-home oral health regiment is that the best way to keep your gums and teeth healthy, which keeps your heart healthy.

Brushing twice a day for 2 minutes daily and visiting your dentist at least once a year for your annual cleaning will help you keep off gum inflammation and tooth decay.

Macrodontia is a type of localized gigantism in which teeth are larger than normal for the particular type(s) of teeth involved. The three types of macrodontia are true generalized macrodontia, relative generalized macrodontia, and macrodontia of a single tooth.

Complications

The usual complications of macrodontia are associated with crowding, malocclusion and impaction unless treated.

Single tooth

A single tooth is larger than the rest. This is unusual and could be the result of fusion and germination that cause enlarged crowns.

Causes:-

Generalized macrodontia is usually attributed to some hormonal imbalance (e.g., pituitary, gigantism).

Genetic components are also responsible for macrodontia.

Treatment

Before treatment the correct diagnosis must be made which is easily done by a radiograph. It can be seen in concerned tooth/teeth will be larger than normal that can be seen clinically in the mouth or whilst they are still unerupted.

Teeth affected by macrodontia are contoured, aligned or extracted.

• Contouring involves shaving the tooth down to change shape and size. However, the result is minimal change as this could be dangerous for the dentin and dental pulp.
• Aligning involves the use of braces to straighten and make space for larger teeth to grow.
• When extracted, they are replaced with an implant or bridge. This is done in cases in which the patient suffers from pain that cannot be treated by other methods.

Teeth with macrodontia can go through treatment using a technique that does not harm the dental pulp. This is done using a tooth coloured filling material (composite resin).

From guessing dentistry to precision dentistry has changed the way dental treatments were done. Application of microscope in the field of dentistry has been very recent. It lets the dentist to visualize familiar structure in the totally different way, with finest details that were earlier concealed from the naked eyes. It is an indispensable device which is connected with high resolution video camera to project the magnified images on the LCD monitor that clients can also see. It allows dentist to get a better view of the patient’s oral cavity, thereby improving the overall results of the treatment, while limiting trauma and increasing precision.

A microscope in dentistry has wide spectrum use, idea of this technology is to remove as little of the natural teeth as possible while removing all of decay, it permits complex system of canals to be recognized, managed and identify in a safe manner. It also makes easier to handle cases that in past would be impossible to resolve without magnification, such as retrieval of broken pieces of an instruments during dental procedures from root canal, management of stones and calcification in the root canals, visualization of accessory or multiple canals, missed canals in a tooth and a better prognosis for re-treatment’s.

It also facilitates the on demand documentation of the treatment (both video and photographic)

How does microscope enables dentist to provide better patient care?

The microscope gives increased precision and a higher level of confidence that all decay has been removed. Importantly, it enables better diagnosis and effectively communicates these to patients.

What are its other advantages?

The biggest advantage is during re-treatment. To perform a re-treatment can be as simple as the removal of gutta -percha from a poorly obturated canal to more complex, delicate and time consuming procedures, like removing screw posts, separated instruments, silver points, amalgam pins, carbon fiber posts, or re- pairing a perforation or obturating an im-mature open apex.