A great smile does wonders to enhance a personality, increase confidence and the way others perceive you. Ever wondered what exactly makes up a ‘perfect’ smile? An ideal smile is not just white teeth; it is essentially harmony or ‘balance’ of the teeth and gums displayed, with an individual’s face. The size, shape and hue of teeth, the shape of the gum line framing teeth, the degree of lip parting all add up to make a smile ‘just right’.

 

Aesthetic dentistry is aimed at producing dental work that enhances an individual’s appearance, and includes various procedures aimed at modifying dental appearance, especially that of highly visible front teeth. While these include cosmetic teeth reshaping, and veneering to alter the shape and look of teeth, just altering the teeth may not always suffice to change a smile, in some cases the gum line requires alteration as well. The cosmetic procedure of gum or gingival contouring involves selectively reshaping the gums to produce a more pleasing appearance.

 

‘Gummy smiles’ or excessive gum display, small appearing teeth, uneven looking teeth are common issues which though not always, but at many times, can be attributed to excess gum tissue or an imbalanced gum-line, which are amenable to the relatively non-invasive procedure of cosmetic gum contouring.

 

Cosmetic gum contouring can be planned as a part of an overall ‘smile designing’ treatment, where the shape of teeth are changed by veneers or orthodontics, and gingival reshaping is done as well. Orthodontic braces produce changes in position of teeth and predispose to gum inflammation as they make brushing difficult, and are often associated with some gum overgrowth. Thus, when the braces are removed, even though teeth may be aligned, their appearance may be short due to some areas of overgrown gum tissue. This usually requires cosmetic gum contouring to refine the aesthetics.

 

Sally, a 23 year old grad student says;” I had finished my orthdontics at last and had expected a ‘Hollywood’ smile but was disappointed. My orthodontist referred me to a periodontist in Houston. He first showed me on a model how gum contouring would appear and changed my look in one short painless visit!”

 

Prior to planning gum contouring, the dental team usually performs a smile analysis. Gum contouring, technically known as gingivectomy or gingivoplasty can be done in a single sitting under local anasthesia. Being minimally invasive it usually doesn’t require stitches and produces no or mild post-operative discomfort.