Gummy Smile? We Can Help With Laser Dentistry

Really great smiles share a couple things in common — they’re usually backed by white teeth that line up well and aren’t overshadowed by too much gum tissue. If you’re reading this, you might have the first box checked, but you’re not all that happy about the way your gums take over your smile. 

If you have a gummy smile, the good news is that we can bring the focus back to the better attributes of your smile through laser dentistry. Here at Silverlake Smiles, Dr. Juliet Ebrahimian and our team want to provide our patients with the most up-to-date dental technologies available — and laser dentistry tops this list.

Here, we take a look at how we can use this innovative treatment to improve your gummy smile.

Why the gummy smile?

We want to kick off this discussion with an important point — gummy smiles can be highly subjective. That said, we’re going to discuss a few guidelines when it comes to excessive gingival display, which is our more technical term for a gummy smile.

Most dental experts agree that if more than 3-4 millimeters of gum tissue is on display when you smile, this can create a disproportionate look between your gums and your teeth. As you might imagine, these numbers depend on the size of your teeth.

While excessive gingival tissue is the leading driver of a gummy smile, you might also have a gummy smile because your lips pull back too far.

For the purposes of this discussion, we’re going to stick with those gummy smiles in which an abundance of gum tissue is taking center stage every time you smile.

Creating a more balanced smile with laser dentistry

One of the best ways we’ve found to correct a gummy smile is with laser dentistry. This advanced technology allows us to remove gum tissue using precise thermal energy.

You reap the benefits when we use laser dentistry, including:

• Less bleeding
• Less pain
• More precision
• Shorter recovery

We use laser dentistry like a sculpting tool, expertly and quickly removing excess gum tissue to reveal more tooth underneath, thereby placing the focus of your smile back on your teeth.

We can perform the laser treatment for your gummy smile in one visit, in most cases, and recovery is fairly easy. We give you aftercare instructions, but you should count on a few days of eating softer foods and avoiding harsh brushing. You might also have some soreness during this time, but over-the-counter medication should handle any discomfort.

If you’d like to see whether laser dentistry holds the key to improving your gummy smile, we invite you to contact us at our Los Angeles office to set up an appointment. We serve the Silver Lake neighborhood and areas of Los Feliz, Atwater Village, Frogtown, and Echo Park.