The gummy smile occurs in people who have disproportionately more gums than teeth. In people with…

The gummy smile occurs in people who have disproportionately more gums than teeth. In people with a gingival smile, an excess of gum is seen when they smile & makes the teeth appear smaller. The causes can be very diverse and can be affected by different factors. Some of them include:

Altered passive eruption: Irregularities occur when the teeth grow in or erupt, and the dental crown is covered by the gum. When this is the cause of the gummy smile, the teeth are short & square.

Long jaw: This occurs in patients with vertical overgrowth of the upper jaw. Generally, it will also cause a malocclusion, or problem with the bite.

Induced gingiva: this is caused by plaque buildup, or certain drugs cause an enlargement of the gum.

Short or highly mobile upper lip: this occurs in cases in which the upper lip is short or moves excessively upward, thereby exposing more of the gums.

Low dental position: this is when the upper incisors “over erupt” because they have no contact with the lower ones.

Now that we’ve gone over the causes of the gummy smile, there are different gum smile treatments that can be used to fix a gummy smile depending on its origin.