Crown lengthening is a surgical procedure that recontours the gum tissue and often the underlying bone around a tooth. This is to provide your dentist with an adequate amount of healthy tooth to support a crown or filling. Once there is enough tooth exposed, your dentist can properly place a filling or a cap/crown over the tooth. Without this procedure, it may not be possible to fix the tooth or do so in a healthy manner.
Aesthetic crown lengthening is required to help correct a ‘gummy smile’ or for patients with ‘short teeth’. When teeth naturally erupt into the mouth, the gums will normally settle at the neck of the tooth, exposing the entire crown of the tooth. When this process doesn’t occur naturally, a portion of the tooth may still be hidden under the gums, and appear ‘short’. Patients often notice when their smiles are not as full, or that their smile is too ‘gummy’. This is often due to extra gum tissue that has not naturally settled around the tooth. Aesthetic crown lengthening is a surgical procedure that recontours the gum tissue and often the underlying bone to reduce the extra gum tissue, and expose the entire tooth. This will result in a smile that is less gummy or allow your dentist to fabricate veneers/crowns which aid in a more aesthetic smile.
