What to Know About Gum Contouring

The shape of your gums has more of an aesthetic impact on your smile than you may realize. Many people suffer from what’s called a gummy smile, while others have a receding gum line due to issues with periodontal disease. East Hills Dental Associates, a dentist in Roslyn Heights, NY, explains what you need to know about gum contouring.

Reasons for Gum Contouring

If you have a gummy smile, gum contouring can completely be for cosmetic purposes. Your gum to teeth ratio plays part in the aesthetic look of your smile. A gummy smile puts too much emphasis on the gums and makes your teeth look small. The gummy smile look is something that usually comes with genetics and can’t be helped by any at-home remedies.

Gum recession is a harmful side effect of gum disease. When your gums recede, the nerves and bone can be exposed, causing pain and sensitivity. As your gums recede further, more problems can arise. The gums help to keep your teeth in place, and they can shift or even fall out.

Cosmetic Gum Contouring

If you’re insecure about your gummy smile, schedule a cosmetic dentistry consultation with one of our dentists. During the consultation, you can discuss your smile goals and the dentist will do a thorough oral examination. Using our digital imaging technology, the dentist can show you your ideal smile.

Before performing the procedure, the dentist will perform the gum contouring on a model to ensure that it can be done on your smile. We’ll create a customized treatment plan to get you the smile you want. At our office, we always use advanced gum contouring techniques to make sure you get the best result.

Treating Receding Gums

As with a cosmetic procedure, you’ll first have a consultation with one of our experienced dentists. They’ll have to evaluate the health and condition of your gums to determine what treatment avenue is best for you. Due to receding gums being caused by gum disease, periodontal therapy treatment may be required before the gum procedure.

Depending on the severity of the gum disease, we’ll usually recommend antibiotic rinses or scaling and root planing to deep clean the pockets that develop in your gums. We want to make sure the bacteria and infection are removed. Usually, our dentists will use the minimally-invasive pinhole gum lift procedure to take care of the gum recession.

Gum Contouring at Your Roslyn Heights, New York Dentist

Take care of your gums and put your best smile forward. Call us or schedule an appointment online.