How to improve a smile if I have small, square teeth? (photo)

Doctor's Answers 1

In order to determine how to improve your smile, we must first establish what we would like to change. The reason why the teeth appear to look small is due to the gum level, there is excess gum that can be removed in order to make the teeth bigger.

There are options to correcting the shape of the teeth such as Dental Bonding or Dental Veneers. Dental Bonding would provide a short term solution (5-8years), WIth Dental Veneers there are 2 types, Composite Veneers which would provide a short term solution (5-8 years) similar to Dental Bonding or Porcelain Veneers, which would provide a long term solution (15-20 years)

In order to adjust the gums, you could opt for Laser Gum Contouring, or what we do at our clinic is to simply trim the excess gum off using a regular diamond bur under local anaesthetic. After which, we would need to use the Porcelain Veneers to keep the gum from relapsing, as well as to correct the shape and size of the teeth.

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Yes - as part of your comprehensive evaluation prior to Smile / Lasik, your attending Ophthalmic surgeon will examine the posterior segment of the eye to ensure that there is no contraindications to performing your refractive surgery. Floaters are very common in patients with myopia (short-sightedness) and in themselves are not a contraindication for surgery. However, other conditions which are commonly associated with myopia including retinal tears, breaks, glaucoma or myopic macula degeneration are either disqualifying or require treatment prior to proceeding with refractive surgery.

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What are the possible treatments available to achieve a gummy smile or excessive gingival display?

A gummy smile as you correctly described is one in which there is excessive show of the upper gums during smiling. This can be caused by dental issues, overactive facial muscles or thin lips. The main culprit when we talk about overactive/strong facial muscles is the LLSAN (Levator Labii Superioris Alaeque Nasi). This muscle lifts the upper lip and also helps you scrunch the nose up. To correct the gummy smile, one would use botulinum toxin to target the inferior portion of the muscle (just adjacent to the nostril) to weaken it temporarily.

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