Gummy Smile Correction

If you show an uncomfortably large amount of your gums when you smile, there are a number of surgical procedures that can correct this condition. The choice of the surgical procedure depends on the cause of the gummy smile; Dr. Parsa T. Zadeh is an expert in several procedures that can help restore a beautiful smile with less noticeable gums.

GUMLIFT®

GUMLIFT® may be the right solution for you if you have an excessively gummy smile. In the past, gum surgery was used only for patients with advanced periodontal disease or whose gumlines could prevent a patient from maintaining good oral hygiene. Today, gum surgery is often provided for cosmetic concerns as well as for improving your oral and periodontal health.

Dr. Zadeh has adapted a series of procedures to create a cosmetic solution for “gummy” smiles. GUMLIFT refers to a series of treatments that include jaw and gum refinement, lip repositioning and crown lengthening to improve the tooth to gum ratio of your smile and give you a beautiful, balanced smile.

As the GUMLIFT is his signature surgery, he has devoted a separate website entirely to the ins and outs of gummy smile surgery. As the inventor of this treatment plan, Dr. Zadeh has unprecedented experience that allows him to create results that few dentists and oral surgeons can match.

The Pioneer of GUMLIFT for Gummy Smile Correction

Over the past 26 years, Dr. Zadeh has performed thousands of surgeries to treat gummy smiles. The most common procedure is simple contouring of overgrown gums through laser treatment. However, most of his cases have been far more complex. By observing and studying outcomes from hundreds of cases, he refined his surgical techniques for ideal, predictable results every time. There is very little risk of relapse or complication when you trust your GUMLIFT to Dr. Zadeh.

Dr. Zadeh will work with you to combine surgical and restorative techniques to create the ideal combination of treatments to meet your unique needs.

What Happens During Gummy Smile Correction?

Your gummy smile surgery can be completed in a single visit to our office. Afterwards, you will only return for a post-op follow-up to ensure that your gums are healing properly and without complications.

For many patients, gum recontouring is all that is required for stunning results. This procedure removes the excess gum tissue that covers the teeth and creates a short or “peg” look. By refining the gumline, the underlying teeth are revealed. Following the surgery and a few days of healing, the patient’s new smile is ready to be enjoyed. Some patients with awkwardly placed or misshapen teeth may require teeth proportioning that reshapes the tooth to appear more normal and smooths out irregularities.

Some patients require their upper jawbone to be trimmed for ideal results. The shape of the bone causes their teeth to protrude in a way that makes their gums more pronounced. By refining the shape of the jaw, the patient can enjoy the results they want without further invasive work. While it is more complicated and requires more healing time than a standard gum trimming, a jaw refinement is often used as a tool to help patients with the most difficult cases get the results they want with less downtime and hassle.

Some patients of Dr. Zadeh also opt to have cosmetic procedures such as crowns, veneers and dental implants in addition to their gummy smile correction to get a Hollywood-perfect smile makeover. All of these options can be discussed at your initial visit, where Dr. Zadeh will personally discuss your desired results.

During your procedure, you will be sedated for your comfort and so you can relax and let us worry about creating the smile you have dreamed about.

See Some of Dr. Zadeh’s Results!

Most dentists are capable of trimming some excess gum tissue either by laser or scalpel. This simple method of gummy smile treatment has its own place in cosmetic dentistry. However, the use of this method is limited to cases that simply involve overgrown gum tissue. One of our patients, Gina is a good example of a patient with overgrown gums whom Dr. Zadeh treated by recontouring the gumline with a diode laser.

Many of the patients who visit Dr. Zadeh for gummy smile surgery present more severe situations like Gina, Mary and Carol. These patients had orthodontic treatment in the past and were left with the gummy smiles that you see in their pictures. Their treatments required a complete gum lift. This included reshaping of the underlying bone. Dr. Zadeh performed the surgery in about three hours using IV sedation for the patients.

Through gum contouring, I was able to reveal Gina’s brilliant smile without additional procedures.

Mary’s case is an example of a gummy smile that also needed improvement in the shape of her teeth. In this case, after the surgical treatment, Dr. Zadeh placed porcelain veneers on her teeth to complete her smile to improve their shape and luster. This gave her teeth a beautiful, even and radiant appearance.

Mary’s gummy smile was corrected, and then veneers were added.

Carol is an example of a category of gummy smile correction for which Dr. Zadeh gets referrals from all over the country. It produces the most dramatic improvements in a patient’s smile. In this example, Dr. Zadeh first treated Carol’s daughter, who interestingly had the exact same issues. Impressed by the great results, Carol signed up for the same procedure about a year later.

In this case, Dr. Zadeh used three surgical procedures as phase one of the treatment. He performed a surgical gum lift, removed the bulk of the bone from the upper jaw and did a lip-tuck procedure all in one day under IV sedation. In phase two of her treatment, he performed a restorative gum lift and placed porcelain veneers and crowns on her teeth.

Carol had her teeth restored with veneers and crowns after her gummy smile correction.

Joan is another example of a very complex case. Her main complaint was the inability to close her mouth completely. She also had a history of wearing braces and disliked the size and shape of her front teeth, and she particularly disliked the appearance of her gummy smile. Through a combination of oral surgery and a restorative gum lift, Dr. Zadeh corrected her gummy smile and closed her bite significantly. Joan also opted for veneers to round out her treatment and improve the overall appearance of her teeth. The results are beautiful and stunning.

Joan’s mouth would not close completely, and veneers were used to correct the smallness of her teeth.

Word of Advice for the Treatment of a Gummy Smile:

Even if you start with a cosmetic dentist’s procedures first, the results may be unpredictable due to inadequate communication between the cosmetic and surgical offices. In his office, Dr. Zadeh personally designs your treatment plan and shows you the computer imaging of your mutual goals. He then performs the surgical phase and cosmetic phase all under one roof. Since all cosmetic gum lift surgeries are performed in one office in the Los Angeles area, there is never an issue of communication errors. Nor is there any confusion about responsibility for the outcome. This is one of the many reasons Dr. Zadeh prefers a singular, expert approach over “team” dentistry, especially when it comes to complicated gummy smile correction cases.

In other words, a cosmetic procedure must begin with the end result in mind. A cosmetic dentist must be the architect for all their procedures. As we see from the examples on this page, the ideal cosmetic result would NOT be possible without the final restorations performed by Dr. Zadeh. If the surgical phase is delegated to another office or dentist, the surgeon must follow the recommendations of the cosmetic dentist. Starting the treatment of a gummy smile at a surgeon’s office is like starting to build a house by placing plumbing and electrical wires first and then having the general contractor build the walls around the pipes and wires! It makes no sense and is a backwards and inefficient approach.

A Word From Dr. Zadeh:

“Bottom line is that your cosmetic dentist must be able to show you dozens of before and after pictures of very similar cases with great results that he or she has personally treated and that you can verify by being able to contact those patients personally and ask about their experience. Although I have hundreds of patients who for various reasons do not want to be bothered by prospective patients’ inquiries or do not want their pictures shown, I have treated enough individuals with altruistic souls who do not mind helping another person get over their fears and make the life changing improvements that my other patients have experienced.” – Dr. Parsa T. Zadeh, DDS, MAGD, FICOI

Lip Repositioning

In certain cases where the teeth size and position are ideal, this procedure can be performed to limit the upward movement of the upper lip upon smiling. The disadvantage of this procedure is due to the elastic nature of lip tissue: the lip stretches, and the condition relapses about a year later. Dr. Zadeh has used additional sophisticated procedures to minimize this relapse, and you can ask him about these at your consultation.

Crown Lengthening

Crown lengthening is the classic procedure that is used to reduce gum exposure. Unless modified for gummy smile reduction, a classical crown lengthening is considered too aggressive for a healthy mouth.

Gingivectomy

This is the most common procedure performed by dentists to reduce gummy smile. In very limited situations, the resected gums will grow back in about 10 to 12 months. There are, however, some situations that can benefit from this simple procedure. Dr. Zadeh will help you decide which method is right for you!

If you are interested in gummy smile correction surgery in Beverly Hills, California, call us today at 310-273-2020 or email our appointment coordinator for a free consultation and learn what our master cosmetic dentist can do for you!