Beautiful Gums, Beautiful Smiles
What makes an attractive smile? Certainly most people would answer white or nicely aligned teeth. Have you ever considered how important gums are to the health and appearance of your smile?
In a broad grin most of us would prefer to flash pearly whites and not see a band of gums. What if that isn’t the case?
There are a number of ways to correct this depending upon the cause and severity of the problem. The photos below show a gummy smile corrected by Dr. Giacalone with very minor gum surgery and new crowns. This minor correction created a dramatic improvement for this patient.
Another very common problem is gum recession. Gum recession is the migration of gum tissue up the tooth root, exposing more root. It can affect a few or many teeth.
Exposed roots due to recession are unsightly, tend to be sensitive, and decay easily. There are a number of contributing factors including genetics, tooth position, improper tooth brushing (too hard or with a stiff bristled brush), tooth grinding habit and trauma.
There are two types of gums in the mouth, the delicate type like inside the cheek and the tough kind as on the roof of the mouth. When the tough type , known as “attached gingiva”, is in sufficient quantity around the neck of the tooth, the tooth/gum tends to better resist recession. When attached gingiva is in short supply modern dental techniques can help. There are a number of techniques in which attached gingiva can be grown or transferred (grafted) to an area where it was genetically limited or absent. Many times it can be made to cover a previously exposed root.
Dr. Giacalone refers some of these cases to gum specialists, Periodontists.
