Crown Lengthening by Houston Cosmetic Dentists
Houston cosmetic dentists perform a number of periodontal procedures that offer restorative and cosmetic benefit to the appearance of your gum line.
Some of you may have already conferred with a Houston dentist in the past about a condition that some call a gummy smile. This means your teeth appear too short when you smile. The problem does not lie with your teeth, either, but rather in the fact that there is simply too much gum tissue covering their surfaces.
Maybe your tooth has decayed and broken below the gum line, or maybe it has insufficient tooth structure for a restoration, such as a crown or bridge. Crown lengthening adjusts the amount of gum tissue to expose more of the tooth so it can be seen.
In order to do this, a Houston cosmetic dentist will perform a procedure known as a crown lengthening. The following questions and answers are provided for those of you who have inquired about the nature and details of this treatment option.
Does crown lengthening hurt?
This is a surgical procedure, but it is not a complicated one that involves any real sense of discomfort. There will be some discomfort after the surgery, but nothing that something like Advil cannot fix. Most patients report a general sense of soreness in the mouth rather than any real sense of pain, per se.
So this does involve cutting into the gum?
In the first type of crown lengthening treatment (there are actually two procedures that Houston cosmetic dentists perform that are known by this name), gum tissue is cut away under minor anesthetic.
The first type of crown lengthening is very simple. We simply trim away excess gum tissue from the front of the teeth. In fact, as this is often done on adolescents, we often give them a mirror and let them watch. That way, they can see their smile literally improve right before their eyes.
In the second type of crown lengthening, we have do use techniques more common to general dentistry, although there is ultimately a cosmetic outcome in mind here. This type of procedure is intended to repair teeth that have been broken down by decay that goes far beneath gum tissue. We have to remove some of the gum tissue using soft tissue lasers in order to expose more of the tooth surfaces. We may also have to reshape teeth and bones using dental burs and surgical instruments, although it is seldom necessary to involve bone tissue in this procedure.
When do you recommend crown lengthening?
It is always our goal as Houston Cosmetic Dentists to look for ways to improve the smile of a person. Obviously, if the gums are hiding the teeth for any reason, we cannot ignore the problem this creates. Since this procedure is easy and comfortable, and since it generally offers instant payback in terms of cosmetics, we recommend it for anyone in good, general health.
Is there anyone for who this cannot be done?
There may be some patients with severe medical problems that cannot have this procedure performed. However, these cases are rare. The best thing to do if you have a gummy smile is come in to our office and let our Houston Cosmetic Dentists give you a dental checkup and review your medical records.
Some of you may have already conferred with a Houston dentist in the past about a condition that some call a gummy smile. This means your teeth appear too short when you smile. The problem does not lie with your teeth, either, but rather in the fact that there is simply too much gum tissue covering their surfaces.
Maybe your tooth has decayed and broken below the gum line, or maybe it has insufficient tooth structure for a restoration, such as a crown or bridge. Crown lengthening adjusts the amount of gum tissue to expose more of the tooth so it can be seen.
In order to do this, a Houston cosmetic dentist will perform a procedure known as a crown lengthening. The following questions and answers are provided for those of you who have inquired about the nature and details of this treatment option.
Does crown lengthening hurt?
This is a surgical procedure, but it is not a complicated one that involves any real sense of discomfort. There will be some discomfort after the surgery, but nothing that something like Advil cannot fix. Most patients report a general sense of soreness in the mouth rather than any real sense of pain, per se.
So this does involve cutting into the gum?
In the first type of crown lengthening treatment (there are actually two procedures that Houston cosmetic dentists perform that are known by this name), gum tissue is cut away under minor anesthetic.
The first type of crown lengthening is very simple. We simply trim away excess gum tissue from the front of the teeth. In fact, as this is often done on adolescents, we often give them a mirror and let them watch. That way, they can see their smile literally improve right before their eyes.
In the second type of crown lengthening, we have do use techniques more common to general dentistry, although there is ultimately a cosmetic outcome in mind here. This type of procedure is intended to repair teeth that have been broken down by decay that goes far beneath gum tissue. We have to remove some of the gum tissue using soft tissue lasers in order to expose more of the tooth surfaces. We may also have to reshape teeth and bones using dental burs and surgical instruments, although it is seldom necessary to involve bone tissue in this procedure.
When do you recommend crown lengthening?
It is always our goal as Houston Cosmetic Dentists to look for ways to improve the smile of a person. Obviously, if the gums are hiding the teeth for any reason, we cannot ignore the problem this creates. Since this procedure is easy and comfortable, and since it generally offers instant payback in terms of cosmetics, we recommend it for anyone in good, general health.
Is there anyone for who this cannot be done?
There may be some patients with severe medical problems that cannot have this procedure performed. However, these cases are rare. The best thing to do if you have a gummy smile is come in to our office and let our Houston Cosmetic Dentists give you a dental checkup and review your medical records.
posted by Dental Expert at
9:50 AM
1 Comments
