A gummy smile is when more gum shows above your upper teeth than you would like. It usually comes from extra gum tissue, an upper lip that rises high, tooth position, or the shape of the upper jaw, and the right treatment depends on which cause applies to you.
A gummy smile is common, it is not a health problem on its own, and it never has to be treated. If it bothers you, though, an honest evaluation of the cause matters more than any single procedure.
What Counts as a Gummy Smile?
Dentists and orthodontists sometimes call it excessive gingival display. There is no strict cutoff, but many clinicians start using the term when roughly three to four millimeters of gum or more shows above the upper front teeth during a full, natural smile. How much gum looks “right” is also a matter of proportion. A smile can look gummy because the teeth appear short, because the gumline sits unevenly from tooth to tooth, or because the lip simply lifts a long way. Those are very different situations, and they call for different answers.
What Causes a Gummy Smile?
The most common cause we see in an orthodontic practice is excess gum tissue. Sometimes the gums never fully moved back as the adult teeth came in, a pattern called altered passive eruption, so the teeth are a normal length but partly covered. Gum tissue can also become overgrown or puffy during braces, especially where plaque collects around brackets, and some medications are known to cause gum overgrowth as a side effect. In each of these cases the teeth themselves are fine; there is simply more tissue covering them than there should be.
The upper lip is the second common cause. A hypermobile or hyperactive lip lifts higher than average when you smile, revealing more gum even when the gum tissue and teeth are perfectly normal. A short upper lip can do the same. Reshaping gum tissue does not change how a lip moves, so contouring alone will not solve a lip-related gummy smile.
Tooth position plays a part too. When the upper front teeth have erupted too far down, or when a deep bite lets them overlap the lower teeth more than usual, the gumline sits lower and more of it shows. This is where braces or aligners can help, because moving the teeth moves the gumline with them.
Finally, jaw shape matters. In vertical maxillary excess, the upper jaw has grown taller than average, so the whole gumline sits lower in the face. Neither gum contouring nor tooth movement can change bone height, and the most significant cases are usually treated with orthognathic (jaw) surgery planned together with an oral surgeon. Many smiles involve more than one of these causes at once, which is another reason a personalized evaluation comes first.
Gummy Smile Causes and the Treatments That Match Them
The table below pairs each cause with the treatment that addresses it and who usually provides it. It is a starting point for a conversation with your doctor, not a diagnosis.
| Cause | What it looks like | Treatment that addresses it | Who usually provides it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excess or overgrown gum tissue | Teeth look short; gum covers part of each tooth | Laser gum contouring (gingivectomy) | Orthodontist with laser training, or a periodontist |
| Uneven gumline | Some teeth look shorter than their neighbors | Laser gum contouring, sometimes combined with tooth movement | Orthodontist |
| Tooth position or deep bite | Upper front teeth sit low; gumline drops with them | Braces or clear aligners | Orthodontist |
| Hyperactive or short upper lip | Normal teeth and gums, but the lip rises high | Botox or filler, or lip repositioning | Dentist, periodontist or medical provider |
| Tall upper jaw (vertical maxillary excess) | Whole gumline sits low in the face | Orthodontics with orthognathic (jaw) surgery | Orthodontist working with an oral surgeon |
| Bone covering part of the tooth | Teeth stay short even after tissue is reshaped | Crown lengthening (reshapes bone as well as gum) | Periodontist |
Which Gummy Smile Treatments Can an Orthodontist Offer?
An orthodontist’s first tool is tooth movement. When tooth position is part of the cause, braces or clear aligners can intrude the upper front teeth slightly, correct a deep bite and bring the gumline up with the teeth. This takes time, since it happens over the course of treatment, but it addresses the underlying position rather than covering it up.
The second tool is reshaping the gum tissue itself. At Imagine Orthodontic Studio, laser gum contouring (also called a gum lift or laser gingivectomy) uses a soft-tissue laser to gently reshape excess gum so more of each tooth shows and the gumline looks even. A topical numbing gel is applied first, the procedure is typically completed in a single visit, and stitches are typically not needed. Some tenderness for a few days is common, and the gumline continues to settle over the following weeks.
Because both tools sit with the same doctor, they can be planned together: teeth moved first, then the gumline refined at the end, often at the debond appointment when the braces come off.
What an orthodontist does not do is change how the lip moves or how tall the jaw is on their own. When the evaluation points to a lip or jaw cause, an honest orthodontist will say so and refer you to the right specialist rather than offering a procedure that will not deliver the result you are hoping for.
Is Laser Gum Contouring Right for Your Gummy Smile?
Laser gum contouring tends to help most when the issue is the gum tissue itself: puffy or overgrown tissue that developed during braces and has not settled, an uneven gumline that makes some teeth look shorter than others, or gums that cover part of otherwise normal-length teeth. It is a personalized decision. Your doctor evaluates your gum health and tooth structure first, maps where the gumline should sit tooth by tooth, and reviews the benefits, risks and alternatives with you before anything is scheduled.
Results are generally long-lasting with good home care, but tissue that overgrew because of plaque can return if brushing and flossing slip. If puffy gums during treatment are your main concern, our guide to swollen gums with braces covers what is normal and what helps at home. Individual results vary.
At Imagine, laser gum contouring is performed by Dr. Alison Starkenburg and Dr. Alissa Morris, board-certified orthodontists who completed specialized training in laser soft-tissue contouring, at our St. Petersburg (Pinellas Park) and Largo (Clearwater) studios. It is available to Imagine patients, current, past or starting treatment, as part of their orthodontic care, and patients from any Imagine studio can be scheduled there. It is not offered as a standalone service at this time.
Frequently Asked Questions About Gummy Smiles
Can braces fix a gummy smile?
Braces or aligners can help when tooth position or a deep bite is part of the cause, because moving the teeth moves the gumline with them. They cannot change excess gum tissue, lip movement or jaw height on their own, so many patients need tooth movement combined with gum contouring when tissue is also a factor.
Is a gummy smile bad for your teeth?
A gummy smile caused by lip movement or jaw shape is mostly a cosmetic concern. Overgrown or puffy gum tissue is different: it can trap plaque around the teeth and brackets, which makes cleaning harder and can keep the gums inflamed.
Is laser gum contouring the same as Botox for a gummy smile?
No. Botox or filler relaxes or reshapes the upper lip, while laser gum contouring reshapes excess gum tissue. They address different causes, so your doctor will tell you which one applies to you and refer you if contouring is not the right fit.
Is gum contouring the same as crown lengthening?
Gum contouring, gum lift, gum reshaping and gingivectomy are different names for the same soft-tissue procedure. Crown lengthening is different because it reshapes bone as well as gum, and it is usually done by a periodontist.
A gummy smile is not something you have to live with, and it is not something to rush into fixing either. The first step is finding out which cause you are dealing with. Already an Imagine patient? Ask your doctor at your next visit, or call 833-467-2778. New to Imagine? Schedule a consultation and we will evaluate your smile and talk through every option that fits it.