Dear Dr. Val,
My gums are irregular and they make some of my teeth smaller than the rest . What can I do ?
Thanks
Gummy Bear
Dear Gummy Bear,
The shape, color and appearance of your teeth can easily be changed to create a beautiful smile with modern cosmetic dentistry techniques, such as tooth whitening, tooth-colored fillings, dental implants and porcelain veneers. However, most people are not aware that a Cosmetic Dentist also can create a beautiful smile with subtle changes to their gums using soft-tissue lasers that recontour the gum-line. Recontouring of your gums to make them symmetrical can drastically change and improve the natural balance of your smile.
The soft-tissue laser is one of the newer dental tools available to the Cosmetic Dentist. It can be used often with very little to no anesthetic to reshape your gums painlessly to give a beautifully sculptured smile that would be the envy of a Hollywood movie star. Laser gum surgery may be appropriate for you in the following situations:
– Teeth appear small or short
– Gums appear large and dominate your smile
– Gum tissue appearance is different on each side of your mouth
– Overall balance between gums and teeth is not proportional
– Gum contours around teeth are not correct or uneven
When you smile, very little gum should be visible. The majority of your smile should exhibit your beautiful teeth, with just a hint of gum showing above the teeth. Each tooth should have a nicely arched gum-line above it. The soft-tissue laser offers a painless, minimally invasive, non-anesthesia surgery that is an extremely successful method of obtaining a beautiful smile.
A beautiful smile created with soft-tissue laser surgery is accomplished simply by rebalancing the amount of gum tissue that is exposed in relationship to the amount of tooth structure that is showing and recontouring the gums around each tooth to appear balanced. Patients having soft-tissue laser therapy heal quickly and without the discomfort associated with traditional periodontal gum surgery done with anesthetic. For additional information regarding cosmetic dental procedures and laser contouring, please call Dr Val at 650-697-9000 orwww.millbraesmiles.com.
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If you have questions, pls call Dr. Valerie de Leon at (650) 697–9000 or visit our website at www.millbraesmiles.com. She is with Millbrae Smile Center located at 15 El Camino Real, Millbrae 94030. She is a member of American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, Academy of Laser Dentistry, ADA, CDA and SMCDS. Please call for a free consultation.