Malaysian Deng Ziqi
On the evening of February 7, "Singer • The Year of Dangda" was launched, and Li Peiling from Malaysia sang on stage as a surprise singer. Her tense voice, straightforward personality and braces-wearing yet undisguised laughter were impressive.
We can clearly see that she is smiling beautifully, and a wave of Southeast Asian enthusiasm is pouring in. But the regret is that laughing will reveal a lot of gums, slightly destroying the sense of beauty, commonly known as "gum smile".
Many orthodontic patients also have such troubles, Dr. Hao has received a lot of patients' questions, why do some people laugh and show their gums, and some people do not show their gums? What are the reasons for The Gums smile? And how to solve it?
01 What is a gum smile?
It is normal to show your gums when you laugh, giving people a feeling of youth and vitality. With age, the elasticity of the facial muscles decreases, the influence of gravity will gradually sag, the upper gums can not be exposed after sagging, the exposure of the upper teeth will also decrease, or even only the lower teeth are exposed, and the upper teeth are exposed less and less also means the arrival of aging.
Smile normally without showing your gums, or only a small amount of gums exposed. Excessive exposure of the gums when smiling is a manifestation of a gingival smile.
02 What are the reasons for Lu Gum's smile?
The amount of gums that a smile exposes is related to both hard and soft tissues. For hard tissue, it is the height of the vertical development of the anterior part of the maxilla and the length of the alveolar bone of the anterior maxillary teeth. For soft tissues, it is the position of the gums, the length of the upper lip, and the movement of the upper lip.
The anterior part of the maxilla is overdeveloped or the alveolar bone of the upper upper teeth is overdeveloped
The maxilla is a large bone, and the facial bone in the area from the underside of the orbit all the way to the upper teeth is the area where the maxilla is located. If the maxilla is overdeveloped vertically, or if the alveolar bone of the upper front teeth is overextended, excessive tooth exposure can occur, or even a large number of gums are exposed when smiling. This photo shows a typical overdevelopment of the maxilla/upper alveolar bone.
The gums of the upper upper teeth are too long, the teeth erupt inadequately, and the proportions of the teeth are not coordinated
The shape of the beautiful front teeth should be erect rectangular, the length-to-width ratio of the teeth is about 1.2:1, and we see that her teeth are almost square, the aspect ratio is about 1:1, and even some people's teeth are flat rectangular.
The reason for this incoherent length-to-width ratio of teeth is that the gums of the upper teeth are too long, and the gums should not have covered so many front teeth. So it is also called insufficient tooth eruption.
The upper lip is too short
There are many people with short upper lip, and the specific performance is that when relaxing, the lips cannot be completely closed, and the upper lip will be slightly turned up, forming an upward convex shape. Teeth and even gums are exposed in rest, and more gums are exposed when smiling.
In addition to genetic factors, the lack of strength of the lip muscles caused by oral breathing is also one of the reasons.
The upper lip flips too much when smiling
Some people can completely close their mouths under static conditions, and the amount of tooth exposure is normal, and there is no open lip to show teeth, but when smiling or laughing, the upper lip is too much movement, and it can be moved up 2cm from the original position, which will expose the gums. This gum-like smile has nothing to do with the teeth themselves and the development of the alveolar bone, but only caused by excessive movement of the lips.
The reason why different people smile is one of the above four, or a combination of several. So in order to improve gummy, multidisciplinary collaboration may be required, and a variety of different treatments are needed to completely improve gummy.
03How to improve gum smile?
We need to treat different causes accordingly.
Treatment of overdevelopment of the maxilla or hyperdevelopment of the alveolar bone of the upper teeth
Due to the overdevelopment of the maxilla, the excess maxilla needs to be cut out through orthognathic surgery, so that the maxilla as a whole is lifted up and the maxilla position is moved up to improve.
Due to the excessive development of the alveolar bone of the upper teeth, the gum smile is formed, which does not require surgery, and the teeth can be lowered through orthodontic treatment, which can be improved. Now with micro-implant nails, you can improve gum smile by punching nails on the alveolar bone of the upper front teeth and pressing the upper aces into the alveolar bone.
Treatment of excessively long gums on the upper front teeth
If it is a gum smile caused by excessively long gums, through gum reshaping surgery or crown extension surgery, the excessively long gums can be repaired to restore the length of the teeth themselves, while improving the length-to-width ratio of the teeth and making the teeth look better.
Treatment of short upper lip
Poor lip shape due to short upper lip can be improved by lip function training. If the muscle strength of the lips is insufficient, practice more mouth sipping, whistling, playing musical instruments, smoking cotton threads, and other similar movements that require the exercise of orbicularis muscles.
Treatment of excessive upper lip movements
If the upper lip is too much moving when smiling, consider injecting botulinum toxin to reduce the activity of the upper lip so that the upper lip is no longer over-turned. Although the efficacy of botulinum toxin injection is good, the duration is limited, and the effect may gradually fade after more than half a year, and it is necessary to inject again to maintain the efficacy.
It is also possible to consider upper lip repositioning, relying on surgical methods to fix the position of the upper lip in a normal position to prevent excessive upward turnover of the upper lip. The picture below is a case of lip repositioning by Teacher Zheng Wei of West China Dental.
Through Dr. Hao's explanation, everyone's understanding of Lu Gum's smile is much deeper. If you have a problem with a grin, don't rush to make a decision, but make a clear diagnosis before choosing a treatment plan!
Let's do a quiz, shall we? What causes Li Peiling's gums smile?