Your teeth may be the first thing you notice about your smile, but your gums play an important role in its appearance, too. When it’s healthy, even, and symmetrical, your gum line may be barely noticeable when you smile. When it’s uneven and covers your teeth disproportionately, however, your uneven gum line can become the most dominant feature of your smile. Often referred to as a gummy smile, the appearance of uneven gum lines isn’t the greatest concern surrounding them, and making your gum line symmetrical can be more important for your long-term oral health.

What having a gummy smile can mean

For your smile’s appearance, having uneven gum tissues may be a minor or significant thing, depending on the severity of the condition. Yet, when your gums are uneven, their appearance doesn’t always highlight the more profound dangers. For example, an uneven gum line can make it easier for oral bacteria to work their way underneath your gum tissues and form plaque on your teeth roots. As this plaque calcifies into tartar, the bacteria irritate and infect your gum tissues, which can be the beginning of a potentially serious case of gum disease.

The process of contouring your gum line

Many dental treatments that are designed to improve certain aspects of your smile’s appearance are also designed to help improve your overall oral health. This is especially true when it comes to correcting a gummy smile, which both improves your smile’s appearance and lowers your risks of developing gum disease. The process of contouring your gum line is also typically minimally invasive, and involves carefully trimming away excess gum tissues over appropriate areas of your teeth. For optimal comfort and results, we often perform this procedure with the help of dental laser technology, rather than a traditional scalpel.

The advantages of laser gum contouring

There are several advantages to using laser technology for gum contouring compared to more traditional surgical methods. While a scalpel can achieve highly satisfactory results, the specially calibrated laser technology offers enhanced precision when trimming soft oral tissues. This equates to less bleeding and a faster, more comfortable healing process, as well as more cosmetically appealing results for your smile’s appearance.

Learn more about laser gum contouring

Having a gummy smile could be more serious than you realize, and with laser dental treatment, we may be able to help you improve yours more comfortably and conveniently. To learn more, schedule a consultation by calling Modern Smile in North Hollywood, CA, today at 818-763-9353. We also proudly serve patients who live in Burbank, Toluca Lake, and all surrounding communities.