Crown Lengthening

At Droitwich Spa Dental Aesthetics & Implant Centre, our highly skilled team can help extend the surface of the tooth with crown lengthening.

Crown lengthening can help extend the surface of the tooth in situations where there is too little tooth surface available to complete another treatment, or to help resolve what is commonly referred to as a ‘gummy smile’.

What is a ‘gummy smile’?

While there’s no clinical definition of a ‘gummy smile’, it is generally considered to be when there is more of the gums on show in a smile than appears ‘natural’. Some patients are perfectly happy with their smiles like this, while others seek out our help to address it, which can be achieved through crown lengthening.

What happens during crown lengthening?

While this treatment is relatively quick and simple for the patient, it requires a huge amount of skill and training on the part of the dentist. During the short treatment, we’ll first use local anaesthetic, so you’re comfortable and pain-free throughout. We’ll then continue to contour the gum so that more of the tooth surface is on display than previously. In some cases, we may also need to shave some of the bone, but this isn’t always necessary.

What happens after the treatment?

You’ll need to avoid hot food and drink for up to 72 hours afterwards, and should also avoid any food that is particularly spicy or chewy – this is to avoid aggravating the area that has been treated.
Once your local anaesthetic begins wearing off, you’ll probably also experience some pain in the area but this can usually be addressed with paracetamol or ibuprofen. You should also avoid flossing until the area is completely healed. If pain in the area is persisting several days after your treatment, please get in contact with us at the practice.

For more information regarding this treatment

Contact Us OR 01905 773 887