Is a healthy, beautiful smile something you have been desiring? Do you want to boost your confidence levels? You can easily achieve a healthy, and beautiful smile through cosmetic dentistry. Be it correcting a gummy smile, or preparing your mouth for cosmetic treatments, procedures like crown lengthening play a key role.
The dentist in Dedham, MA, and their team offer comprehensive smile enhancement through crown lengthening when conditions like gum inflammation lead to an unaesthetic smile.
What is crown lengthening? Why is it performed?
Crown lengthening is a surgical procedure performed by a periodontist to expose one or more teeth by removing excess gum tissues and the supporting bone.
This is performed due to the following reasons:
- Cosmetic purpose
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- Having extra gum tissues as seen in patients with a gummy smile can make the teeth look unnaturally short.
- Such teeth are more prone to periodontal infections.
- Removal of excess gum tissues can restore and improve the aesthetic appearance of your smile.
- Restoration of damaged teeth
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- Most often periodontal disease, dental decay, and trauma can cause severe damage to the teeth.
- Crown lengthening becomes necessary when the damage occurs below the gum line which makes it difficult to access the area for restoring the damaged teeth.
- Fabrication of dental crowns
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- Due to insufficient space between the crown and jawbone, dental crowns can harm the gum tissues and the underlying bone.
- Properly fitted crowns allow better oral hygiene and comfort.
How is crown lengthening performed?
Crown lengthening is an outpatient procedure performed under local anesthesia (a numbing agent) to ease pain and discomfort.
Procedure
- Your dentist will remove any temporary crowns in any of the neighboring teeth.
- A small incision/s (cuts) will be made near the gum tissues (depending on the number of teeth involved) and pulled away to expose the underlying roots and bone.
- According to your condition, your dentist may remove only the gum tissues, or may even remove part of your bone as well. Bone removal can be done using hand and rotary instruments.
- The surgical area will be thoroughly cleaned with an antiseptic solution.
- The incision will then be closed using sutures and a periodontal pack will be placed over it for healing, and additional protection.
Aftercare
- Your teeth will look visibly longer immediately after surgery.
- Usually, it may take 3 months for the gum tissues to heal completely.
- Your dentist will prescribe medications for pain relief and a chlorhexidine mouth rinse to prevent infection
Bottom line
Crown lengthening is a versatile procedure with many uses and benefits. When performed by a skilled dental professional, you can expect your procedure to go smoothly with an enhanced smile and rejuvenated oral health.
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