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Forty- four year old dental patient presented for a smile analysis.  She was concerned that her teeth were unattractive. 

As a cosmetic dentist what I noticed was that she had a very "Gummy" smile.  That is, she showed way too much gum when she smiled.  She also had very prominent "eye teeth" that came "out to far" and very small "side teeth" which were set "back too far."  She needed to show more teeth and less gum.

This is a very interesting case in that to reduce her "gummy" smile line, she needed to have her teeth moved "up" to show less gum as well as lengthen her teeth to create a "fuller smile" with a more natural tooth shape. Her teeth needed to be longer so that they were not so "square" in shape. 

After probing (measuring the space available under her gums), I determined that I could safely move her four front teeth "up" with laser surgery.  This would also greatly reduced the "gum line discrepancy" between her two front teeth and her adjacent side teeth.

Further measurements determined the "ideal length" of all upper front teeth. In this case, I would be "lengthening" her four front teeth in two directions, both "up" and "down" and be consistent with her eye teeth.  I would also be "bringing out" her side teeth and "bringing in" her eye teeth.

Since she had adequate tooth structure on all of her front teeth, porcelain veneers were recommended.  This would require some shaving back of her eye teeth as well as adding to or bringing out her side teeth.  Porcelain veneers can be made thin for her eye teeth and thicker for her side teeth.

The result was a full natural smile which was no longer "gummy" and had a much more "esthetic tooth length."