A Gummy Smile - Before and After

Submitted by Meg Wilson on July 25, 2008 - 07:52.

Dr. Farnoosh, a cosmetic dentist in Los Angeles, has a solution for people with a gummy smile. While some dentists say there is nothing that can be done to fix a high lip line, Dr. Farnoosh performs a surgical procedure that repositions the upper lip in relation the the lip line. The incisions are made inside the lips so there is no scarring on the outer lip. His technique limits the vertical movement of the upper lip which keeps the lips closer to the teeth when smiling.

Does upper lip repositioning also make the lips more lusciously fuller? Miraculously, it would appear so from this before and after picture.

We'd appreciate any comments from cosmetic dentists here about upper lip positioning as a solution to gummy smiles.


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( categories: Cosmetic Dentistry )
I'm very interested in theis
Submitted by Nathalie (not verified) on July 22, 2009 - 14:46.

I'm very interested in theis surgery. Is is possible to see a picture of the whole face in addition to the teeth alone. This way we can better see how the proportions relate to the whole face after the surgery.

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Crown Lengthening is not a good solution for Gummy Smiles
Submitted by Dr. Elliot (not verified) on July 3, 2009 - 09:37.

I am a dentist and have been practicing for 15 years. I always send my gummy smile patients to Dr. Farnoosh for lip lowering treatment. Because Dr. Farnoosh developed the procedure most dentists, myself included, do not know how to do the lip lowering procedure. Many of them recommend veneers or crown lengthening to patients when it may not be the best soltion. The problem with using veneers for correcting a gummy smile is that they are very expensive and may not resolve the problem of the excess gum tissue. Crown lengthening which involves resection or surgical removal of the gum tissue in some cases may cause other aesthetic problems or destabilize the teeth. Some patients with very gummy smiles that receive crown lengthening then appear to have "horse teeth" or teeth that look very long. In some of these cases the problem involves a hypermobile lip and therefore crown lengthening (which affects the gum tissue ) does not even address the problem which is a hypermobile lip.

If you have a gummy smile please do your research and examine the various treatment options before you decide to pursue crown lengthening and veneers to resolve your gummy smile. In my experience, lip lowering is often a far better solution for patients.

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my results
Submitted by Vanessa (not verified) on March 26, 2009 - 00:58.

hello

I am Vanessa and I am from Italy. I just came to California to see Dr. Farnoosh to fix my gummy smile. I read about him on your site. I went to his office in Beverly Hills, he showed me so many cases he has treated to correct their gummy smile with lip lowering. He was very nice and an expert in this treatment. I did the procedure 3 months ago, at first my lips felt a little tight but now my smile looks great. I had a good experience and result.

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I too have a gummy smile. I
Submitted by Guest (not verified) on December 28, 2008 - 22:17.

I too have a gummy smile. I have seen many doctors over the years in search of a solution for this problem. In the end, though, I decided not to have any type of surgery. It just seemed too risky! I recently found out- and here's the good news- that there is another option. Botox is now being used to fix gummy smiles! I will be having my first treatment soon and am looking forward to a much improved smile!

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Question about this
Submitted by Guest (not verified) on September 5, 2008 - 23:26.

Hello -- i live in California and have a gummy smile. I have been looking for a way to fix it and have been scouring the Net. As I was going through this article I decided to look into the Beverly Hills Dentist you mention. He has a lot of press releases when I google him and I also went to his site ....do you know anything about his "less invasive technique"?

Also, his "before and after images of patients look pretty good". Do you recommend him? If not do you know any one else that does this minimally invasive treatment he mentions?

Thanks. Any help will be appreciated.

Alison

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Gummy Smile Before/ After
Submitted by Simon (not verified) on July 28, 2008 - 04:09.

What we are seeing here is an after image that is zoomed in and as a result the lips appear slightly bigger, and fuller. I am not a cosmetic dentist but have had this procedure done and am very happy with the results.

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Any more information?
Submitted by Alison (not verified) on November 2, 2008 - 12:39.

Among other cosmetic issues, I have been considering correcting my gummy smile for years and have been researching the treatment options for a while. I wanted to share my findings with everyone since this site has been so informative.

I was wondering about the differences between treatment options of orthognathic surgery, crown lengthening and lip lowering and spoke to a few dentists, an oral surgeon and a periodontist. I was told pretty consistently that orthognathic surgery is very invasive, expensive and disruptive to your life. They have to cut your jaw and then wire it shut. A lot of dentists suggest crown lengthening because its less invasive. A few of the surgeons told me that treating gummy smiles by crown lengthening may only correct part of the problem and is not applicable to everyone. Since I have short teeth crown lengthening is not really a solution for me.

This leaves me with orthognathic surgery or lip lowering. I am being told that the best solution for me because I want something minimally invasive is to get lip lowering. I am scheduled to have the procedure in a month with the leading expert for lip lowering in California and will share my experience with everyone after the treatment.

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Lip lowering
Submitted by Karen (not verified) on July 7, 2009 - 15:33.

how did this go? Do you have any photos?

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don't get orthognathic surgery--see Dr. Farnoosh
Submitted by darrin (not verified) on January 9, 2009 - 15:46.

hey people--whatever you do, don't get orthognathic surgery if you don't have to!!! it's expensive - anywhere from 40-60k. and in MOST cases, unnecessary. i just saw Dr. Farnooshand had the lip lowering procedure done.
i won't kid you-- it was painful for 10 days afterward and i had to eat soft food throughout.
but now my smile is perfect! i wish i'd done this when i was in high school. he said it's easiest to do when people see him before they've had braces (which i did) and the tissue is very easy to work with.
i can't recommend him highly enough. he really understood my problem immediately: i didn't qualify for merely cutting gum tissue. my upper lip also flattened out so much that my nose wrinkled when i smiled. it really bugged me for years.
he ended up having to cut excess bony tissue above the gums...like i said, painful but worth it and it costs anywhere from 6-10k depending on the severity of your problem.

btw, i had a consultation w/ Dr. Ellenbogen who does the silicone chip implant...and i decided i didn't want an artificial item in my body; which is the same reason i didn't go the Botox route. i REALLY didn't want to get hooked on having to get injections for the rest of my life. i'm so happy i went with Dr. Farnoosh. people fly from all over the world to see him. he's a total pro and he's done so many of these that he's developed different techniques to use on patients to get the right result.
i find i'm smiling aaaalll the time...making up for lost time!

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need info
Submitted by Guest (not verified) on January 26, 2009 - 13:59.

Hi! I'm from Spain and i'm so interested in what you had talked about.(sorry for my english..)I show too much gum when i smile, and it's horrible!!! Could you send me some photos,or something so i could decide what to do...If I spend all that money I have to be sure i'll be perfect!!!

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