Penam Periodontics - Evidence based Personalized Periodontics

Crown Lengthening

Crown lengthening may be performed for several reasons:

1. to improve the health of the gum tissue by correcting the gum levels;
2. prepare a tooth or multiple teeth for a procedure such as crown and bridgework;
3. to correct a “gummy smile”, a situation where teeth are covered with excess gum tissue resulting in a less aesthetically-pleasing smile;
4. The correct irregularities in the gum margins to improve the aesthetics of your new crown(s).

 Crown lengthening may involve at least two different surgical methods:

1. Gingivoplasty; or
2. Flap surgery.

Gingivoplasty involves reshaping or recontouring the gum tissue without raising a surgical flap. A full flap procedure is performed where the site requires greater levels of recontouring and may involve adjustments to the bone levels. The characteristics of the site will allow us to determine which procedure is best for the situation. A Gingivoplasty will take a shorter to time to heal and the crown can be placed quicker after the procedure than the full flap procedure. The healing phase before placement of the new crowns may vary from 6 weeks to 6 months and is dependent upon the procedure used.

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