A dental crown lengthening procedure is sometimes performed to improve a “gummy” smile. This means your teeth may appear short because you have excess gum tissue covering your teeth. But more commonly this treatment is given to patients who need restorative dental health.This may mean they have tooth decay, insufficient tooth structure, or a tooth that’s broken below the gum line. In order to properly treat the area, your periodontist may need to cut away some gum tissue to lengthen the crown of your tooth or teeth. 

Here’s what you can expect during this procedure.

Your periodontist will first numb the area he will be working on by using a local anesthestic. He’ll then use a dental tool known as a periosteal elevator to pull your gum tissue away from your teeth and remove the necessary gum tissue. Once that’s complete, your periodontists will clean the area by removing any plaque, reshape the bone tissue, if necessary, and rinse it with sterile salt water. The final step of this procedure is stitching the gums together with dental sutures. Sometimes our office will use dissolvable sutures but if not, an appointment will have to be arranged to take the stitches out within about a week or so.

Dental crown lengthening is often a simple and quick periodontal procedure. On average, it takes about 30 to 60 minutes to complete.

If you need to schedule an appointment for a dental crown lengthening treatment or have questions about this surgery, please don’t hesitate to contact our office at 414-259-0660. You can also send us message here.