How to Fix a Gummy Smile: Treatment Options & Costs

Editorially reviewed by the Dental.me Editorial Team · Updated July 2026

If you feel like your smile shows more gum than tooth, you are not alone, and you are not looking at a health problem. A “gummy smile” (dentists call it excessive gingival display) simply means an above-average amount of gum tissue shows when you smile. It is common, it is cosmetic, and it is treatable. The catch is that there is no single fix. A gummy smile can come from your gums, your teeth, your lip, or your jaw, and the treatment that works beautifully for one cause does nothing for another. That is why the honest answer to how to fix a gummy smile always starts with diagnosing why yours happens in the first place.

What Counts as a Gummy Smile?

There is no strict medical threshold, but many clinicians consider more than about 3 to 4 millimeters of gum showing above the upper teeth during a full smile to be excessive. Perception matters more than the exact number. Some people are bothered by 2 millimeters; others show 4 and never think about it. It is purely an aesthetic concern, part of the broader field of cosmetic dentistry, and treating it is entirely optional. Nothing about a gummy smile threatens your dental health.

What makes it worth understanding is that the amount of gum on display is the visible result of how four separate structures relate to each other: your gum line, the length of your teeth, how high your upper lip travels, and the position of your upper jaw. A change in any one of those can create the same appearance.

Why Gummy Smiles Happen: Five Common Causes

Getting the cause right is everything, because it determines whether your fix is a quick in-office procedure or something more involved.

Excess or overgrown gum tissue

Sometimes there is simply too much gum covering the teeth. This can be genetic, or it can follow inflammation, certain medications, or hormonal changes. The teeth underneath are often a normal length; they are just partly hidden.

Teeth that look short

Teeth can appear short because they are worn down over years of grinding, or because of “altered passive eruption,” where the gum never fully receded to its adult position, leaving teeth that look stubby even though they are normal size beneath the gum.

A hyperactive upper lip

In some people the muscles that raise the upper lip are overactive, so the lip lifts unusually high when smiling and exposes extra gum. At rest the smile looks normal; the gum only appears in a full grin.

A short upper lip

A naturally short upper lip covers less of the gum line even with normal muscle movement, producing a similar effect for a different reason.

A skeletal (jaw) cause

The most involved cause is vertical maxillary excess, where the upper jaw has grown down too far. This is sometimes part of a “long face” pattern and tends to produce the largest amount of gum display. Because the issue is bone position, surface treatments cannot fully correct it.

Treatment Options Matched to the Cause

Here is where diagnosis pays off. Each treatment below targets specific causes.

Gum contouring / gingivectomy

For excess gum tissue, a periodontist or dentist reshapes the gum line with a laser or scalpel to expose more tooth. It is quick, often done in one visit, and results are immediate. This is the classic fix and is covered in depth in our guide to gum contouring. It works best when there is enough tooth hidden under the gum and the bone level allows it.

Crown lengthening

When the bone sits too high along with the gum, a simple trim will not hold, so the surgeon reshapes both gum and a small amount of bone. Crown lengthening is often done before placing veneers or crowns so the new restorations have proper proportions.

Botox for a hyperactive lip

For a lip that lifts too high, small doses of botulinum toxin relax the lifting muscles so the lip does not rise as far. It is affordable and non-surgical, but temporary, typically lasting three to six months before a repeat treatment is needed.

Lip repositioning surgery

A more permanent option for lip-driven cases, this minor procedure limits how high the lip can pull up by adjusting the tissue inside the lip. It suits people who want to stop repeating Botox.

Orthodontics or clear aligners

When teeth are positioned too low or the bite contributes to the display, braces or aligners can intrude (push up) and reposition teeth over months, reducing the gum shown.

Veneers or crowns

For genuinely short or worn teeth, lengthening them with veneers or crowns restores proportion. Many patients weighing this route ask whether veneers are worth it, and the answer depends on how much tooth structure needs rebuilding.

Orthognathic (jaw) surgery

For significant vertical maxillary excess, jaw surgery repositions the upper jaw. It is the most involved option, reserved for severe skeletal cases, and is usually planned with an orthodontist and oral surgeon together.

What Each Option Costs

Costs vary widely by region, provider, and how many teeth are involved, so treat these as broad ranges rather than quotes. Because a gummy smile is cosmetic, most of these are not covered by dental insurance.

• Botox for the lip: roughly $200 to $500 per session, repeated a few times a year.
• Gum contouring / gingivectomy: roughly $50 to $350 per tooth, or several hundred to a few thousand dollars for a full smile.
• Crown lengthening: roughly $1,000 to $4,000 depending on how many teeth and whether bone is reshaped.
• Lip repositioning surgery: roughly $1,500 to $4,000.
• Orthodontics / clear aligners: roughly $3,000 to $8,000.
• Veneers or crowns: roughly $900 to $2,500 per tooth.
• Orthognathic jaw surgery: roughly $20,000 to $40,000, though a genuine skeletal or functional need may attract partial medical coverage.

If you are combining approaches, our overview of what a smile makeover costs can help you budget the full picture.

How the Cause Gets Diagnosed

A careful evaluation is the step that saves you money and disappointment. A dentist, periodontist, or orthodontist will look at how much gum shows in a relaxed smile versus a full smile, measure your lip movement, assess tooth length and the gum-to-bone relationship, and often take X-rays or photos. Sometimes a probe is used to see where the bone sits under the gum. This tells them whether you are dealing with gum, tooth, lip, jaw, or a combination, and it is common for two causes to overlap. Only after that does a treatment plan make sense. Beware any provider who recommends a single procedure before diagnosing the cause.

Recovery, Longevity, and Whether It’s Worth It

Recovery and durability differ sharply by option. Laser gum contouring often heals within days to a couple of weeks and, barring gum overgrowth, lasts for years. Crown lengthening involves a slightly longer healing period because bone is reshaped. Botox has essentially no downtime but must be repeated. Lip repositioning heals over a couple of weeks and is far more lasting than Botox. Veneers last roughly 10 to 15 years before replacement. Orthodontics takes months to work but produces stable results. Jaw surgery has the longest recovery, several weeks to months, but permanently corrects a skeletal cause.

Is it worth it? That is a personal call. A gummy smile is harmless, so the value is entirely in your confidence. Many people are thrilled with a modest, affordable fix like gum contouring or Botox. Others with a skeletal cause have to decide whether a bigger investment is justified. There is no wrong answer, and no obligation to treat it at all.

How to Choose the Right Path

Start by getting a proper diagnosis from a qualified provider, ideally one who does not profit from only one type of procedure. Ask which cause or causes are driving your gummy smile, what each realistic option would achieve, how long results last, and the total cost including any follow-ups. If a lip is the main factor, a Botox trial is a low-commitment way to preview a result before committing to surgery. If short or worn teeth are the issue, weigh conservative options before drilling for veneers. And if the cause is skeletal, get a second opinion before any major surgery. The best fix is the least invasive one that reliably addresses your specific cause, and finding it starts with understanding why your smile shows the gum it does.

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