Alternative management of patients with gummy smile due to maxillary growth: Clinical case

Abstract

The patient's smile plays an important role in his psychology, managing to express joy, confidence, kindness, among other emotions. Gummy smile or subsequently, short tooth syndrome has been defined as a nonpathological condition causing esthetic disharmony in which more than 3 mm of gingival tissue is exposed when smiling. Having various etiologies such as excessive maxillary growth, short upper lip, or abnormal eruption of maxillary anterior teeth, it indicates that the approach to the problem can also be varied. Despite orthognathic surgery being the ideal treatment for some cases, it is important to recognize that there are contraindications and disadvantages of this type of surgery. The lip stabilization technique or LipStaT® is a minimally invasive and novel procedure that seeks to improve the appearance of the smile by repositioning the upper lip and decreasing the amount of gum showed during dynamic smile. In this clinical case, it was detected that the main problem of the patient lies in the excessive maxillary growth, for which the ideal treatment of the patient lies in orthognathic surgery, however, he does not agree to this, for which the approach will focus on something minimally invasive compared to orthognathic surgery, such as crown lengthening elaboration and lip repositioning.