Gummy smile correction by intruding upper incisors with mini-screw implant: an esthetic evaluation by the golden facial mask / 中华口腔医学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>to use a golden facial mask to classify the gummy smile and then to evaluate the effectiveness of correction gummy smile by intruding upper incisors and canines with mini-screw implants.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>sixteen female and 1 male gummy smile patients with an age range of 16 - 40 years, 26.2 years on average, were involved in the study. The mini-screw implants were inserted buccally between upper lateral incisors and canines on both sides for intruding upper incisors together with fixed appliance. The golden facial mask was introduced to analyze the frontal view of smile pre- and post-treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>gummy smile of all patients involved in the study was reduced by intruding upper incisors and canines, and the average period for intruding about 9.8 months. According to the analysis of the golden facial mask, the reasons of gummy smile in different patients were different before treatment. However, the lips, teeth and gingiva were almost coincident with the golden facial mask after treatment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>analyzing the relationship among lip, teeth and gingiva by the golden facial mask, the inprovement of gummy smile by using mini-screw implants to intrude the upper incisors can be evaluated.</p>