investigation into gummy smile with orthodontic treatment

ABSTRACT

To study gummy smile which was the chief complain of not less than 12% of the orthodontic patients, the present study was undertaken on two separate occlusions computer analysis of pretreatment lateral cephalograms of 166 non gummy smile orthodontic patients and computer analysis of pre- and post-treatment lateral cephalograms of 45 gummy smile subjects. The subject was considered [gummy smile], when he/she showed more than two millimeters maxillary gingival display during maximum smile. All cephalograms were digitized and analyzed using the Jiffy Orthodontic Evaluation Software of RMO. The collected data were interpreted and discussed in view of the available literature. The study concluded that gummy smile characteristic pattern of a subject during maximum smile did not change by orthodontic treatment of dental malocclusion. All gummy smile subjects were characterized by incompetent lip during rest, but the reverse was not true. Gummy smile was a common characteristic of dentoalveolar bimaxillary protrusion. It was associated with short and thin upper lip, increased maxillary height and proportionally higher posterior/anterior face ratio [%]