Reshape Your Gumline. Restore Your Teeth. Reveal More of Your Smile
If your teeth look short, stubby, or buried under too much gum tissue, or if your dentist has told you that a tooth cannot be properly restored without first exposing more of its structure, crown lengthening may be exactly the procedure standing between you and the smile you want to achieve.
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Crown lengthening is a minor surgical procedure that repositions the gumline — and in most cases the underlying bone — to expose more of the natural tooth structure. Despite the name, the procedure does not make the crown of the tooth longer. It reveals more of the tooth that was already there, either hidden beneath excess gum tissue or covered by bone that sits too close to the visible portion of the tooth.
The procedure is performed by carefully removing or reshaping gum tissue and, where necessary, a small amount of the supporting bone around one or more teeth. The result is a lower, more proportionate gumline that exposes a greater length of tooth surface — whether the goal is cosmetic symmetry, restorative access, or both.
At OraCore Dental – Odenton, Dr. Geon Nam performs crown lengthening with precision and care, using local anesthesia to ensure patient comfort and taking a conservative approach that removes only what is necessary to achieve the desired functional or aesthetic outcome.
Crown lengthening is performed for two distinct purposes, and understanding the difference helps patients know what to expect from the procedure and why it has been recommended for them.
Functional Crown Lengthening Functional crown lengthening is performed to give a restorative dentist adequate access to a tooth that needs a crown, filling, or other restoration but does not have enough exposed tooth structure to work with. This situation arises when a tooth has broken off close to or below the gumline, when decay extends beneath the gum tissue, or when an existing restoration has failed at a level that makes replacement without surgical access impossible.
Without sufficient tooth structure above the gumline, a crown cannot be properly seated, sealed, or retained. Crown lengthening solves this problem by surgically exposing the healthy tooth structure needed for a stable, lasting restoration. In many cases it is what makes saving a severely compromised tooth possible at all — the alternative being extraction.
Cosmetic Crown Lengthening Cosmetic crown lengthening is performed to improve the aesthetic proportions of a smile that is affected by a gummy appearance — where excessive gum tissue covers too much of the teeth, making them look short, square, or disproportionate relative to the gums and lips. It may also be performed to correct an uneven gumline where some teeth appear longer than others due to inconsistent gum levels.
For patients whose cosmetic concerns are driven by gum tissue rather than the teeth themselves, cosmetic crown lengthening can produce a dramatic improvement in smile proportion and symmetry — often without any additional cosmetic treatment. In cases where veneers or other cosmetic work is also planned, crown lengthening is performed first to establish the correct gumline before any restorative work begins.
Crown lengthening may be the right recommendation for you if you are dealing with any of the following:
Patients at OraCore Dental – Odenton undergo crown lengthening to address:
At OraCore Dental – Odenton, our crown lengthening procedure includes:
One of the most important things patients planning a smile makeover need to understand is that sequence matters. If crown lengthening is part of your treatment plan — whether to correct a gummy smile or to reposition an uneven gumline before veneers — it must be completed and fully healed before any cosmetic restorations are placed.
The reason is straightforward. After crown lengthening, the gum tissue settles and stabilizes over a healing period of several weeks to a few months. The final position of the gumline after healing is what your veneers or crowns will be designed around. If cosmetic work is placed before the gum tissue has fully settled, the margins of your restorations may end up in the wrong position as the tissue heals — producing a result that looks off or requires retreatment.
At OraCore Dental – Odenton, Dr. Geon Nam sequences every smile makeover carefully so that surgical procedures like crown lengthening are completed and fully healed before cosmetic work begins. This is what separates a well-planned smile transformation from one that looks great initially but creates problems over time.
Crown lengthening at OraCore Dental – Odenton is typically completed in a single surgical appointment followed by a healing period before any restorative work proceeds.
Step 1 — Evaluation and Treatment Planning Dr. Geon Nam performs a thorough examination of the affected teeth and surrounding gum tissue, reviews dental X-rays to assess bone levels, and determines the precise extent of tissue and bone removal needed to achieve the desired functional or cosmetic outcome. For cosmetic cases, we discuss the target gumline position and how it will interact with any planned restorative or cosmetic work.
Step 2 — Pre-Surgical Preparation We review your medical history and any medications you are taking to identify any factors that may affect the procedure or healing. Any necessary pre-operative instructions — such as adjustments to medications or fasting requirements — are communicated clearly before your procedure date.
Step 3 — Anesthesia Local anesthesia is administered to the treatment area so you remain completely comfortable throughout the procedure. Most patients are surprised at how straightforward the experience feels once the area is fully numb.
Step 4 — Gum Tissue Removal and Reshaping Dr. Geon Nam carefully removes and reshapes the gum tissue to expose the target amount of tooth structure. The approach is conservative — removing only what is necessary to achieve the correct outcome, preserving as much healthy tissue as possible.
Step 5 — Bone Recontouring if Required In many crown lengthening cases, reshaping the gum tissue alone is not sufficient because the underlying bone sits too close to the target tooth margin. Where needed, a small amount of bone is carefully recontoured to create the space required for the gum tissue to heal in its new position and remain stable long term.
Step 6 — Suturing The surgical site is carefully sutured to hold the tissue in its new position and support clean, predictable healing. The type and placement of sutures is chosen based on the extent of the procedure and the location of the treatment area.
Step 7 — Post-Operative Instructions Before you leave, we provide thorough post-operative care instructions covering pain management, dietary guidelines, oral hygiene during healing, and what to watch for during recovery. Most patients manage post-procedure discomfort comfortably with over-the-counter pain relievers.
Step 8 — Follow-Up and Healing Assessment We schedule a follow-up appointment approximately one to two weeks after your procedure to remove sutures if applicable, assess early healing, and confirm the tissue is responding as expected. For cases where restorative or cosmetic work will follow, we confirm the appropriate timing for the next phase of treatment based on your healing progress.
OraCore Dental – Odenton provides crown lengthening for:
Crown lengthening is a surgical procedure that requires precision, sound clinical judgment, and an eye for aesthetic proportion. At OraCore Dental – Odenton, we bring all three to every case — whether the goal is functional restoration or cosmetic transformation.
The procedure itself is performed under local anesthesia so you should feel pressure and movement but no pain during the appointment. Post-operative discomfort is typically mild to moderate and manageable with over-the-counter pain relievers for most patients. Swelling and tenderness in the treated area are normal in the first few days following the procedure and resolve as healing progresses.
Most patients feel back to normal within a few days to a week following crown lengthening. The soft tissue heals relatively quickly, though full stabilization of the gumline — particularly in cases where bone was recontoured — takes several weeks to a few months. Any restorative or cosmetic work planned after crown lengthening waits until this healing is complete to ensure the final gumline position is stable.
The waiting period depends on the extent of the procedure. For functional crown lengthening cases, restorative work typically begins four to six weeks after the procedure once initial healing is established. For cosmetic cases where veneers are planned, the waiting period is often longer — typically two to three months — to allow the gumline to fully stabilize before cosmetic restorations are designed around it.
Yes, intentionally so. After crown lengthening your teeth will appear longer and more proportionate because more of their natural structure is now visible. For patients correcting a gummy smile this change is often dramatic and immediately noticeable. For functional cases the change may be more subtle but equally important for the success of the restoration that follows.
Coverage depends on the reason for the procedure. Functional crown lengthening performed to facilitate a necessary restoration is often covered as a restorative procedure under dental insurance plans, though coverage levels vary. Cosmetic crown lengthening performed solely for aesthetic reasons is typically not covered. Our team will review your benefits before treatment and provide a clear picture of your expected costs.
Yes. For patients correcting a gummy smile or uneven gumline, crown lengthening is commonly performed across multiple teeth in a single appointment to achieve a consistent, symmetrical result across the full smile zone. Dr. Geon Nam will determine the appropriate scope of the procedure during your evaluation and treatment planning appointment.
When crown lengthening is performed correctly — including bone recontouring where needed — the results are stable and long lasting. Gum tissue that has been properly repositioned with adequate bone support does not typically grow back to its original level. Cases where only soft tissue is removed without addressing the underlying bone are more prone to partial tissue regrowth over time, which is one reason the bone recontouring step is clinically important in many cases.
Whether you need crown lengthening to save a tooth that would otherwise be lost, to correct a gummy smile that has held your confidence back for years, or to lay the right foundation for a complete smile makeover, OraCore Dental - Odenton has the expertise to get it done right. Call us today at (410) 551-4600 or book your appointment online. We serve patients in Odenton, MD and the surrounding communities of Anne Arundel County.
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