Is the procedure painful?

It is done under local anaesthetic. Afterwards it behaves like minor gum surgery: discomfort for a few days, managed with an ordinary painkiller.

How long before the crown can be fitted?

Surface healing takes a few days, but the gum keeps settling for several weeks. Fitting a final crown too early risks the margin becoming exposed afterwards.

Will the gum grow back?

That is exactly why the bone is repositioned at the same time when necessary. Gum removed on its own tends to return to its original level.

Crown Lengthening

Uncovering more tooth

The gum is repositioned, sometimes the bone with it.

Crown lengthening moves the gum — and, where necessary, the bone level beneath it — to expose more of the tooth. Removing gum alone without addressing the bone often lets it grow back to where it was, which is why the procedure sometimes goes deeper than it appears to need to.

It is done under local anaesthetic, and the gum takes a few weeks to settle before anything can be built on it.

A gummy smile

Teeth that look short, gums that look high.

When several millimetres of gum show above the teeth in a smile, the teeth look short although they are often a normal size: it is the gum covering too much of them. Repositioning the gum line lengthens the visible teeth without touching them.

Not every cause is surgical: a very mobile lip or the position of the upper jaw produce the same appearance and are treated differently. The examination is there first of all to tell the two apart.

Learn more about smile design

When it is done to restore a tooth

A crown needs sound tooth to sit on.

When a fracture or decay runs below gum level, there is no visible tooth left for a crown to seal against. Crown lengthening then uncovers a few millimetres of sound tooth to make the restoration possible.

Without it the crown would sit across the gum, with a margin nobody can clean — and permanent inflammation around it. It is a thankless stage, rarely something a patient asks for, and often what decides that a tooth can be kept rather than extracted.

Learn more about dental crowns

Crown Lengthening — Frequently Asked Questions

Is the procedure painful?: It is done under local anaesthetic. Afterwards it behaves like minor gum surgery: discomfort for a few days, managed with an ordinary painkiller.
How long before the crown can be fitted?: Surface healing takes a few days, but the gum keeps settling for several weeks. Fitting a final crown too early risks the margin becoming exposed afterwards.
Will the gum grow back?: That is exactly why the bone is repositioned at the same time when necessary. Gum removed on its own tends to return to its original level.