Despite having a straight, symmetrical, and healthy-looking set of teeth, a smile would not look that nice if a person has uneven gums or a gum line that rests too high or falls too low from your lip line. A lot of dentists call such misshapen dental issue as a gummy smile, which causes the teeth to appear small. People with gummy smile tend to lose their confidence and self-esteem since they worry so much about their appearance when flashing a smile.

According to DocShop, the gums should look smooth and even. They should complement the teeth when a person smiles. But if you have a gummy smile, you don’t need to worry about it forever. The good news is that there is a dental cosmetic procedure that reshapes the gums. It’s called a gum contouring procedure, which is also referred to as gum reshaping. Getting this dental surgery will make your gums look better and make your smile look nicer.

The Procedure For Gum Contouring

Before discussing the gum contouring cost, let’s first know the procedures involved in this cosmetic surgery. This is basically performed by a dentist or a periodontist, so make sure that a licensed professional does surgery on you. For an in-depth understanding of how it’s done, here is a basic outline that dental specialists follow:

• To begin the surgery, the dentist will administer a local anesthesia to the gums so that you won’t feel any pain or discomforts during the operation. The type and amount of sedation given to you may vary based on factors like your age, current health condition, and your dental anxiety.
• A gum contouring procedure utilizes the laser technology. Once the anesthesia has taken its effect, the dentist will use the laser light on areas where there are excess gum tissues. With the thermal energy coming from the laser, the medical device reshapes the gums by removing the tissues while closing the blood vessels.
• The whole procedure does not require stitches since the laser seals the wounds while tissues are being removed. It doesn’t even consume so much time as it takes around 20 to 30 minutes to complete unless there are other dental procedures to work on. Meanwhile, it may require a few weeks before the gums are fully healed.

Aftercare              

After the gum contouring surgery, you may feel minimal discomforts such as swollen gums and teeth sensitivity up to seven days. However, the soreness doesn’t affect your day-to-day activities like drinking, eating, and talking.

As much as possible, eat soft foods and avoid spicy, too hot, and cold foods or those with seeds after the procedure. Your dentist will also prescribe a pain reliever to help ease the pain, or you can gargle warm water with salt. And when clean your mouth, make sure that you brush and floss gently to avoid getting your gums irritated.

Cost of Gum Contouring

If you have finally decided to undergo this particular procedure, it would be helpful to know the gum reshaping price first so as to properly prepare for it. With that said, the average cost of this surgery, as provided by TopDentists, ranges from $600 to $2,000, with actual prices running from $50 to $3,000 or higher. But as always, the cost depends on the scope that needs the reshaping procedure (per tooth or the whole mouth), local rates, and how much the dentist charges for the surgery.

The cost to contour the gums on a per tooth basis is around $50 to $350 each tooth. However, the procedure is not typically done on a single tooth. In most cases, it’s either the entire upper or lower gums or both. As such, the overall costs of an extensive gum contouring, which involves the removal of bone and gum tissues, from the front teeth may be anywhere between $1,000 and $3,000. Since this type of dental procedure is cosmetic, a dental insurance can’t cover gum contouring, unfortunately.

Additional Costs

The figures above are the cost variations of gum contouring only. They may increase if you need other dental operations in reshaping your gums, which usually happens. These additional procedures include:

– bonding of dental veneers – $500 to $1,100 per tooth

– dental bonding procedures – $100 to $1,000 for each tooth

– installing of dental crowns – $500 to $3,000 or higher for every tooth

Cost of Gum Contouring in Other Countries

If you want to have the procedure in other countries, then you have a variety of places to choose from. Some of these dental clinics or dentists may charge lesser prices than in the U.S. However, getting the surgery outside the states may increase your overall spending, so be sure that your budget is more than enough to cover the overall expenses.

United Kingdom

The gum contouring cost in the U.K. ranges from £150 to £250, which is around $187 to $312. The price depends on the expertise and the quality of practice of the dentist. It will increase when the patients need other necessary procedures to improve the gums’ appearance.

Australia

This is another country where you can avail relatively affordable gum reshaping price, ranging from AU$1,500 to AU$3,000 (around $1,145 to $2,290). It varies based on the type of anesthesia being administered to the patient, the extent of the needed procedure, and pre-surgical procedures, if applicable.

Ireland

There are many dental clinics that offer a gum contouring surgery. The average prices can range from $217 to $975, but that still depends on the clinic you choose and how extensive the surgery is. Most of these clinics are private, and they also have other dental procedure that you can avail at lower costs.

Spain

The price of gum contouring and reshaping operations in this European country is around $50 to $325. If you compare the costs with other countries, Spain has highly affordable costs. However, they can increase due to the airfare, accommodation, and perhaps, if you want to stay longer in this country.

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