Do gummy smiles have to have surgery to fix them? i have a gummy smile that i don't love, but i'm mostly okay with it. are there any health or dental reasons that i should get it fixed?

If : If you mean your teeth appear to be small due to an excess of gum tissue at the neck of the tooth, then a minor surgical recontouring of that tissue will help reduce that "gummy" look. From a health standpoint, as long as you keep your teeth and gums clean, there is no reason you need to do any surgery if you are happy with your appearance.

There : There are 4 reasons that you could have a "gummy" smile and all four have different solutions. 1. Excess gum tissue - the teeth look "short" as well because the gums have grown over the teeth. Removal of the gum tissue will not only improve esthetics but also facilitate better hygiene since food will not get trapped as easily. This is both an esthetic and hygienic issue. 2. Hyperactive muscles - your muscles work overtime when you smile and elevate your upper lip excessively. Treatment may involve muscle relaxants, such as botox, to help control this issue. This is an esthetic, not functional, issue in terms of overall health of the system. 3. Over-erupted teeth - if the teeth have come down or over-erupted excessively, orthodontically moving them upwards and back to their correct position will also reduce the gum tissue that shows. This can be an esthetic and functional problem depending on how your other teeth and jaws function. 4. Excess upper jaw vertical dimension - the entire jaw may need to be repositioned by an oral surgeon to fix this issue. This can be a combination of an esthetic and functional problem depending on the rest of your bite. This is not an easy answer 1 solution to give because a proper diagnosis to the reason you have a gummy smile has not been determined yet. Some people also present with a combination of reasons for the gummy smile (i.e. Excess tissue + excess jaw dimension) and require several specialties to help with the correction. Your best bet would be to have a consultation with an orthodontist or your family dentist to talk about the different options and see what would work best for you. As far as health or dental consequences of not getting it fixed, it totally depends on the underlying condition causing the gummy smile, as each is different. This is also a conversation to have with whomever you decide to seek for help with this issue.

Although : Although permanent correction may require surgery, the use of botulinum toxin can partially correct this problem by injecting the levator labii alaeque nasii.