Is Crown Lengthening Required Before Any Specific Procedures?

Crown lengthening may seem like an unnecessary procedure, but there are times when it’s unavoidable. Generally speaking, a crown is placed onto a tooth to repair it if it’s been cracked, discolored, damaged or has excessive decay, but there are times when in order to replace the crown of your tooth, the crown will need to begin below the gum line.

What Is Crown Lengthening

Crown lengthening is commonly thought of as a cosmetic procedure. Patients who have ‘gummy smiles’ often ask about the possibility of lengthening the teeth past the gum line to reduce the appearance of the gum and obtain a full toothy smile. While this is absolutely something we can accomplish with crown lengthening, it’s not the only reason we recommend it.

Have you sustained an injury to a tooth that has perhaps broken off near or at the gum line? The good news is that we can still save your tooth! By removing some of the gum tissue and exposing more of the tooth, we can apply a crown to what’s left of your natural tooth. This restores the tooth while maintaining the integrity of the root.

Crown lengthening is done in our office using a local anesthesia, the procedure reshapes the gums at the base of the desired tooth or teeth. If you have severe tooth decay below the gum line, we can perform this procedure to restore your teeth and help prevent further decay.

Our office is willing to talk to you about crown lengthening at your next appointment if you think that it’s something that you would like to have done, whether it’s for cosmetic reasons or restorative needs. Mention it to our staff at your next checkup and we will include a consultation during your exam. We look forward to hearing from you!