What Is Aesthetic Crown Lengthening?

Beautiful teeth are an important part of the image that creates an excellent impression about the person. The harmony of color, shape, size and position of teeth, as well as their correct correlation with facial features, determine the beauty and uniqueness of a smile. When creating a smile, many experts adhere to the universal principle of measuring facial parameters. Modern aesthetic dentistry involves the creation of a natural healthy smile that optimally emphasizes the individuality and uniqueness of each person.

When Is It Necessary to Lengthen Teeth?

Indications for crown lengthening can be aesthetic, functional and restorative. The first group includes patients who want to increase the length of the teeth due to such cosmetic imperfections as inharmonious ratio of the gums and teeth - when smiling, too much gum is exposed, and the teeth seem small (the so-called gingival smile).

There are a lot of patients with pathological abrasion of teeth, which is provoked by constant stress or formed as a result of some bad habits. In order to return the teeth to their original appearance and size and stop the progression of the process, surgical lengthening of the crowns of the teeth and orthopedic correction are often necessary. In patients with complete destruction of the tooth crown, surgical lengthening allows to create the effect of covering the hard tissues of the tooth for the full distribution of the masticatory load and the prevention of fracture of the tooth root.

A therapeutic or orthopedic restoration of a chipped part of the crown of an anterior tooth, is actually also an extension of the clinical crown of this tooth due to the free space between the antagonist teeth. This is the last category of indications for lengthening the crown part of the tooth, when, for example, due to a filling or a ceramic veneer an increase or restoration of the height of the tooth occurs.

How to Lengthen the Crown?

The lengthening of the tooth crown can be carried out using several methods: surgical, orthodontic, orthopedic and therapeutic. Surgical lengthening of the teeth is carried out in one day, regardless of the amount of work - this is one of the main advantages of this technique. Each tooth takes a maximum of 10 minutes. After about 1-2 weeks, temporary prostheses are installed, around which an optimal gingival contour is formed. In 3-5 months, after the final stabilization of the gums, permanent structures are installed.

Orthodontic treatment, together with the retention period after braces, takes from 8 months to a year. It takes no more than a few days to veneer and install crowns without surgery.

Tooth Lengthening and Contraindications

Like any method of treatment, the lengthening of the clinical crown of the tooth implies some contraindications. Basically, this is the impossibility of access and the presence of anatomical obstacles, as in the case of surgical lengthening of the tooth crown. For example, on the oral side of the teeth, surgical lengthening, especially in the area of large molars, is almost impossible. If the patient has an ideal gingival contour and violating it will make things worse, surgery cannot be used either. For orthodontic lengthening of teeth, the main limitation is the need for space and the possibility of fixing additional equipment, and also time required for the traction itself and stabilization of the elongated tooth. It is important that the ratio of the crown to the root of the tooth does not exceed 1:1, therefore teeth with a short root, for example, after resection of the root apex, are also not suitable for lengthening.

Are There Any Alternatives to Crown Lengthening?

As an alternative to lengthening of the crowns, many modern specialists use one-stage implantation. They offer the patient to simply remove the tooth and replace it with an artificial support (root) - an implant. However, this is not always worth it, and a treated and properly restored tooth can last for many more years. After all, no matter how functional modern implants are, they cannot be better than a healthy natural tooth.