A gummy smile is referred to as excessive gingival display in dental terms. With most smiles, you can see all of the upper tooth structure or most of the tooth structure. However, with a gummy smile, there is less of the upper tooth structure showing due to an increased amount of gum tissue covering the teeth. While there are no established guidelines for what makes a smile gummy, more than three millimeters of gums showing when smiling is where most people classify a smile as being gummy. This condition is seen in women more than men, almost by double.

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