Lengthening a crown means how we go about making your dental crown bigger. You may be wondering what I am talking about because your perception of what a crown actually is maybe different. Well, most dentists will take the word "crown" to mean the visible tooth people see when you smile.

The "crown" is really the area of your tooth that is visible and not inside your gums.

You can also use the word crown for the material made of porcelain and metal that dentists put on your damaged teeth.

I did say it was confusing, didn't I?

You find quite a few folks with gummy teeth. No, it has nothing to do with those gummy bear jelly sweets. It has to do with your gums, and how they rise so high that it gives the impression of short teeth. Every time you smile, your teeth are dominated by your gums.

Often dental patients in my New Market dental office want their smiles to look good, not gummy. Or there may be dental reasons to seek longer crowns.

With dental crown lengthening, I take off some of your gum to make it look as if your tooth is longer. You also get situations in which we are preparing the tooth for a porcelain crown. In these cases, we may go a little into the bone. The gum, however, is our main target and we try to avoid going into the bone.

When you have crown lengthening at our New Market dental office, we do so under local anesthetic. I will then use either a laser or an alternative cutter to cut away, little by little, on your gum borders.

I may also do so for the adjacent teeth. This is to prevent me from making one tooth different from the other. It would be much more balanced. This is a very important factor. I can assure you I take great care with this because I have the experience to do the best job possible.

When it comes to giving you a porcelain crown, I need to prepare your tooth first and put on a temporary crown. After maybe one month, or less, it is time to make another trip to our dental office. This is when we will give you your shiny new, lab-fabricated crown.

When it comes to crown lengthening, if it is done because you want to look better, then the procedure described is all you need. But you might feel you need veneers as well. I even have my other New Market cosmetic dentistry, which you could go for.

I am really keen to talk about our cosmetic dentistry, at our dental clinic here in New Market.