Crown Lengthening

Comfort is well managed throughout. Crown lengthening is performed under local anesthesia, which fully numbs the area, so the procedure itself is pain-free. You may feel pressure or movement, but not pain, and patients are often surprised by how straightforward the appointment feels.

Once the anesthesia wears off, it is normal to have some mild discomfort and a little swelling for the first few days. Both respond well to prescribed or over-the-counter pain medication, and most people are back to their normal activities within a day or two. Following the simple aftercare steps we send you home with, such as gentle salt-water rinses and soft foods at first, keeps the recovery from crown lengthening smooth.

The gums generally heal within 2–4 weeks after crown lengthening, and the initial soreness fades well before that. For many cosmetic cases, that is essentially the whole timeline, and you are simply enjoying the result once the tissue settles.

When the crown lengthening was done to prepare a tooth for a restoration such as a crown, the timeline is a little longer. In those cases, our doctors may have you wait 6–8 weeks for the gums to fully heal and stabilize before the final restoration is placed. That patience pays off: it lets the gum line settle into its permanent position, so the finished crown fits precisely and looks right at the margin.

The two procedures are related, and they are easy to confuse, but they work at different depths. A gingivectomy reshapes the soft gum tissue only, trimming away excess or overgrown tissue at the surface. Crown lengthening goes a step further, removing both gum tissue and a small amount of the bone underneath to expose more of the actual tooth structure.

That difference in depth is what determines which one is right for you. If the goal is simply to refine a gum line where there is plenty of healthy tooth beneath, a gingivectomy may be enough. If more tooth structure genuinely needs to be uncovered, for a restoration to grip or to balance a smile where the bone sits high, crown lengthening is the procedure that achieves it. The right choice depends on how much tooth has to be exposed and why.

Yes, and it is one of the most effective ways to do it. A 'gummy' smile usually means that excess gum tissue is covering more of the teeth than it should, which makes otherwise healthy teeth look short or uneven. Cosmetic crown lengthening addresses the root of the problem rather than masking it.

By carefully removing the excess gum tissue and recontouring the bone beneath, our doctors can reveal more of your natural teeth and set an even, proportionate gum line across your smile. Because the work reshapes the actual framework of gums and bone, the result looks natural and holds up over the long term rather than fading. Many patients are struck by how much more balanced their whole smile looks afterward, even though the teeth themselves were never touched.

Yes, and that is exactly the intended effect. Crown lengthening exposes more of the tooth that was previously hidden under gum tissue, so the teeth appear longer than they did before. It is worth being clear that the teeth are not actually changing; what changes is how much of each tooth is visible above the gum line.

In practice, this almost always reads as an improvement rather than teeth that look too long. Most patients start with teeth that looked unusually short because of excess gum, so revealing their natural proportions makes the smile look more balanced and complete. In cosmetic cases especially, the payoff is a more even, natural-looking smile that simply suits the face better.

It often depends on why the crown lengthening is being done. When the procedure is restorative, performed so that a crown or filling can be properly placed, dental insurance frequently covers at least part of it. When it is purely cosmetic, such as reshaping a gummy smile, it is less likely to be covered, since elective cosmetic work usually falls outside dental benefits.

Because the answer varies so much from plan to plan, we sort it out for you before anything begins. At our Orland Park office, where crown lengthening is performed, we verify your benefits and hand you a detailed estimate up front, so you know your share of the cost in advance. See our financing page for payment options.

There is no flat price for crown lengthening, because the cost reflects what your particular case involves. The main factors are:

• How many teeth are being treated, from a single tooth to a full smile
• Whether the procedure involves reshaping bone in addition to gum tissue
• The complexity of your case and any related restorative work that follows

You will receive a complete cost estimate at your consultation, before any treatment is scheduled, so there are no surprises. To keep the procedure affordable, we offer flexible financing options that let the cost be spread into manageable payments. For restorative cases, remember that insurance may cover part of the total as well.