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Botox
Will Botox help my upper lip to go down so my teeth are covered?
Botox can be a quick, but temporary, fix to a gummy smile. An injection on each side of your nose with a small number of units can help to relax the muscle that pulls the upper lip, resulting in less lip elevation and subsequently a less gummy smile. Be cautious with Botox in the chin. Your mentalis muscle (at the chin) needs to stay activated and hold tension to keep the lips closed.
Clinical Context
A gummy smile is usually caused by the levator labii superioris alaeque nasi, a small muscle near the nose that lifts the upper lip during smiling. Relaxing it with Botox lets the lip rest lower without affecting speech or eating. The chin's mentalis muscle is different — it stays active to help keep the lips closed at rest, so treating it requires a much smaller, more careful dose to avoid an open or droopy mouth.
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