Gingivectomy and Crown Lengthening in Frisco, TX
Crown lengthening and gingivectomy are two related procedures that get confused constantly. One removes gum. The other removes gum and a little bone — and the difference decides whether the crown on top of it lasts.
How we decide between gingivectomy and crown lengthening
The deciding factor is invisible from the outside: how much solid tooth sits above the bone. That is what the measurements and the X-ray are for.
Establishing why more tooth is needed
Most often a tooth has broken or decayed close to the gumline and there is not enough height left for a crown to grip. Sometimes gum has overgrown. Occasionally it is about appearance. These lead to different procedures and it is worth being clear which one you are having.
Measuring biologic width: the gum and bone space
There is a band of gum and bone attachment above the bone that has to be respected — roughly two to three millimeters. A crown margin placed into it causes chronic inflammation that does not settle. This measurement is the whole reason crown lengthening exists as a separate procedure from simply trimming gum.
Gingivectomy: gum only
Where there is enough bone clearance and only excess soft tissue in the way, the gum is reshaped and nothing else is touched. Often done with the diode laser: little bleeding, usually no sutures, and quicker healing.
Crown lengthening: gum and a little bone
Where the bone sits too close to where the crown margin needs to be, a small amount of bone is recontoured as well. This is a surgical procedure done by Dr. Louie, our board-certified periodontist, and it is what makes the difference between a crown that stays healthy and one with a permanently inflamed margin.
Healing before the crown
The gum position settles over four to six weeks, and longer where bone was recontoured. A temporary crown carries you through it. The final crown is made afterwards, because a margin made against a gum line that is still moving is a margin that will be wrong.
What to know about gingivectomy and crown lengthening
The reason a crown sometimes needs surgery first
This is the single most useful thing on the page, and it is rarely explained. Above the bone there is a band of attached tissue, roughly two to three millimeters, that the body defends. Put the edge of a crown into it and the gum around that tooth will be red, tender and inclined to bleed indefinitely. No amount of flossing will fix it, because the problem is the position of the crown, not the cleaning. Where a tooth has broken close to the gum, there is a choice. A crown margin can sit where it should not, or the bone can be moved a little so it sits where it should. That is what crown lengthening is for. It adds a procedure and several weeks, and it is the reason the crown afterwards is a crown you keep.
Gum contouring for appearance: where we stand
Reshaping gum to even out a smile line is a real procedure and we do it, and it should be said plainly that it is not what most of this work is for here. The overwhelming majority of gingivectomies in this practice are done to expose enough tooth for a crown to fit properly, which is a structural reason and not a cosmetic one. Where somebody genuinely wants their gum line evened up and there is a sound way to do it, we will. A cosmetic procedure is presented as exactly that, and a clinical necessity as exactly that too, so the two are kept straight. If you are having this done, you are entitled to know which of the two you are having.
Crown lengthening near Frisco, Prosper and Plano
Looking for crown lengthening near you? Dr. Holvin Louie, our board-certified periodontist, does this work at 8175 Custer Rd, Suite A110, Frisco, TX 75035. We are open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 AM to 6 PM and Saturday from 9 AM to 3 PM. The office is closed Wednesday and Sunday, though our team still answers the phone on Wednesday. Patients come from Frisco and from nearby Prosper, Plano, Little Elm, Allen, Celina and McKinney. Crown lengthening is scheduled onto one of Dr. Louie's days, so call (469) 262-2111 to plan it.
Request an appointmentGingivectomy or crown lengthening: what is the difference?
They are often used interchangeably in conversation and they are not the same procedure.
| Feature | Gingivectomy | Crown lengthening |
|---|---|---|
| What is removed | Excess gum tissue | Gum, and a small amount of bone |
| Usual reason | Overgrown gum, or exposing a little tooth | Not enough tooth height above the bone |
| Who does it | Often with the laser, in-house | Dr. Louie, board-certified periodontist |
| Sutures | Often none | Usually |
| Healing before a final crown | About 4 weeks | 6 weeks or more |
| Gum position afterwards | Stable once healed | Stable, and deliberately lower |
| Sometimes cosmetic | Yes, occasionally | Occasionally, for a very gummy smile |
If a crown you already have has not felt right
A gum margin that has been red, tender and quick to bleed ever since a crown was fitted is not a hygiene failure, and it is worth having looked at.
The likely explanation is the one described above. The edge of the crown sits inside the band of attachment that the body defends, and the tissue responds the only way it can. Brushing harder does not help. Flossing more does not help. The inflammation is a response to a position — plaque isn’t the cause.
It is fixable — sometimes by crown lengthening and remaking the crown, sometimes by other means depending on how the tooth sits.
What is not worth doing is another decade of assuming you are cleaning it badly. Bring it in and have it measured; you are entitled to a clear answer about why one tooth behaves differently from all the others.
Related care: the crown that follows is covered on our dental crowns page. A gingivectomy is often done with the diode laser described under laser gum therapy. The rest of our gum care is under periodontics and oral surgery.
Time in the chair for crown lengthening.
The scale runs to five hours — the same scale on every page, so the bars are comparable across the whole site.
Gingivectomy and crown lengthening cost in Frisco: what to expect.
Crown lengthening is scheduled into one of Dr. Louie's days, planned several days in advance.
You get the figure in writing before treatment starts. We accept all major PPO plans and file the claim for you, our membership plan takes a percentage off treatment, and CareCredit financing is available.
How plans usually cover crown lengthening.
Major — Class III on most plans
- What plans pay
- Commonly around 50% once the deductible is met, which means crown lengthening is the kind of treatment where the plan covers about half and the annual maximum decides the rest.
- Deductible
- Usually applies, and for major work it is rarely waived.
What catches people out
- Waiting periods. Six or twelve months of holding the policy before major work is covered is common, and it catches people who have just changed employer.
- The annual maximum. At around 50%, one major procedure can consume most of a $1,000 to $2,000 benefit by itself — which is why the order treatment is done in matters.
- Frequency limits by tooth. "Once every five years" or "once every seven years" is standard wording, and it counts from the date of the last one wherever it was done.
- Crown lengthening done to make a crown fit is usually covered; the same procedure done to change how a smile looks is usually not. The distinction is real and we keep it clear.
These are how dental plans usually classify this treatment — not a statement about your own plan. Yours is the one that governs, plans differ more than people expect, and the only reliable answer comes from reading your specific benefits, which we always do ahead of treatment and give you in writing.
And what changes out-of-network
A dentist who is in-network has signed a contract fixing what may be charged for each procedure and cannot bill you the difference. One who is out-of-network has signed nothing, so the full fee stands.
So the first difference is the price itself — the same treatment is simply allowed to cost more out-of-network, before anyone's plan is considered.
What you personally pay out of that depends on your own deductible and coinsurance, which is why there is no percentage here: it is not a property of the treatment, it is a property of your plan, and we verify yours before you commit. But two things follow for everybody. Your share is a share of a bigger number. And your annual maximum is spent by what the plan pays toward that bigger number, so the same treatment eats more of your benefit out-of-network.
An illustration, not a quote. Both allowed fees for crown lengthening are not yet on hand, so the chart above shows a crown instead — the one procedure we hold both sides for. The in-network side is today's contracted allowance; the out-of-network side is what a single carrier allowed during a period when we were not contracted with it, and it is a few years old. Across the 23 procedures where we hold both allowed fees, out-of-network is between 1.2 and 5 times the in-network figure — most often a little over twice.
Check the going rate yourself
FAIR Health's dental cost lookup is free, needs no account, and is not ours — it reports what a procedure typically costs in your area. It does not know your plan, so treat it as a ballpark figure — not a final answer.
Ask us for the number first
We verify your specific plan before your appointment and give you a written estimate: what the plan is expected to pay, and what you pay. If we get it wrong we tell you why.
Bring an Explanation of Benefits
Treated somewhere else? Your EOB shows exactly what the plan paid and what it counted against your maximum. Bring one in and we will read it with you — whether or not you become a patient here.
None of this says out-of-network dentists are worse dentists. Plenty are excellent, plenty are out-of-network for sound reasons, and people choose a dentist for who that person is. What we think you are owed is the information, so that whatever you choose, you chose it knowingly. The whole thing, explained properly, or call (469) 262-2111 and ask.
Recovery timeline: from surgery to finished crown
- The first few daysSore, not painful
Ordinary anti-inflammatories are enough for most people. Soft food, and nothing sharp against the site. Warm salt-water rinses gently from the following day.
- Week oneStitches, if you had any
Removed at about a week where used. Laser gingivectomy usually has none.
- Weeks 2–6The gum settles to its new level
The margin settles into its final position. A temporary crown protects the tooth in the meantime, and it may need adjusting once or twice as the tissue changes.
- Week 6 onwardsThe final crown
Prepared and scanned against a stable gum line. Doing this earlier is the most common way the finished crown ends up with a visible or inflamed margin.
- AfterwardsCleaning around the new gumline
The margin sits slightly differently than before, and it is worth a minute at the fitting appointment to be shown exactly where to floss.
Booking gingivectomy and crown lengthening in Frisco
If a crown was fitted and the gum around it has been red and tender ever since, that is worth investigating and not something to live with. A margin sitting in the wrong place is a fixable problem, and no amount of extra brushing will settle it.
- Hours
- Weekdays 9–6
Saturdays 9–3 - Languages
- English, Telugu, Hindi, Urdu
Arabic with Saba, our hygienist, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
Vietnamese with Anh, our hygienist, Saturdays
Cantonese and Mandarin with Dr. Louie, our periodontist, on his scheduled days, by internal referral
Gingivectomy and Crown Lengthening FAQs in Frisco, TX
Grouped so you can go straight to the one you came for.
Gingivectomy and Crown Lengthening — common questions
What is crown lengthening?
What is the difference between a gingivectomy and crown lengthening?
Why can't you just trim the gum?
Does crown lengthening hurt?
How long before I can have the crown?
Is gum contouring for a gummy smile the same thing?
Will insurance cover it?
Will my gum grow back?
Can gum contouring fix a gummy smile?
Can a regular dentist do crown lengthening?
What are the downsides of crown lengthening?
Where can I get crown lengthening near me in Frisco?
Toothache at 7am? You'll be seen today.
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White Lotus Dental offers nine dental specialties inside one calm office on Custer Road. Having general dentists and an in-house periodontist on staff means your entire family can receive preventive, restorative, and surgical treatments in one familiar place.
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