By ANDY BEAVEN, NEWS AND FEATURE WRITER and CIARAN FOREMAN, HEALTH REPORTER
Published: 11:53 BST, 23 August 2026 | Updated: 06:33 BST, 24 August 2026
Until recently, Sally White spent her life trying her hardest not to smile. Every time she grinned or laughed, she became painfully aware of the facial feature she felt marked her out from other people: her upper lip rising far too high and making her gums seem glaringly obvious.
Parties, social gatherings and family get-togethers were a nightmare for her – as someone was bound to produce a camera and start taking photos.
The 53-year-old office manager, from Hertfordshire, says: ‘I absolutely hated having my picture taken or seeing photos of myself – I felt uncomfortable and self-conscious because of my horrible, gummy smile. If I started smiling or laughing in public, I would either cover my mouth – or else force myself to stop.’
Two years ago, however, after a chance conversation, Sally made a life-changing discovery that finally allowed her to beam happily from ear to ear – namely that the gummy smile which had plagued her was caused by a recognised medical condition.
And better still, there was a simple treatment which involved – to her surprise – a course of anti-wrinkle injections.
She says: ‘It was a game-changer. It wasn’t something I’d ever heard of. I only wish I’d found out about it earlier.’
Sally White used to feel incredibly self-conscious due to her gummy smile, but since treating it with a course of anti-wrinkle injections, she has gained confidence
A gummy smile is known formally as ‘excessive gingival display’. Although no precise clinical criteria have been defined, a smile exposing more than three or four millimetres of gum above the top teeth is considered disproportionate.
Overall, an estimated 14 per cent of women and 7 per cent of men in the UK are affected.
The most common cause is over-activity in a muscle with the longest name of any in the human body – the ‘levator labii superioris alaeque nasi’, also known as the LLSAN.
Running downwards from the upper part of the jaw-bone beside the nose, it lifts the upper lip, flares the nostrils and helps form facial expressions such as a smile or snarl.
In many people with a this sort of smile, the muscle is too strong and pulls too hard, meaning it lifts the top lip higher than normal and reveals too much of the gum.
Dr Kate Carr is a former GP who runs Dr Kate Aesthetics in north London, one of many private clinics around the country offering treatment.