Surgical crown-lengthening procedure to enhance esthetics.

This article presents the rationale for the use of a preprosthetic surgical crown-lengthening procedure, particularly in the anterior region where esthetics is of great concern. Clinical cases illustrate the procedure and demonstrate how it can be used to provide enough sound tooth structure to restore teeth without impingement on the biologic width, at the same time reducing a "gingival smile" and creating new papillae.