Healthy teeth and gums are important but so is how you feel about your smile. Great looking healthy teeth are key to your comfort and your self-confidence. Your smile can show happiness, pride or amusement – all positive messages. A tightly lipped mouth, which often covers unattractive teeth, may telegraph a negative message. Cosmetic dentistry can help you smile, eat and speak with confidence. There are several periodontal procedures that can help you improve your smile, including soft tissue grafts to cover receding gums, crown lengthening to reshape a smile that is more gum than teeth and ridge augmentation to restore the natural look of your gums after a tooth is extracted.