Gummy Smile & Vertical Chin Lines Botox — PECHE Clinic, Gangnam Station
Easing the small muscle that over-lifts the upper lip when you smile · Right by Gangnam Station Exit 4
Gummy Smile & Vertical Chin Lines Botox
Gummy Smile Botox — for the upper gums showing when you smile — places a small dose of botulinum toxin into the small muscle that lifts the upper lip, reducing that lifting force. With the lip rising less, the gums that showed when you smiled show less too.
▲ An anatomical drawing with the skin beside the nose folded back — the slender red muscle descending from beside the nose and below the eye toward the upper lip is the levator labii superioris. When it pulls, the upper lip rises and the gums above the teeth show
How far your upper lip rises when you smile depends on how strongly this muscle pulls. Pull hard, and the lip lifts high enough to expose the gums. Botulinum toxin reduces the signal telling this muscle to engage, lowering how far the lip rises.
When to Consider It
- Your upper gums show prominently when you smile, and it bothers you in photos
- You hold back from smiling wide, or cover your mouth
- The two sides of your upper lip rise differently, making your smile look uneven
- Too much tension around the mouth makes your expressions look unnatural
Muscle isn't the only reason gums show. If the upper lip itself is short, or the structure of the teeth and gums is the cause, this treatment won't change it. We confirm which it is together, from your assessment and your actual smile.
Two Treatment Options
| Option | What it addresses | Numbing |
|---|---|---|
| Gummy Smile Botox | The site where the upper lip over-lifts and exposes the gums when you smile | Over very quickly, so it's done without numbing |
| Vertical Chin Lines Botox | The muscle at the chin's tip that pushes the lower lip upward | A cold roller dulls the sensation first |
Vertical chin lines are the crinkly vertical creases that form between the lower lip and the chin's tip when you chew or press your lips together. The two options run separately, and the numbing differs. Which one fits you is decided from your smile and the movement around your mouth.
▲ A vertical cross-section beside the nose — from the top: epidermis, pink dermis, yellow subcutaneous fat; the red band beneath is the levator labii superioris, and the ivory at the bottom is the upper jawbone. The needle tip and teal product stay within the muscle alone
How It's Done
1. Assessment A 3D MetaVu scan captures your facial contours and left–right balance.
2. Smile check You smile wide while we watch directly — how far the upper lip rises, and whether the two sides differ.
3. Cause check We sort out whether the showing gums come from the muscle, or from lip length or the structure of the teeth and gums.
4. Site and dose decision We set where the dose goes and how it divides — starting small, to keep your smile from looking awkward.
5. Injection A very fine needle places only a small dose. Gummy Smile is quick and done without numbing; Vertical Chin Lines is done after a cold roller dulls the sensation.
6. Aftercare guidance We go over what to follow for the day, and how to check your smile at 2 weeks.
Results and Recovery
Of the values below, when results show, how long they last, and the recovery course are common to both options; the "Where it acts" and "What changes" rows describe Gummy Smile.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Where it acts | (Gummy Smile) The muscle that lifts the upper lip — below the fat layer, above the upper jawbone |
| What changes | How far the upper lip rises when you smile — and with it, how much gum shows |
| What doesn't change | The upper lip's length · the structure of the teeth and gums |
| When results show | From days 3–7, clearest at week 2 — the signal doesn't cut off at once; it tapers over several days |
| How long it lasts | 3–6 months |
| Repeat cycle | 3–4 months — spaced by how much of the lift has returned |
| Pain | Light, shallow mosquito-bite pricks — the needle stays only briefly at each point |
| Pain control | Gummy Smile: no numbing · Vertical Chin Lines: a cold roller dulls the sensation first · if you're sensitive, tell us before we start and we adjust |
| Downtime | The marks at the injection points settle within 1–2 hours; you can wash your face and wear makeup after 2–3 hours · bruises, if any, fade within 3–7 days |
| For the day | Don't lie down for 4–6 hours · skip saunas, hard exercise, and massaging the treated area — all to keep the product from spreading beyond where it was placed |
Expected Reactions and Possible Side Effects
Common, temporary reactions — part of the normal response to injection:
- Marks at the injection points, settling within 1–2 hours
- Bruises, if any, fading within 3–7 days
Anything beyond this is uncommon. If a reaction lasts longer than expected or worsens, contact us and we'll check it with you.
What We Check Beforehand
If any of these apply to you, let us know during your consultation. We postpone or adjust the timing.
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding
- Conditions affecting the point where nerves meet muscles, such as myasthenia gravis — the very site where botulinum toxin acts, so symptoms could worsen
- Medications that affect nerve–muscle signaling (including some antibiotics)
- If you don't want your smile to change even slightly — this treatment reduces the range of an expression, so we confirm this first
- Work that leans heavily on speech or mouth movement — early awkwardness is possible, so timing is adjusted
- Gums that show because of tooth and gum structure — this treatment won't change that
- Inflammation or wounds at the injection site
- Aspirin or blood thinners (anticoagulants) — bruising can be heavier, so tell us in advance and we'll plan for it
- Botulinum toxin received elsewhere recently — tell us when, with which product, and how much, and we'll recalculate the total amount given in one session and the interval to your next treatment
How PECHE Clinic Does It
We decide from how far your upper lip actually rises. It's a movement photos don't capture, so we keep a separate step where you smile wide. We compare that range, and the difference between sides, against standards built from over 90,000 treatments to decide the site and dose.
We offer four botulinum toxin products. Botulinum toxin is a substance produced by bacteria. The bacteria send it out wrapped in other proteins to keep it intact — but only the core inside produces the effect; the wrapping plays no part in it. The core is identical across all four products; what differs is that some products keep the wrapping, and some strip it away to leave only the core.
| Product | Made by | Protein wrapping | Albumin (storage aid) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newlux | Medytox, Korea | Kept | Used |
| Coretox | Medytox, Korea | Stripped away | Not used |
| Xeomin | Merz, Germany | Stripped away | Used |
| Allergan Botox | AbbVie, USA | Kept | Used |
What keeping or stripping the wrapping means. The wrapping protects the core — but it also means foreign proteins unrelated to the effect enter your body along with it. Repeated over the years, your body can come to recognize and respond to those proteins — and then the same dose may not work as well as it once did. Stripped products leave less room for that. For a one-off treatment the difference is negligible; it matters when you plan to continue over several years.
Albumin is a common protein naturally present in human blood. It keeps the core from degrading while the drug is stored as a dried powder — and Coretox does without it too. In this area, the amount injected is very small — but whether it spreads a few millimeters sideways is what decides the result.
We open the genuine product in front of you — and you can watch it being dissolved through the glass wall, too. Botulinum toxin doesn't keep long once dissolved, so it's stored as a powder and dissolved in saline just before treatment. The more diluted it is, the larger its volume — and the wider it spreads. In a treatment that uses a small amount in a narrow spot, how thin the mix is governs whether it drifts to the neighboring muscle. You see which product is opened right in front of you, and the dissolving itself is visible through the glass wall from the waiting area.
▲ The prep room, seen through the glass from the waiting area — what the product for this narrow site was dissolved in, and how thin, is visible through this glass
If the cause isn't the muscle, we say so. If upper-lip length or the structure of your teeth and gums is the cause, this treatment won't deliver the change you want. In that case we tell you the expected range of change first and let you decide — and you're welcome to come in just for a consultation.
▲ The 3D MetaVu screen — contours and balance are captured and confirmed before treatment; how far the upper lip rises is checked separately, from your smile
Pricing
Gummy Smile Botox and Vertical Chin Lines Botox are offered as separate options; the cost varies with the amount needed and the product used. We confirm the cause and the site in your consultation, then give you a quote.
Location
PECHE Clinic 3F, 364 Gangnam-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul Right in front of Gangnam Station, Exit 4
Because the dose is adjusted while watching your smile, an easy trip back for the 2-week check genuinely matters.
FAQ
Q1. Who performs the treatment? A: PECHE physicians who all work to the same injection standards, built from over 90,000 documented treatments. Small muscles crowd the area around the upper lip, and even a slight spread can change the shape of your smile — so the depth and dose are set by these standards, not by feel.
Q2. How much less will my gums show? A: They show less in proportion to how much less your upper lip rises. The size of that change depends on how strongly the muscle was pulling — and if the cause is lip length or the structure of the teeth and gums rather than muscle, the change won't be large. We confirm the expected range together before starting.
Q3. Will my smile turn awkward? A: With a large dose or a wide spread, the upper lip can feel heavy or the smile can change here. That's why we start with a small dose, narrowly placed, check your smile together at 2 weeks, and top up if needed.
Q4. No numbing — won't it hurt a lot? A: Gummy Smile uses few points and is over quickly, so it's done without numbing. It's a light, shallow mosquito-bite prick, and the needle stays only briefly at each point.
Q5. What should I look for when choosing a clinic? A: Whether they first separate muscle from structure as the cause, and whether they judge each side from your actual smile. Skip that confirmation, and you can end up treated when the cause was something else.