The Butterfly Technique: A Novel Incision Design for Lip Repositioning

“Gummy smile” is a major concern for many patients visiting the dentist. Esthetics has now become an integral part of periodontal treatment planning. This article presents a case of a gummy smile in which esthetic correction was achieved through periodontal plastic surgical procedure wherein a 10–12 mm partial-thickness flap was dissected apical to the mucogingival junction, followed by approximation of the flaps. This novel technique gave excellent postoperative results with enormous patient satisfaction. This surgical chairside procedure, being one of its kind with outstanding results, is very rarely performed by Periodontists. Thus, further clinical work and literature review are required. To make it a routine surgical procedure, this technique can be incorporated as a part of periodontal plastic surgery. Hence, we put forward a case with critical analysis of the surgical technique, including its limitations.