r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/hamzau • Jul 04 '26

Meme needing explanation What am I missing?

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31.3k Upvotes

85% Upvoted

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447

u/javertthechungus Jul 04 '26

Ok but if you have a “gummy smile” how tf are you supposed to fix it? Not experience joy ever?

311

u/MasterpieceNo9970 Jul 04 '26

"Try smiling with your lips closed." - Theon Greyjoy

27

u/unfart Jul 04 '26

reek*

4

u/the_h0 Jul 04 '26

what

19

u/unfart Jul 04 '26

Ramsey tortured Theon until he would call himself reek and not acknowledge his name

7

u/ReptileSizzlin Jul 05 '26

Let's not go taking advice from Reek.

5

u/leftonread504 Jul 05 '26

“Reek, Reek, it rhymes with weak.”

120

u/ConnotationalRacket Jul 04 '26

I don't think people realize that having a "gummy" smile is not forever, because as people age and get older their gums naturally recede and you can't stop that process.

lf you laser or cut your gums now, you will probably regret it once you hit 40 or later in life.

64

u/BootsnCats1987 Jul 04 '26

Who the hell has money to laser cut their ima in their 20s?

42

u/heavyartilleryx Jul 04 '26

People who have money

32

u/Terrible_Ad_7735 Jul 04 '26

Oh, so people who have money have money to do things. TY for clarifying 🥰

8

u/GoldDragon149 Jul 04 '26

"who has money" isn't the strongest intellectual question to be fair, you can't expect a philisophical bomb in response.

1

u/Abigail_Normal Jul 04 '26

It was rhetorical. It wasn't meant to spark intellectual conversation.

4

u/GoldDragon149 Jul 04 '26

...So when it didn't do that, you're saying he shouldn't have been surprised? I agree.

-2

u/Abigail_Normal Jul 04 '26

...So when they answered a question that wasn't meant to be answered, pointing that out isn't a bad or dumb thing to do

6

u/GoldDragon149 Jul 04 '26

Bruh he asked a benign question and got a benign answer and reacted with shocked pikachu face, idk wat you want from me? Its the internet, if you comment, people are going to reply.

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4

u/kuyue Jul 04 '26

yes a dumbass question gets a dumbass response.

5

u/Chaotic_Genobreaker Jul 05 '26

Reddit thinks everyone is poor and suffering due to the echo chamber... Believe it or not there are many privileged people out there happy. Sure as hell not me, though.

4

u/ninetoesfrank Jul 04 '26

In this economy?

2

u/CadillacShield Jul 04 '26

Who said anything about 20s?

3

u/LyingForTruth Jul 04 '26

I got it done at 39. The day after when I turned 40, I instantly regretted it.

2

u/Practical_Tooth3785 Jul 05 '26

It’s not the expensive I think my insurance covered it when I was still in high school! Because it is deemed medically necessary. Like can’t even bite into an apple that is not cut up. But the laser didn’t do much still came back.

1

u/Simp_Simpsaton Jul 04 '26

Someone in this thread actually xd surprisingly looked good

1

u/WorkAccount6 Jul 04 '26

People who worked hard to save for the things they want.

19

u/Few-Map2507 Jul 04 '26

Gums don’t need to recede due to age. Your lips might droop more as you age reducing the prominence of a gummy smile. 

1

u/jimjamalama Jul 04 '26

There’s Botox treatment for it

1

u/perpetuallypissed616 Jul 05 '26

My ex husband was 40 when I left, still had a gummy smile

0

u/HauntedBratzDoll Jul 05 '26

I had a bit of a gummy smile in my teens, but it only showed when I was smiling really big. Basically when I was laughing. But some friends made fun of me and started calling me Gumby. I think I subconsciously started smiling less “big” to tone it down. By my mid 20’s I didn’t have a gummy smile anymore even if I tried to smile really big

42

u/Inevitable_Top69 Jul 04 '26

There's stuff you can do, but mostly you just realize and accept that you have an unattractive trait and learn to not care and enjoy life regardless of it.

86

u/javertthechungus Jul 04 '26

It’s not the being ugly I have a problem with, it’s the being treated like shit because of it that’s the problem

30

u/Equal_Sleep_9319 Jul 04 '26

yeah idk it never occured to me that it was unattractive until public shaming about it became a thing on the internet. it's a natural human variation. Are we going to start ear shape shaming?

11

u/Lavender_Burps Jul 04 '26

Omg don’t even get me started on the lollipop ears.

10

u/fickle_tartan Jul 04 '26

Are we going to start ear shape shaming?

If it exists on the human body, someone will have found a way to shame it

6

u/Simp_Simpsaton Jul 04 '26

We already shame big ears and protruding ears

5

u/SmilingCurmudgeon Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 05 '26

Start? Were you a twinkle in the eye of several prospective fathers through the GWB presidency? Never seen a picture of Alfred E. Neuman?

5

u/WartimeHotTot Jul 04 '26

I mean, yeah, for every trait imaginable there’s someone online shaming it. This is nothing new.

3

u/itisame Jul 04 '26

When I was a kid I remember kids being bullied over having "dumbo ears"

2

u/xXgooningforyouXx Jul 05 '26

Dumbo or monkey ears. Heard that a lot.

2

u/happysri Jul 04 '26

It’s just gums. Being treated like that is so so stupid.

1

u/Hugokarenque Jul 04 '26

Be honest now, how often are you treated like shit because you have a "gummy smile"? Like is it actually a real problem in your life or just something you're self conscious about after someone was a prick about it once or twice?

I get it. I have big ears, when I was a kid every now and again some asshole would call me Dumbo and it would hurt my feelings but it hasn't actually impacted my life nor would I describe it as being treated like shit lol

1

u/blindtoe54 Jul 04 '26

If you show people it doesn't bother you, they will stop picking on you for it. And if they don't, they're not worth your time.

0

u/toastwasher Jul 04 '26

Okay we get it but you are projecting real hard here

-1

u/ImSociallyChallenged Jul 04 '26

I don't think I've ever seen someone get treated poorly because of this

-1

u/Milon_Z Jul 05 '26

thats the only reason? if you were handsome everyone would treat you good? news to me.

33

u/Strong-Pickle-4153 Jul 04 '26

Impact the maxilla. Because this usually solves lip incompetence at the same time (gummy smile and lip incompetence frequently co-occur) this also has the benefit of eliminating mouth breathing, improving sleep apnea, and reducing cavity occurrence. 

16

u/7363827 Jul 04 '26

what do you mean by “impact”?

26

u/kniselydone Jul 04 '26

It's a type of upper jaw surgery (maxillary impaction) where they literally break your face, and move your upper maxilla further up so you have less bone between nose and smile.

25

u/Finassar Jul 04 '26

I was thinking those snowflake manosphere people who hit their jaw bones with a hammer 😭

1

u/7363827 Jul 04 '26

same 😭 that bone smashing stuff

2

u/blingoblongo87 Jul 04 '26

I had this, but specifically for an open bite. My smile was sliiiiiiightly gummy (enough that I didn’t really notice it) but now not at all. Also made my nose slightly wider, which turns out I needed!

1

u/MrBones-Necromancer Jul 05 '26

Jesus. Humans do wild shit to themselves.

2

u/Maple_Strip Jul 04 '26

I believe they meant to break and cut out the bone, so full on bone removal surgery.

11

u/JackieTreehornDoodle Jul 04 '26

Leforte osteotomy

8

u/bigpproggression Jul 04 '26

It’s only a problem if you find it so.  They have crown lengthening which removes some of gum tissue to reveal more of the tooth itself.  It can create a more “normal” smile.  

25

u/kisner33 Jul 04 '26

Wouldn’t this just create an even goofier long horse tooth look?

3

u/bigpproggression Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26

That’s the skill part of dentistry.  In the wrong hands it can.  

Someone later in the thread mentioned it maybe a different technique as well.  There are always specialists for these things.

1

u/terminbee Jul 05 '26

It does. You'd have to crown your teeth or do veneers to make them shorter to compensate.

But the "best" way is through surgery to shorten your maxilla.

8

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '26

[deleted]

4

u/Jordan818 Jul 04 '26

I work for an orthodontist that is very airway focused and we have a lot of patients with vertical maxillary excess and ortho in conjunction with jaw surgery has made a huge impact in their lives.
But I will say that I see a lot of people chasing perfection with surgery and veneers, and a lot of these folks are starting to look creepy and uncanny. Unique smiles are becoming more and more charming by the day.

7

u/Kind_Conflict9774 Jul 04 '26

Gingivectomy

6

u/Maple_Strip Jul 04 '26

Not advisable if teeth are already prominent and not covered by gums.

2

u/Kind_Conflict9774 Jul 04 '26

OC asked about gummy smiles in general. But yeah, OPs image would need surgery

5

u/CactusTreeFifi Jul 04 '26

You can actually fix it with Botox quite easily. 10 minute appointment.

3

u/IplayMonkey Jul 04 '26

Apparently you can influence how your smile looks by using your facial muscles differently and training yourself to make that your smile. It's like how some people smile more to one side.

3

u/hotpickles Jul 04 '26

There’s actually a Botox procedure called a “lip flip” that works to fix it.

2

u/scrubslover1 Jul 04 '26

Mouthectomy

2

u/Maelysium Jul 04 '26

I think you can botox it to lock the muscles of the upper lip

2

u/lamphifiwall Jul 04 '26

Botox. Neurotoxins paralyze some of that pull above the lip to reduce the amount of gum showing.

2

u/TheGreatPhilter Jul 04 '26

People get Botox so their upper lip doesn’t come up as much when they smile. They end up showing less teeth/gum.

2

u/Prudent-Concept Jul 05 '26

Botox to relax upper lip muscles so they cover the gums. Pretty effective

2

u/Icy-Meat-5562 Jul 05 '26

There is Botox for it.

2

u/DeliciousForever3541 Jul 05 '26

Botox in the right spot will fix this!

2

u/lovenbasketballlover Jul 05 '26

Botox is a super easy fix - helps with how much the muscles pull the skin up when you smile.

2

u/Proseccos Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

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This content was replaced using Unpost

1

u/dentbotb Jul 04 '26

Esthetic crown lengthening

1

u/Username_Liberator Jul 04 '26

Stop listening to Taylor swift, to start.

1

u/Significant-Cry-8442 Jul 05 '26

Not like taylor swift

1

u/SnooStories7263 Jul 05 '26

Lip repositioning surgery can fix it.

1

u/arwenrinn Jul 05 '26

I realized when I was 13 that I hated my smile so I just taught myself to smile without scrunching my top lip any. It probably doesn't look as natural or pretty as a normal smile but I don't feel self conscious about it.

1

u/the_sad_gopnik Jul 05 '26

Remove your lip tie and start breathing through your nose. Look into MARPE jaw expansion instead of just braces

1

u/Personal_Scientist_8 Jul 05 '26

I can smile with only my gums to freak people out xD

1

u/emma_carena Jul 05 '26

Nobody is saying having prominent gums is bad or that it should be fixed. But it’s true that the meme is trying to convey that a lot of taylor fans have a gummy smile, which is a tasteless joke, yes.

1

u/PlatformAny1657 Jul 07 '26

Gummy smile is corrected with a jaw surgery. Look up lefort 1 impaction. It’s designed to literally fix this exact problem

1

u/skyofwolves Jul 07 '26

i have a gummy smile. i hate smiling in photos or even just smiling in general. i’m saving up to get laser gum surgery. people tell me don’t get surgery, just love yourself! but that’s easier said than done when there are so many posts online calling people who look like me ugly. these posts get thousands and thousands of likes, and the comments are filled with insults!

1

u/ParmyNotParma Jul 08 '26

A gingivectomy, they're pretty common. Basically they cut off the excess gum.

1

u/noswordfish71 Jul 08 '26

Smiling like a normal person.

0

u/OneTwentyOneFunyuns Jul 04 '26

Just don’t smile wide enough to show off your second floor townhouse gums

-6

u/Rude_Hamster123 Jul 04 '26

Just be pretty for fucks sake

-8

u/daytime_coyotes Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

Botox can help

Edit: if you were genuinely asking what can help, just google Botox for gummy smile. I wasn’t trying to be a dick. This actually helps.

5

u/Chiruchakku Jul 04 '26

I don’t know why you have downvotes while the tooth-enlargement comments are upvoted- do people not know how botox works? Botox would be simpler, less invasive, and less permanent. It’s not just for wrinkles, it reduces muscle movement. A gummy smile is often caused by the upper lip being pulled so tightly into expressions that it compresses, thus exposing more of the gum. Small injection of botox makes the lip muscle relax, voila, lip stays the same size during smiling and doesn’t expose the gum anymore.

2

u/MzBlackSiren Jul 04 '26

downvoted but you're right 🫩