Sometime in the late 1950s or early 1960s, Canadian hunter and inventor Francis Wharton shot a deer deep in the backwoods of British Columbia. Lacking teeth, Francis filed down the deer’s teeth, inserted them into a base of plastic wood, and affixed them to his gums with plastic cement. He then ate the deer and reportedly used his homemade teeth for the next three years. Francis’s feat was so impressive that those homemade dentures are on exhibit in Canada’s Museum of Health Care.

Your teeth may be the most noticeable feature of your smile, but the gums anchoring those teeth play an instrumental role in supporting their aesthetics. Excess gum tissue and gumlines that are too low, too high, or uneven can make a smile look unbalanced and otherwise diminish the beauty of your teeth.

If you’re among the millions of Americans who experience chronic jaw pain, your dentist may be able to offer relief with a simple injection. Most people believe that Botox® and dermal filler injections are the provenance of medical spas and plastic surgeons. However, many dentists use Botox® and dermal fillers to treat jaw-related issues and are skilled at using them for cosmetic purposes.