So a few minutes later we had bonded some composite onto the tooth, replacing the fractured corner. This was accomplished by layering different shades of the material to simulate the internal colors of the tooth, then covering it with a different shade that was more like the patient’s own enamel. The result was a repaired tooth that looked and felt like the original.
Repaired tooth
A ‘wake board’ is what took care of the edge of this tooth. Ideally we’d like to retain the fractured portion of the tooth and try and bond it back onto the remaining tooth structure. When fit properly the crack is almost imperceptible and the tooth remains stable for a very long time. But since this was long-gone (sitting at the bottom of a lake somewhere) we would have to re-build the tooth out of composite.
Fractured tooth
Cracked tooth
A fun day of boating led to this cracked tooth. There was no hot, cold, or bite sensitivity so it became and esthetic issue. What was the best course of action to quickly repair this tooth?
I’ve stated before that I’m a big fan of the Firefox operating system. It feels a little faster that Internet explorer, has a few less bugs, and is still REALLY cool! Having said all that, this article to ’speed up’ Firefox was pretty interesting. I’m going to give it a try….if it doesn’t work I guess I’ll be using something else!
My web site has added a few new photos of the office (with a special thanks to Tony and Jeff for the ‘update’). Check it out here.
And here’s the final result, only a few minutes later. Look how nicely the shade of the filling blends with his tooth color. And the little redness at the gumline is from finishing and polishing the filling in this area and should heal uneventfully within a few short days.
Here’s a closer look at these two cavities. You can see that they extend slightly under the gumline:
This is a quicky, but shows how nice a little bonding can make a big change. These two teeth obviously have cavities at the gumline:
And a quick review of where we started:
And the new, beautiful crowns:
And the final portrait photo of our pretty patient and her new, gorgeous smile!
