The easiest, fastest way to at least temporarily fix this tooth was some bonding. Yes, it will DEFINITELY need a more definitive restoration (a crown) in the near future. But this will get him out the door and looking presentable!
For those of you involved in the dental industry, here’s a quick story. I had been purchasing my dental supplies for years and years from one of the ‘big’ dental supply companies. I really liked my dental rep, but the company basically treated my like dirt. Anyway, along comes Synergy Dental. They’re a group purchasing organization that has gotten special pricing from Darby Dental Supply, Brasseler USA, Orascoptic, and others. Anyway, I’ve already saved a bunch of money just by ordering the SAME supplies through them. You really should check it out.
And FYI, I have NO financial interest in the company at all.
….and the laterals were bonded to close the spaces and make ideally-sized teeth:
After the bonding to close the spaces and re-create the correct tooth proportion
And here’s the other side, with a much smaller original-sized tooth, and the bonding afterwards:
Small lateral incisor before bonding
Small lateral after bonding
The second option is for the orthodontist to move the laterals into the middle of the space. The restorative dentist can then create ideally sized teeth. This gives the orthodontist the correct proportions for all the front teeth and allows the orthodontics to be finished without worrying about leaving spaces that are exact. However, it is a more difficult task for the restorative dentist.
Stone model during orthodontics
So the photo in the post below shows a ‘peg’ lateral that is very small proportionally compared to the other teeth around it. Knowing this, the orthodontist and I discussed our options. We could do one of two possible treatments. Both would lead to my eventual bonding of the tooth, or in this case, BOTH laterals, to increase the size and correct the proportion between all of this young lady’s teeth.
Many, many people have teeth that are undersized, or too small, compared to their other teeth. Often these are the lateral incisors. When they are very small they are often called ‘Peg’ laterals. If these are found in a child you should have a frank discussion with your dentist and orthodontist about the ultimate plan for these teeth. Here’s an example of this:
And only a little more, and you can REALLY see all the cavity!!
Cavity revealed
Just saw this patient and thought we’d take photos of the procedure because I could see a ’shadow’ in the tooth, but absolutely nothing on her x-ray. Having done many teeth similarly, I thought this would be a good teaching case. Here’s a photo of the tooth before we started:
Tooth with cavity
So this piece of a crown was broken, and we needed to get the patient fixed up as quickly as possible.
Broken porcelain
The solution? We quickly re-bonded the piece back into place.
Bonding broken porcelain
