So this area had too much space after braces, but everything else was ideal. Some patients would be fine with the space between these teeth, but it REALLY bothered this patient. So our solution was to add a bit of bonding to either tooth, closing the gap and making it look better.
At what point does a tooth need a veneer? We’ll discuss the criteria I use at a later date, but this nice young lady was told she needed veneers on these teeth. Now I’ll admit the teeth are not too pretty with the chipped and broken edges, but does it REALLY require veneers to properly restore them???
Chipped, broken teeth-before bonding
Here’s a patient that was told she’d need veneers due to the ’severe’ chipping and breakage of her front teeth. Now of course she didn’t like how the teeth looked, but she wondered if she really need something as costly and invasive as a veneer. Take a look below….what do you think??
Chipped, broken teeth-before bonding
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
On a recent visit to get her teeth cleaned I asked this pretty patient if she’s lost weight. Yes she had!! And she was VERY proud of that fact! So I suggested we update her portrait photo that we had taken after we fixed her front teeth, and she readily agreed. Her teeth look absolutely amazing, and she takes a great photo, too!
Portrait photo
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 the final portrait photo of our pretty patient and her new, gorgeous smile!
Here’s a different view of the old crowns. You can see the spacing that recently developed and was a concern for the patient and me.
So again….let’s clean a little bit of the cavity out and see what’s hiding inside these teeth. There’s ALWAYS more than you’d think!
