As a teenager, Larry had white fillings done on his front two teeth to close a gap, but he was unhappy about how those teeth looked. He was also unhappy with the shape of the teeth next to them. Together, we decided to do four anterior veneers on his front teeth, to help redistribute the widths of the teeth, and create a more esthetic, symmetrical smile.
Nancy had a history of grinding her teeth. Over the years, the wear from this grinding and clenching had caused her anterior teeth to start chipping and fracturing. It was important to regain the length that had been lost over the years, not only to improve the esthetics, but it also to improve the function of her smile. We restored Nancy’s front teeth with all porcelain crowns and now, Nancy’s smile is beautiful! To protect her from future wear, Nancy also wears a night guard.
Barb had undergone restoration after restoration and was very unhappy with the way her front teeth looked. Because her teeth were so heavily restored, our treatment of choice was six anterior crowns. We were able to redistribute the widths of Barb’s teeth to create a beautiful, symmetrical smile.
Donna has a history of bruxism (grinding her teeth). This tooth grinding caused a lot of damage. Because she also had many failing restorations and excessive wear, Donna was in need of a full mouth restoration or rehabilitation. All of her dental work was redone, which allowed us to reestablish the proper contours and occlusal patterns that were lost over the years. We also needed to increase the length of her anterior teeth, but in order to do so Donna had to go through orthodontics (braces) to get her teeth in the right position. After a year and a half in braces, Donna’s teeth were corrected, and we were able to restore her smile with porcelain veneers.
Gary’s front five teeth had been heavily restored over the years and most of his fillings were beginning to fail. During our initial exam, we discovered that he had been a heavy tooth grinder for years, with evidence showing on his lower front teeth. Further evidence was found in the fracturing of a crown on a molar. Gary also complained of joint pain and tired face muscles when he woke up. We made Gary an occlusal night guard to improve his joint discomfort and get rid of the tired feeling he was waking up with. We also wanted to protect his teeth from continued wear. Once we had Gary comfortable, we balanced his bite (Occlusal Equilibration) – creating a stable, comfortable bite, that functions without any interference. Next, we restored his front five teeth with crowns, and replaced his back crown. Now his smile is comfortable and he looks great!
Doug had never liked the way his front tooth looked. A crown had been placed over 20 years ago and it didn’t look natural or match his other front teeth. We discovered his unhappiness during a routine hygiene visit, when Mindy our hygienist asked Doug how he liked the way his teeth looked. She proceeded to show Doug cases similar to his and explained how natural modern crowns can be. Doug was so excited about the idea that he scheduled a comprehensive exam that very day. We whitened Doug’s teeth before we began restoration work so his teeth would look their very best. Once Doug’s teeth had reached a shade he was happy with, we replaced his old front crown with an all porcelain crown, and replaced the front filling on the tooth next to it. Because the crown was on the front tooth, we put a lot of detail and characterization into the crown to make it look absolutely natural. Now Doug is happy with his tooth and his smile!
Ray had chipped his front two teeth playing basketball 10 years ago and had always been self-conscious about the way they looked. He had not been to a dentist in a while, and he had decided that he did not want to get his front two teeth crowned, fearing that they would not look natural. He was unaware that there were other options. When Ray joined our practice as a new patient, we did a comprehensive exam. It was important for us to know if his front teeth were weakened through grinding or other habits before his accident, because this would have an impact on what our treatment plan would be. We discovered that Ray had no patterns of grinding and no signs of occlusal disease. This allowed us to come up with a very conservative treatment plan that would preserve all of the tooth structure on his front two teeth. We whitened Ray’s teeth before we began our restorative work, bringing his teeth back to a shade he was happy with. After whitening, we were able to bond his two front teeth, restoring them to their original shape and size. We also crowned an upper molar that had a large silver filling and a fracture. He was unaware at how bad that tooth had looked in his smile until the consult. The results were fantastic, and Ray was happy that we were able to conserve tooth structure on his front two teeth.
This teenager was self-conscious about the way his stained and discolored teeth looked. To get the white and brown patches out, we did some micro abrasion. We followed up with whitening, paying close attention to how the teeth were reacting. As you can see, the results were great!
Steve was a victim of poor dentistry and neglect. His bridge was fractured and his left canine and first premolar were decayed beyond repair. Our plan was to place implants and restore his mouth with an implant supported bridge. We also crowned his right lateral incisor in which there was a large, outdated filling and continuing decay. Once the implants had healed, we had Steve in for final impressions. Because patient comfort is our priority, we took impressions of Steve’s mouth digitally, instead of with the unpleasant mouthful of impression material. Steve was the first patient in our area to have his implants scanned with scanbodies. After the scanbodies, the lab can immediately fabricate the abutments and crowns, from the digital information, without having to wait for a physical model. Now Steve can smile with confidence, knowing his smile is healthy and strong.
Rosemarie had stated that she was concerned about how thin her front teeth had become, and that they were beginning to break. Her previous dentist had fixed her front tooth numerous times, but it kept breaking. Once we completed our comprehensive exam, we noticed that Rosemarie had lost a lot of tooth structure on the palate side of her teeth through erosion. Because of this erosion, we did not have enough room to even crown the teeth. Through a thorough Occlusal Analysis, we determined that we needed to open her bite to give us adequate space to make crowns. We restored her upper arch, enabling us to create room for crowns and restore her front teeth to the proper size. Now Rosemarie’s smile is beautiful, strong and comfortable.