Some of the things we can do with Ceramic Veneers

The First case review...

I’m hoping, that by sharing some of the treatments that I have done on my patients, I can help you to understand the kind of results that are possible in dentistry today, 2013.  Often when I interview a new patient, a response that I will hear is, “I didn’t know you could do that!”.  It’s possible that some of you may see something that looks similar to your own situation, and that may help you in your decision-making process.

So, here we go.

This patient was unhappy with the color, shape and position of her teeth.  There were chips in her teeth and discoloration  that whitening products did not correct.There were also some rotations of the teeth that you can see.  We spoke about how ceramic veneers could correct both of these issues in a minimally invasive way.  The extra challenge is that this patient has a high lip line so everything would be visible.  That gum line area can be a problem without following a specific protocol to ensure a beautiful finish.

My procedure is to add tooth colored material to the facial surface of the teeth to reshape the teeth into what is pleasing to the patient.  I call this the ‘mock-up’.  When I have the patient's approval of their appearance, I take a preliminary impression.  Then, I use just a little local anesthetic, remove the tooth colored material, and prepare the tooth for the veneer.  Veneer preparations are minimally invasive in that they only require about 0.5mm reduction of the facial enamel, and about 1mm off of the biting edge of the tooth so that the veneer can wrap over that edge.  We then take the final impression of the prepared tooth to send to our dental laboratory along with all of the other necessary records, including photos of the mock-up.

The next step is to make beautiful temporaries.  They are shaped from the impression we took of the mock-up of the ideal position of the teeth.

Within a few weeks, we have our insert appointment.

 Again, we will use a small amount of local anesthetic, remove the temporaries, disinfect the teeth, and then bond each of the veneers in individually.  With just a little clean-up, we achieve outstanding results, delivering what we have promised.  Our patients leave the office with a beautiful smile.