This wonderful teacher asked for a new smile and we gave her veneers without drilling
Every smile is unique, and very few of them are naturally perfect. Teeth are prone to stains and discoloration, and thanks to a wide range of varying factors, they can also chip, crack, break, leave odd spaces between each other, or otherwise detract from your smile’s cosmetic appeal. Fortunately, with the advanced techniques and materials of modern cosmetic dentistry, people with an imperfect smile can enjoy full, healthy, beautiful smiles than ever before. Your smile can be enhanced often without the need for extensive restorative treatment.
Teeth Stains and Discoloration
You don’t drink coffee, you don’t smoke cigarettes, you rarely (or never) consume red wine, and you’re careful to brush and floss your teeth at least twice every day. So why do you have discolored teeth anyway? The truth is that your food and beverages don’t have to be notoriously dark-colored to affect your teeth’s appearance. The molecules that dictate your food’s color, called chromogens, like to cling to tooth enamel, and over time, they can deprive your teeth of their characteristic shine. Professional teeth whitening can help brighten your smile by erasing most surface stains and brightening the main tooth structure underneath your enamel.
Chipped/Broken Teeth
Your teeth are surrounded by the most resilient substance your body produces, called tooth enamel. Underneath, the dentin that makes up the majority of your tooth is formidable in its own right. Nevertheless, your teeth aren’t indestructible, and if they chip, crack, or break, they won’t heal themselves. If the damage is superficial, meaning it doesn’t threaten your tooth by exposing its inner tissues, then Dr. Fondriest can repair the tooth with an appropriate treatment. Depending on your specific needs, you might require dental bonding, a porcelain veneer, or a lifelike dental crown to restore the tooth’s size, shape, appearance, and structural integrity.
Oddly Shaped and/or Spaced Teeth
When your teeth aren’t perfectly aligned, or when one or more of them aren’t perfectly shaped, then conspicuous spaces (like small black triangles) can result between them that disturb your smile’s uniformity. Teeth with misshapen edges can also make your teeth appear uneven and your smile jagged. Tooth bonding and contouring describes the process of bonding white composite resin to your tooth and/or sculpting the tooth’s structure to improve your smile’s contour. Bonding and contouring can reinvent your smile without having to drastically alter oddly spaced and misshapen teeth.
Missing Teeth
Although missing teeth are far more than a mere cosmetic issue, one of the most dominant effects of tooth loss is the physical appearance of your smile. Other effects include a difficult biting and chewing your food properly, damage to other teeth from imbalanced pressure, and a deteriorating jawbone resulting from lost teeth roots. Tooth loss commonly occurs due to traumatic injury or a need for tooth extraction, though the most frequent reason for tooth loss is extensive gum disease. If you’ve lost one or more teeth, Dr. Fondriest may recommend an appropriate number of dental implants. They act as prosthetic teeth roots and can support the necessary dental crown, bridge, or denture that replaces your lost teeth.
Gummy Smile
Sometimes, your teeth can appear crooked or misshapen even when they’re not because of the excessive or uneven growth of your gum tissue. Known as a gummy smile, excessive gums are usually caused by genetics, or by a medical condition.When too much gum shows above the upper teeth, Dr. Fondriest can help even out your gum line by recommending a periodontist. The other specialist will perform a gum contouring procedure.
Learn more about fixing an imperfect smile
Aside from providing expert general and cosmetic dentistry services to our community, Dr. James Fondriest also holds highly-respected academic appointments at the Pankey Institute in Key Biscayne, FL, and the Spear Institute in Scottsdale, AZ, and he is a former Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Prosthodontics at the University of Florida Dental School. Dr. Fondriest combines his impressive array of experience with modern technology and caring, compassionate, and knowledgeable staff. To schedule your second opinion, call our office today at (847) 234-0517.