Cosmetic dentistry smile makeover:
Armchair diagnosis treatment plan.
- History: This person's chief cosmetic concern is the gap that lies between his two upper left teeth. (Dentists use the term "diastema" to refer to this type of space.) His other concern is that his center two teeth each have a different length.
- Cosmetic dentistry treatment plan: It seems likely that porcelain veneers would be a good choice for making the cosmetic changes we've shown in our "after" picture. We would like to bring two points to your attention however so to give you an idea of what a dentist deals with when making a decision about what cosmetic results might be achieved.
As you can no doubt imagine, we've illustrated the diastema shown in the "before" picture as being closed by way of creating oversized porcelain veneers for the two teeth that lie on either side of the space.
You may notice however that our "after" picture still shows a hint of space between these two teeth down by the gum line.
When a dentist places a porcelain veneer on a tooth they have a great deal of control over the final shape of those aspects of the
tooth that lie a distance from the gum line. The shape of the tooth where it emerges from the gums however cannot be significantly altered.
Our "after" picture suggests how porcelain veneers might be shaped so to provide an improved cosmetic appearance, yet not be so over contoured as to impede with the removal of dental plaque from the teeth on which they are placed.
There is another consideration here related to the placement of wide porcelain veneers so to close the diastema. Since the teeth on this person's left side will be wider than they were, will this person's smile look asymmetric and abnormal?
Most persons we interact with will not pick up on small discrepancies in the various sizes of our individual teeth, but the patient and dentist both need to consider this possibility before treatment is begun.
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