Gum Contouring: Dennis

Description

Front teeth, the center of a smile, are important to everyone, and Dennis had some problems with his front teeth that really affected his smile. Several years ago, he needed a root canal on one of his front teeth. After the procedure, the dentist placed a crown on that tooth, and suggested adding three veneers to correct the irregular spacing of the teeth around it. The spacing was corrected, but the crown and the veneers always felt bulky to him afterwards, compared to his original teeth. A few years later, Dennis had his teeth bleached. Unfortunately, this pointed up a color mismatch between his original teeth and the three that had been veneered because bleaching does not whiten the porcelain used in veneers. Before we could change the existing porcelain restorations, we had to make changes to the gumline architecture of Dennis’ front four teeth by raising it to create symmetry and to match the rest of his smile; so Dennis’ gumline around the front four teeth was repositioned with a laser to the proper height. Three weeks after this procedure, we were able to proceed to the next step — replacing the original porcelain veneers with a much more lifelike and realistic set to complement his smile. Dennis was especially happy with the outcome because he is planning for his upcoming wedding, and knows his smile will look perfect in the photographs that will capture the occasion for the rest of his life.