Archives for February 2019

Am I Being too Picky about these Porcelain Veneers?

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Amelia

I had four porcelain veneers placed on my front teeth. The veneers themselves looked good. The teeth next to them stood out a bit so I plan on whitening my teeth to help that. My big concern is with one of the front veneers. I noticed on the drive home it had a strange divot that went across the middle of the veneer. I turned around immediately and went back to see what I needed to do. He told me not to worry and that he’d fix it right away. He did some kind of repair and it felt smooth again. Now it is a couple of days later and that part looks more dull than the rest of the tooth. Am I being too picky? It does bug me but I don’t want to be “that” patient.

Dear Amelia,

single porcelain veneer being held up by a dental tool

You are not being too picky. In fact, it sounds like the repair your dentist did on your veneer has damaged it. It’s possible he just sanded the area around the divot a bit to make it even. Unfortunately, that will have the devastating result of taking off the glaze of the veneer in that area.

The glazing is what protects it from picking up stains. This needs to be repaired or replaced. I’d do it now, while the faulty “repair” is fresh in his mind. If you wait too long he could try to blame you for the damage.

Have this Dentist Replace Your Porcelain Veneer

There is a repair that can be done on this using diamond polishing equipment. Unfortunately, I don’t think your dentist will know this technique. It’s quite advanced. Your dentist isn’t an expert cosmetic dentist, so you’re better off just having him replace it.

I’m not just being arbitrary in saying that. All the things you mentioned above are evidence. First, the number of porcelain veneers he gave you. When a dentist is doing a smile makeover, they’ll make sure as many of the teeth visible when you smile are covered as possible.

At a minimum, that means six teeth, unless you have an unusually narrow smile. Patients with wide smiles often get ten. Granted, there are sometimes financial considerations and patients can’t afford to cover each visible tooth. In that case, your dentist will make sure you whiten your teeth, before you have your smile makeover done. Yours didn’t even tell you to do it at all. You had to come up with that.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

Are Same Day Crowns More Expensive?

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I’ve been considering getting same day crowns. They sound convenient and I’m going on the assumption they look natural. If that’s wrong, please correct me so I don’t make a mistake I’ll regret. However, are they a lot more expensive than the regular ones?

Isabelle

Dear Isabelle,

CEREC crowns are milled the same day as your appointment

First, we’ll cover the look of CEREC crowns versus traditional crowns. Whether or not any type of dental crown looks natural and attractive, depends on the cosmetic skill of the dentist. Therefore, when you are looking for a dentist who utilizes CEREC technology make sure you check out their cosmetic skill as well.

You can do that by asking to see samples of work they’ve done on dental crowns. They can be made to look as natural and translucent as your healthy teeth.

The one area where you’ll have to be even more careful is when it comes to a crown on a front tooth. Only the best cosmetic dentists can do that because CERECs are milled from a single block of porcelain.

The dentist will need to know a lot about color theory and how to use a variety of color “stains” to give it the texture variety of your natural teeth. If you look closely at your teeth, you’ll notice they’re not the same color all the way down. Instead certain parts of the tooth are more opaque than others.

The Costs of CEREC Crowns

The machines the dentists purchase can set them back six figures. Often they’re making monthly payments of $2,000 to pay towards that debt. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean the CEREC crowns will cost much more than their traditional porcelain crown counterparts.

The reason for this is when they use the CEREC machine, they’re not having to pay for a lab to manufacture the crowns. Either way it costs the dentist something. Bear in mind, that each dentist sets their own fees so that won’t be universal.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

Dental Implants after Dentures

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I’ve had dentures for quite a few years. I’m getting sick of them. They keep slipping. The last straw was when they fell out as I tried to blow out my birthday candles. Not only was it humiliating but they fell on the cake so there went dessert. Am I too old to switch to dental implants?

Tricia

Dear Tricia,

dentures side by side with a dental implant

I’m sorry for that experience. That must have been very hard for you. The good news is the people who were at your party are people who love you. They likely felt nothing but compassion for you.

Age has nothing to do with whether or not you’re a good candidate for dental implants. If you’re in good health, you should be okay. However, that being said, you’ve had dentures for many years.

The reason they’re sliding and falling out is because your jawbone has shrunken. It will continue to shrink as well. This is known as facial collapse.

You Can Still Get Dental Implants

What you’ll have to do is have an additional procedure done known as bone grafting. This will build back up your jawbone so that you can have implants placed. The bone is imperative because it is what secures the implants.

It will be too expensive for you to get a dental implant for each tooth. Instead, I’m going to recommend you get implant supported dentures. Implant overdentures use about four to six implants that anchor to your denture.

They’ll completely secure them and you’ll not have to worry about any loss of jawbone. The implants are what help preserve them.

This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.