I had a collapsed bite because of teeth grinding. My old dentist never told me that was going on. I had to see another dentist in the same office because of a toothache and they suggested I get a nightguard for when I am sleeping. I did, but think that I waited too long to start it. I ended up moving to another city and it was the new dentist who said that the condition of the teeth was pretty bad. She’s the one who told me about the collapsed bite. I agreed to the smile makeover. She did the crowns on the bottom first. While everything feels better, two things bother me. First, it is whiter and more perfect than I was hoping for. I liked the quirkiness of my smile. Here is my problem. I am not sure I want the upper ones done. I know it seems silly, but I’ve been really emotional about this. However, my top teeth are now much darker than the bottom ones. What are my options?
Julia
Julia,
You have a couple of options. First, if you absolutely just do not want to complete the smile makeover, I would recommend simply whitening the upper teeth. You can do that in one appointment with Zoom whitening and then you would not have two arches of teeth looking so drastically different from one another for an extended period of time.
However, before you decide, I want you to consider a couple of things. First, on the practical side, if your teeth are ground down, I am sure it wasn’t limited to the bottom teeth. Plus, the crowns and veneers will be harder on your upper teeth than your natural teeth were, which will cause more damage.
Plus, the procedure was planned with both of them. Doing just half of it could throw off your bite and lead to TMJ Disorder.
I could be misreading things, but it sounded like your main concern was the fact that the teeth were too perfect and you wanted some quirkiness. In that case, I would suggest communicating that to your dentist. Most cosmetic dentists would jump at the chance to add some character to the smile. Too often, they’re stuck making perfect smiles. You would be a welcome change.
I hope this helps.
This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.