Options for Fixing My Nephew’s Smile

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For my Nephew’s graduation, I gave him a gift of fixing his teeth. His mother never had enough money for braces and I didn’t want him spending his entire adult life feeling uncomfortable about his appearance. I was thinking orthodontics, but his dentist told him that he could get his smile fixed much faster with Lumineers without having a mouth full of metal, but he’s asking close to $25,000! Is there some other option for him that is faster than braces, but not as expensive as Lumineers?

Selena

Dear Selena,

A comparison of braces versus Invisalign

I’m glad you wrote. If the only thing wrong with your nephew’s smile was that fact that his teeth were misaligned then what his dentist is recommending would be a massive overtreatment. Lumineers are a brand of porcelain veneers. When someone is looking for that Hollywood smile, that is when they get porcelain veneers. They can change the shape, size, and color of your teeth at the same time. If you’re just looking to straighten your teeth, or even straighten and whiten your teeth, then there is a much better option.

Invisalign uses clear aligners to straighten a patient’s teeth. Even at a conversational distance, no one would be able to tell that your nephew is wearing orthodontics. They also work in half the time of traditional braces. If he does need teeth whitening, you can save money here because the aligner can double as teeth whitening trays. His dentist can simply provide him with the gel, which he can wear in the aligners at a point in the day or night that is most convenient for him.

What If He Wants a Total Smile Makeover?

A porcelain veneer being held up to a tooth

Let’s say there is more wrong with his teeth and he does need a total smile makeover, and it is something you are wiling to pay for, I would not go to a dentist who is recommending Lumineers to have this procedure done. This particular brand of porcelain veneers are highly marketed to inexperienced cosmetic dentists as being easy to place. Unfortunately, this does not mean that it is easy to create beautiful smiles. In fact, smile makeovers are not adequately taught in dental school. In order for a dentist to do it well means that they need to invest in post-doctoral training.

A second problem with Lumineers is the fact that their parent company requires dentists to use their lab, which is not known for creating good results. What you would want instead, is to find an expert cosmetic dentist and let them choose the brand as well as the lab.

This blog is brought to you by Marietta Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

How Much Teeth Whitening Do I Need Before Lumineers?

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I want to get a smile makeover. My dentist is suggesting Lumineers. They are pricey, so I’m not sure how many of them I can afford. I can do six but it looks like my smile is pretty wide. That means my other teeth will show and I’ll have two different looking teeth. I was looking around for information on alternatives and came across your site. It looks like as long as I whiten my teeth, the others will blend in with the Lumineers, right? Is there a way to know how much whitening I need as far as length of time?

Sandy

Dear Sandy,

Teeth Whitening Trays

It is good you are doing some research. I think this will save you some real anguish. First, yes, teeth whitening is a great option when you can’t get quite as many veneers as you need for the width of your smile. In fact, it is a common recommended step when it comes to getting a smile makeover.

I could not tell you with any certainty how much whitening you would need. That depends on a lot of factors, such as how white you want your smile makeover to be and how long you can tolerate wearing the bleaching trays. The basic principle is the longer you can wear the trays each day, the faster your teeth will whiten.

I wanted to bring up the Lumineers, though. This is just one brand of porcelain veneers. I’m a bit concerned that this is the brand your dentist is suggesting. It is highly marketed to inexperienced cosmetic dentists and there are other options. The biggest problem with Lumineers is that the company who owns them insists that dentists use their laboratory. Unfortunately, this lab is not known for their artistry. Most expert cosmetic dentists have a ceramist they prefer to work with at a specific lab. One they can trust to create the results they’ve designed.

I’m going to suggest you get a second opinion with another dentist on the type of porcelain veneers to get. If it is a matter of cost and this dentist is cheaper, I suggest you go ahead with the teeth whitening, which will greatly improve your smile. Then, save up for the dentist who can do your smile makeover correctly. This way you end up with results that thrill you instead of disappoint you.

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

Did the UltraSonic Scaler Damage My Porcelain Veneers

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I had four porcelain veneers placed on my front teeth. I just had a cleaning where a magnetostrictive ultrasonic cleaner. Within two days, a couple of them were fractured. Was that the cause of the fractures or is something else going on? Is this a common problem? How do I get my veneers back to the way they were?

Ellen

Dear Ellen,

porcelain veneer being placed on a tooth

There are two types of ultrasonic scalers.

  • piezoelectric
  • magnetostrictive

While the magnetorestrictive scaler is more gentle than the piezoelectric, there is a greater chance of damaging the tooth if it is not done with the proper technique. In the hands of a skilled dental hygienist this will cause no damage. However if it is done incorrectly, then, yes, there will be damage to your porcelain veneers.

In order to get a crack or fracture on your veneers, the dentists would have had to hold the tip of the scaler on the surface of your veneer. This is a huge NO. I’m not sure why your hygienist would have done that.

They should bear the responsibility of replacing the veneers that they damaged. Then, in your position, I would not stay in a dental office that does not know how to care for your cosmetic dental work. I’m also a bit concerned that they only did four porcelain veneers.

Most smiles are eight to ten teeth wide. This would mean that you have natural tooth structure that is visible next to your porcelain veneers when you smile. My hope is they at least used teeth whitening on them before placing your veneers. If not, your smile will look weird. It’s not too late to get this done if it wasn’t.

If you are not confident that they can properly replace the damaged veneers, then you can get a refund and go to a more experienced cosmetic dentist of your choice to get it done.

This blog is brought to you by Marietta Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

Lemons for Teeth Whitening

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Is it possible to use lemons or lemon essential oils to whiten your teeth? I’ve been looking at ways to whiten my teeth at home without having to use the Zoom Machine that my dentist has. It makes your teeth super white and I am looking for something more subtle and natural because of my age. I’m going on 72.

Penelope

Dear Penelope,

An image of lemons

The problem with using any type of lemon product for whitening your teeth is that it will contain citric acid. If you rub it on your teeth, it will etch them. While it may make the teeth look a little whiter by removing some surface staining, this will only be temporary. That is because the etching damages the surface of your enamel, which will cause the teeth to pick up more stains. In fact, I recommend not brushing immediately after drinking a citrus drink for that very reason. You will grind the acid into the enamel with your toothbrush. If you must brush immediately after, do yourself a favor and swish some water around in your mouth in order to neutralize the acid first.

The safest way to whiten your teeth is with professional tooth whitening through your dentist. While it is true that Zoom Whitening will get your teeth very white, it is not your only option. There are take home bleaching trays that you can do.

Your dentist will custom fit the bleaching trays to your exact bite and provide you with professional strength whitening gel to wear in them. If you don’t want your teeth very white, that is no big deal. You simply wear the trays until you get to the level of whitening you are comfortable with. Once you reach the level you wanted, you simply stop wearing the trays.

It is hard to get a precise color, but you can get close. If you are looking for something precise, you could get porcelain veneers. These can be made to any color you want. However, they are more designed for complete smile makeovers. Porcelain veneers are fantastic if you want to change more than just the color of your teeth, such as the shape and size. However, if all you want to do is whiten them, veneers would be overkill and way too expensive.

This blog is brought to you by Marietta Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.

Looking for a Cheap Smile Makeover

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I want to get my top teeth improved. They’re all discolored. My dentist is suggesting composite bonding for them at a price of just $3000 total. I would jump on that but have one reservation. I chipped a tooth a couple of years ago that knocked a good portion of my tooth off. My dentist fixed it with dental bonding. While my dentist did make the tooth whole again, the bonding part is very obvious and has been from the beginning. Now it is much more stained. I’m not sure I want my front eight teeth looking like that. He said the next option was porcelain veneers but they are really expensive. I have found there are some online veneers that are much less expensive. They pop over the front teeth. Is this a viable option for me or is there something I should be aware of?

Loren

Dear Loren,

porcelain veneer being placed on a tooth

I am going to start with your dentist’s first suggestion of dental bonding. I’m going to strongly suggest you do not use this for your smile makeover. First, he obviously does not have the cosmetic skills required to do a beautiful job with advanced cosmetic procedures, such as the dental bonding. Though, I suspect you have already figured that out.

When you are getting a complete smile makeover, porcelain veneers are the go-to procedure. When done in the hands of a skilled cosmetic dentist, it can give you a beautiful, natural looking smile that will last for years.

The snap on type of veneers you are considering are not at all like the porcelain veneers provided for you by a dentist. The ones online that snap onto your teeth are made of acrylic. They will not look as natural. From close up it will be obvious they are fake. Plus, because they snap over your teeth, they tend to look a bit bulky.

If you truly want a smile makeover, I suggest that you wait and save up for the porcelain veneers. Though, you may want to find a more experienced cosmetic dentist to do the work.

Before you do that, I did have a question. The only thing that you mentioned fixing about your smile was the discoloration. A complete smile makeover would typically be for fixing more than just the color, but also the shape and the size. If that is what you had in mind, then by all means save up for the porcelain veneers. However, if all you needed was to adjust the color, teeth whitening would be the right solution. It will also cost you thousands of dollars less.

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

Should She Finish this Full-Mouth Reconstruction?

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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,

An image of a woman happily pointing at her smile

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.

My Smile Is Disappearing

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I would love some advice. It is almost impossible to see my teeth, even when I smile. I don’t know what is causing this but I am so embarrassed by my smile. My dentist said that porcelain veneers might help. That is a pretty expensive procedure to get a might. Here is some more information and maybe you can tell me if that maybe leans more toward a yes or no. When my lips are in repose, you cannot see my teeth at all. When I force my smile as big as possible, you can see a bit of my teeth. I have jaw pain and wear my night guard. When the night guard is in, you can see my teeth a bit better. What do you think?

Caroline

Dear Caroline,

A chart showing the connection between muscles, jaw joints, and teeth

I am going to right off the bat tell you that porcelain veneers are NOT the solution for this. In fact, it is so much not the solution to this that I think when you get the actually procedures you need, it will be important to find another dentist to do it. While porcelain veneers might help your appearance, if he is a skilled cosmetic dentist, it could potentially make your pain significantly worse.

Based on your description, it sounds like you have ground your teeth down, which has caused them to be overclosed. That kind of positioning could lead to TMJ Disorder. The fact that you’ve been having jaw pain makes me think this is what is happening. I’m glad you have a nightguard because that could help prevent further damage. However, the damage already done needs to be dealt with. This will require a dentist who has training and understands TMJ Disorder and the different type of treatments.

I believe you are going to need a full mouth reconstruction which means crowning each of the ground down teeth. It needs someone with training far above what most general dentists have.

I would suggest doing an internet search for “TMJ Dentist.” Then, check that they have post-doctoral training in TMJ. It’s not a recognized specialty, but general dental school is not enough. Ideally, they would have gained additional training at one of these institutions:

  • The Dawson Academy
  • The Pankey Institute
  • The Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies

Then, take the additional precaution of checking out their smile gallery to see if they have some artistic skill with cosmetic dentistry and can create beautiful smiles. You do not have to choose between form and function. Find a dentist who can do both.

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

Choosing a Cosmetic Dentist on Yelp?

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I am getting a smile makeover. I’ve narrowed the cosmetic dentist I’m going to use down to three of them, but have some questions before I settle on which one. All three are highly rated on Yelp. It sounds like dental bonding is less expensive than porcelain veneers but may not last as long. Do you have a recommendation on which to use? As I am in my 60s, would it look silly if I went with really white teeth?

Joyce

Dear Joyce,

porcelain veneer being placed on a tooth

Congratulations on getting a smile makeover. They can be life changing. I’m going to start with the bonding versus porcelain veneers question.

Dental bonding is typically for small repairs, such as a chipped tooth or a gap between two teeth. It will last a few years, but not much longer. While it is inexpensive with the small repairs, if you wanted to use it for a full smile makeover, you will find it will end up more expensive. It is done by hand and over such a large surface would be quite time consuming. You will definitely want porcelain veneers.

I don’t recommend that you choose your cosmetic dentists simply based on their Yelp rating. While I do use Yelp for certain recommendations, such as a plumber or electrician, it is not a great way to pick a dentist to do your cosmetic work. This is because they don’t distinguish the reason for the ratings. A dentist can have over one hundred 5-star ratings, but most of them could be just about how friendly he or she is and not their cosmetic skill.

As an example, I just did a search on Yelp for “Best Cosmetic Dentist” in a mid-sized city. Just looking at the top three dentists, only one of them even does cosmetic dentistry. On the one who did, when I looked on her website, there wasn’t even a smile gallery. That is a sure sign that they don’t do enough cosmetic dentistry to be serious about it.

A smile makoever is an advanced procedure. It takes more than technical knowledge. It also needs some artistry. I would look at whether or not they have any post-doctoral training in cosmetic work as well as the type of results they get with the cases they’ve done. This is where the smile gallery comes in handy because you get to see the before and after pictures.

As for the color, this is very subjective. If you want a white smile, you should get one. If you speak with the cosmetic dentist about the type of smile you hope to create, he or she will be able to advise you on the color.

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

Solution for a HUGE Tooth Gap

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I have a large tooth gap. I think my dentist said it was about 8-10 millimeters between my front two teeth. I didn’t want braces, so he suggested snap-on smile. I paid for the x-rays and the dentist sent everything in to the company. I received a call this week telling me I’m not really a good candidate for that procedure. He said we could look into Lumineers. These cost a whole lot more than the snap-on smile. If it is my only option, I will bite the bullet. Before I did, though, I wanted to get another opinion on how to handle this.

Mike

Dear Mike,

Image of Invisalign Aligners

I am glad you wrote. Please, please don’t move forward with the Lumineers plan. First, the gap between your two front teeth is substantial. This is large enough to fit another tooth in. It would take one of the top cosmetic dentists in the country to do this correctly. Your dentist said he would “look into” Lumineers. This tells me that he is not trained in cosmetic dentistry. Lumineers is just one brand of porcelain veneers. While the Lumineers brand is highly marketed to inexperienced cosmetic dentists as being easy to place, most expert cosmetic dentists find the Lumineers brand inferior. Plus, being easy to put on the teeth has nothing to do with the skill required to make them beautiful and natural looking.

You don’t have to have braces to get the gap closed. I would look into getting Invisalign. These use clear aligners to straighten your teeth instead of the metal wires and brackets that are used with traditional braces. Even at a conversational distance, noone would know that you are straightening your teeth.

Invisalign has another hidden benefit. The aligners can double as teeth whitening trays. Your dentist can provide you with whitening gel that you can wear in the aligners at a time that is convenient to you. This allows you to straighten and whiten your teeth simultaneously.

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

Buying Dental Veneers Online

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I have a couple of defects with my smile. I went to my dentist in order to get it repaired and he recommended I get porcelain veneers. The cost he quoted me seemed astronomical so I did some calling around and that is about the average. Wow! So, I looked online and it looks like you can get some do it yourself veneers that just snap onto your teeth. I can get a complete set for around $700 dollars. Some were more, but that was about the most common price. Is this a decent way for me to go?

Duke

Dear Duke,

A porcelain veneer being held up to a tooth

Getting snap-on veneers works for some people as long as they keep their expectations pretty low. It is not going to give you the gorgeous smile that you could get with porcelain veneers. Porcelain veneers are custom designed to give you a smile makeover that can change the shape, size, and color of your teeth. Because they are made of tiny wafers of porcelain they look just like natural teeth. They’re also permanently bonded to your teeth allowing you to just go about living your life.

Snap on veneers are going to be made of acrylic. They will not look as natural, especially up close. As they snap over the teeth, they can look bulky depending on the shape of your smile. The one benefit is that if you don’t like them, you’re not stuck with them. You can simply unsnap them from your teeth. Be aware that they will only last a few years and then you’ll have to replace them.

If you do decide to go this route, the best brand is Snap-on Smile. However, I would still do it through a dentist and not online. The companies who sell these directly to patients have no way of fitting them to your bite properly. If you want them to be comfortable, some adjustments have to be made to them.

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