Archives for July 2021

New Lumineers Over Old Ones

July 26, 2021 by writeradmin

When I first got my Lumineers my dentist knew that I wanted them to be whiter than they were made, but his lab guy said that it wasn’t quite possible to do them that white. They could only do what he called “natural” looking styles. These days I see people with very white teeth and figure they are now able to do them whiter. Is it possible for me to have new Lumineers placed over my old ones so I can have the smile I really wanted?

Kelly

Dear Kelly,

a porcelain veneer being placed on a tooth

Should you place new veneers over old ones?

While it is possible for you to place new Lumineers over old ones, I am not going to recommend it. First, it is just as much work for the dentist to do that than to just provide you with a totally new smile makeover. to begin with. Second, it will be less secure. Porcelain bonds much better to natural tooth structure than it does to porcelain. That puts you at a greater risk of bonding failure for your new Lumineers, not to mention that you have double the risk because at some point your old Lumineers bonding could give out. I am going to recommend something completely different.

The first thing you should be aware of is that Lumineers is simply one brand of porcelain veneers. That particular brand is heavily marketed to inexperienced cosmetic dentists and I believe your dentist falls into that category. One reason I think that is he just agreed with the lab when they said your Lumineers could not be as white as you wanted. That was not true. Even then, you could get veneers of any brand as white as you wanted. The lab was wrong about that. That brings me to a second issue with Lumineers, which is their lab. The DenMat company, which owns this brand, insists you use their lab. They are not known for their artistic, quality work.

What I would like you to do is look for an expert cosmetic dentist and have them just re-do your smile makeover altogether. Do not be surprised if they suggest a completely different brand of porcelain veneers than the one you currently have. There are many brands that are far superior and will give more artistic results. The best cosmetic dentists are AACD accredited dentists. You can find them listed on aacd.com. They have extensive training and have passed stringent exams as well as proven their artistry before a board of examiners on a large number of their cases.

This blog is brought to you by Philadelphia Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Michael Weiss.

Jagged Teeth After Braces

July 14, 2021 by writeradmin

I am toward the end of my orthodontic treatment. While my teeth look straight, I have noticed the edges are jagged. I am hoping to fix this. After spending all this money to get straight teeth, I don’t want this one little thing to bother me. Is there a way to fix it?

Ellie

Dear Ellie,

I’m glad you wrote. There is a procedure known as dental contouring that can solve your issue. If the problem is minor, your orthodontist should smooth this out as a part of completing your case. If it is more substantial, I would invest in having an expert cosmetic dentist do this. Cosmetic contouring is a fairly advanced procedure and requires a cosmetic dentist that is not only technologically skilled, but artistic as well.

This type of procedure has to be done freehand. It is not something your average family dentist could do. In your place, to ensure you get a good result, you will need to check out the dentist’s smile galleries to make sure they get beautiful results with a variety of different cosmetic procedures. You could start by looking on the mynewsmile.com website to see if there are any dentists in your area they recommend. These dentists have already been prescreened for their training, technical skill, and artistry.

Often you will need some dental bonding done with the contouring. If you look at the before and after images above, you can tell right away that the sides of some of his teeth had bonding material added to them. You can also see that the teeth have varying opacities throughout the lengths of the teeth making them look completely natural and blending them seamlessly with the remainder of the teeth.

You won’t get this type of result with any dentist.

This blog is brought to you by Philadelphia Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Michael Weiss.

Why Has My Smile Makeover Lost its Shine?

July 3, 2021 by writeradmin

I am planning on asking my cosmetic dentist the same question I am asking you, but want to go into the appointment with as much knowledge as possible. Just over six months ago I had a total smile makeover done on my upper teeth with porcelain veneers. For the bottom teeth, we just did teeth whitening. I chose my cosmetic dentist very carefully and he is one of the tops in the field. The smile makeover itself was stunning and I was thrilled with the results. It cost me quite a bit of money, but I have looked at it as an investment. I’ve been very diligent with my oral hygiene as I want this to last for many years to come. My routine consists of brushing twice a day with Crest 3D Glamorous White Toothpaste, flossing once a day, and then rinsing with Listerine Whitening 6 in one with Fluoride. Despite all this effort, my porcelain veneers have lost their shine. Now they look quite dull instead of having the lovely sheen they had when I first came home with them. I went online where someone suggested I use baking soda. I did, but did not see any improvement. Can you help me here?

Samantha

Dear Samantha,

I am delighted to hear that you were satisfied with your smile makeover and that you are striving to take such good care of it. Let’s start with what you are using to care for your smile. Both the toothpaste and the mouthwash you are using can cause some minor damage to your porcelain veneers. Nothing to the extent you are describing, but they will contribute. Typical whitening toothpaste at the stores rely on abrasives to remove the stains on your teeth. With porcelain veneers, these abrasives will scratch the veneer and eventually, leave it very susceptible to staining. Listerine, like most mouthwashes, contains alcohol. This will also damage the veneer, but it mostly damages the bonding materials.

As I mentioned before, this isn’t really enough to lead to the amount to anything significant this quickly, I can think of two things that would result in the damage you are describing. The first is if your dentist provided you with composite veneers instead of porcelain veneers. While porcelain is extraordinarily stain-resistant, even more so than your natural teeth. Composite, however, picks up stains quite easily. You said you researched your dentist quite carefully, so I am not inclined to think this is the issue. It would take a very unethical dentist to place composite veneers but call them porcelain.

A second possibility is that your hygienist used something on your porcelain veneers that damaged the glazing. A couple of things you need to avoid during your cleaning/checkup appointments are the power prophy jet and the acidulated fluoride. If you go to a practice that does a lot of cosmetic work, the staff should be well trained enough to know this, but it is always possible you had someone new.

Your dentist can repair this. He should do so at his cost. Once they have that shine again, I want to make sure you have the right toothpaste to care for them. If you want a whitening toothpaste, the only one I recommend for people who have had any type of cosmetic work, especially a complete smile makeover, is to get SuperSmile Toothpaste. This is specially formulated to work with cosmetic procedures. There are no abrasives at all. Instead, it uses knowledge of chemical binding to remove the stains on your veneers. It is 100% safe. As for mouthwash, you can forgo it altogether or look for one that does not contain alchohol.

This blog is brought to you by Philadelphia Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Michasel Weiss.

Dentist Placed Implant and Now Wants to Remove It

July 1, 2021 by writeradmin

I paid in full for a dental implant. Before the surgery, my dentist said that I was good and ready to go. When I woke up he told me that after he got in there the situation was different and I didn’t really have enough bone to support the implant. He went ahead and placed it but said he would prefer to remove it and give me a dental bridge. I have a couple of questions. First, should I be entitled to get some of my money back seeing as he is just going to remove it? I feel like he put me through unnecessary surgery and I have nothing to show for it. Second, am I really stuck getting a dental bridge? I would prefer a dental implant if that is even a possibility any more.

Ellie

Dear Ellie,

You should not only get a partial refund but a full refund. I cannot think of a reason your dentist would think he could get away with this. When you provide a procedure, especially something as invasive as surgery, there is an implied warranty that you have a belief in its success. He placed it knowing there would be failure. That is malpractice.

Additionally, if he would have done adequate diagnostics this would never have happened. He should have done a number of x-rays and, preferably, a CT scan. The reason for the latter is the fact that doing dental implants is a 3-dimensional procedure and really requires a 3-dimensional map. Not to mention the fact that if he’d done these diagnostics, he’d have known right away that you did not have enough bone support, thereby protecting you from the hassle of a surgery bound to fail. Obviously, he did not do his duty with this either.

I would start by demanding a refund. You are certainly entitled to one. From there I would find a great implant dentist. You will not have to settle for a dental bridge. You need a dentist who has significant post-doctoral training. Take a look at the training Dr. Weiss has to give yourself an idea of what type of dentist you will need. In addition, however, you will need a bone grafting procedure in order for your implant to have a chance of succeeding.

If you have any trouble getting that refund, just mention you are going to take a little trip to speak with the dental board. That should sober him up a little. I am so sorry this happened to you. Most dentists are not this irresponsible.

This blog is brought to you by Philadelphia Dentist Dr. Micahel Weiss.