Archives for September 2021

Having Trouble Speaking After Porcelain Veneers

Posted on September 25, 2021 by writeradmin.

I had a full smile makeover done with 10 porcelain veneers. The temporaries that he put on felt great and I didn’t seem to have any problems. However, since he’s put on the permanent ones, I have had trouble speaking properly and my tongue seems to feel out of place, like it doesn’t fit in my mouth anymore. Is this normal? If so, will I adjust to them and be able to speak normally?

Alicia

Dear Alicia,

To answer your first question, no, this is not normal. It would be hard to tell you exactly what is going wrong without examining you, but I can give you some guidelines. One thing I am concerned about is whether your dentist actually gave you porcelain veneers or if he instead gave you porcelain crowns and called them porcelain veneers. Some unethical dentists do this. The reason I am concerned about this is that veneers just sit on the front of your teeth. Without them being done crazy wrong, they should not affect your speech. Dental crowns, however, go around your entire tooth. If they are not done correctly it will definitely affect your speech pattern.

Another thing that is odd here is your temporaries felt okay and you didn’t have any problems, but the permanent ones are an issue. That means your dentist didn’t send the model to the ceramist and maybe only sent images, or your dentist’s ceramist did not follow directions.

In some cases, people adjust to the position and are able to speak normally again. If you give it a month or so and your speech is still affected, I would insist on a refund so you can get this done right elsewhere. You could give your dentist a chance to do it right, but if he’s dishonest I’m not sure how skilled he is.

Smile makeovers are not taught in dental school. Dentists have to invest in post-doctoral training to know how to do them both properly and beautifully. If you decide to go to another dentist to get this repaired, I would look for an AACD accredited dentist. These dentists are the best cosmetic dentists in the country. To get accredited, they had to pass stringent exams as well as have a large number of their cosmetic cases evaluated for its technical correctness and artistry by a board of examiners. You can feel confident you will not only get a beautiful smile, but a functional one as well.

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

Dentist Wants to Crown My Tetracycline Stains

Posted on September 15, 2021 by writeradmin.

I mentioned to my dentist how much I hate my smile because of my tetracycline stains. He said the best solution is to put crowns on all my visible teeth. While my teeth are ugly, they are also healthy. I hate the idea of grounding them all down. Will they look natural if I do? Would teeth whitening solve the problem instead?

Miranda

Dear Miranda,

It is difficult having a smile you are embarrassed by, especially when our smile is the first thing people notice about us. I agree with you that dental crowns is not the way to go for this. If you have healthy teeth, it is always best to keep them as intact as possible. While teeth whitening could help IF you were very persistent. Even then, they would never be completely gone. Because of that, it is not the best solution for tetracycline stains.

My recommendation is that you use porcelain veneers. These remove hardly any tooth structure. Unlike dental crowns, which have to fit around the entire tooth, porcelain veneers go on the front of the tooth. One important word of caution. I am going to recommend you do not go to your dentist for this.

Tetracycline stains are one of the most difficult to address. It takes advanced cosmetic dentistry training to do it properly. Training that is not available in dental school. The trick comes in getting the veneers opaque enough to cover the stains, but still translucent enough to look beautiful and natural. A dentist has to invest in that instruction post-doctorally. The fact that your dentist is suggesting crowns instead of veneers tells me he does not have the right training for this. Many dentists think they can make up for that lack of training by using dental crowns, which are thicker. But that is not enough to make them look beautiful.

When dealing with tetracycline stains, I would only go to a dentist who is AACD accredited. You can find them on aacd.com. Accreditation is different than membership. Any dentist can join the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. To become accredited, however, requires passing extensive examinations as well as proving your artistry to a board of examiners.

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

Are All On 4 Dental Implants Okay?

Posted on September 2, 2021 by writeradmin.

My husband is losing his teeth and we went to see our dentist about some options for him. He said we should get the all-on-4 dental implants. Are these as good as the regular ones?

Esther

Dear Esther,

All-on-4 Dental Implants

First, I want to check something. Was this the ONLY option he discussed with you? If so, I’d be wary. There are many options for tooth replacements. I’d be careful with any dentist who does not give you all of y our options. It means they are pushing a procedure on you. Where the all-on-four procedure is useful is when a patient has lost bone structure, but is not a good candidate for a bone grafting procedure. If he has plenty of bone structure, then this would be a stupid option for him. Instead, I would get him the traditional dental implant solution.

I am unclear from your question if he is losing all of his teeth or if he is just starting to lose some teeth. If he is only losing some teeth, then getting an individual dental implant for each of the lost teeth will be fine.

Implant overdentures

If he’s lost all of his teeth, then the more affordable option would be to get implant overdentures. This will use four or more dental implants and then, after the implants have had time to integrate with your bone, a denture will be anchored to them. These are very secure. Another way these are superior to all-on-4 implants is in failure. If one dental implant fails, you will replace that implant. With all-on-4, if one implant fails then the entire unit needs to be replaced.

What I would like you to do is get a second opinion from a dentist with good post-doctoral training in dental implants. To get an idea of the type of training you want, look at Dr. Weiss’s bio. This is important because dental implants are an advanced procedure and they are barely touched on during dental school. That additional training can make the difference between a successful case and a dental implant horror story.

There is an additional consideration. This is his smile. You want to make sure the dentist has some decent cosmetic skills. I would either go to an implant dentist who is AACD accredited and/or recommended on the mynewsmile.com website. They will be able to give them a smile he will be proud to share.

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

Best Solution for a Chipped Tooth

Posted on September 1, 2021 by writeradmin.

I fell while my son was teaching me to skateboard and chipped one of my teeth. I wanted to just get bonding done to keep everything as minimally invasive as possible. My dentist said that dental bonding does not hold. Instead, she wants to give me a dental crown. I’m hesitant to do that because it is a healthy tooth. Plus, I have another crown and it really doesn’t look very natural. Thankfully, that one is toward the back, but this will be a front tooth. Is there an alternative to these procedures?

Patricia

Dear Patricia,

Before I answer your questions, let me first say that you get the epic mom award. Now, onto why you really wrote. Unless you are an unusual case, dental bonding would be the correct fix for this. It can hold up well when done by an expert cosmetic dentist with the right materials. I think the bigger issue here is your dentist is not comfortable doing dental bonding and is, therefore, trying to steer you in another direction. You are right to be concerned about the dental crown.

Not only is it overly invasive, but it is extremely difficult to match a crown to a single front tooth. If she is not capable of doing dental bonding and your other crown looks fake, I would not let her anywhere near this chipped tooth.

My suggestion is you see an expert cosmetic dentist and let them do the repair. You are better off finding a dentist who has reached accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (aacd.com). AACD accredited dentists have to pass arduous examinations as well as have their cosmetic cases evaluated by a board of examiners. Those who reach accreditation are in the top 1-3% of cosmetic dentists in the world.

As a tip, I would recommend you get your teeth whitened before having your dental bonding done. While the bonding can be made to match any color exactly, once it is cured into place, the color cannot be changed. If you decide to whiten your teeth afterward, your natural teeth will whiten, but not your bonding. It will have to be completely re-done. If whitening is on the horizon, getting it done before saves you money.

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