I had my four front teeth bonded. One of my front teeth sticks out too far over the second one. One of the lateral teeth is too far back and the other one has a big chip. He said he could fix this, but it’s ended up a disaster. First, he ground down the front overlapping tooth, then he added bonding material to the lateral teeth to fill in the missing depth and fix the chip. However, he insisted on doing them yellowish, even though I wanted them white. Now I feel they look ugly, plus the one he ground down is sharp and painful. I know there is no going back, but can this be fixed? My dentist seems to think he did a great job.
Adabelle
Dear Adabelle,
Getting a beautiful smile requires a skilled cosmetic dentist
Even though I don’t have a picture of your smile and can’t give you specifics of what was done incorrectly, I do know what the major problem is. Your dentist is likely a very good family dentist who did his absolute best for you, but he was in over his head. Maybe he could have pulled off a basic dental bonding case. Maybe. Those are difficult to begin with because they need to be done free-hand. Your case requires an even more advanced dentist because of the structural issues that need to be dealt with.
This would need a dentist in the top 1-2% of cosmetic dentists, which requires significant training outside of general dental school. They’d need training in color theory, polishing the bonding material, and shaping the teeth. Your dentist obviously didn’t have this. Plus, a true cosmetic dentist would never be satisfied if his patient wasn’t thrilled with the results.
What you need is an AACD accredited dentist. These are the top cosmetic dentists in the country. In order to become accredited, they have to pass stringent exams, as well as have a large number of specific cases they’ve personally done evaluated for technical proficiency, beauty, and artistry. You can locate them by going to the website of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Make sure you check you want an accredited or accredited fellow. Being a member isn’t enough.
Once You Have an Accredited Dentist
Once you’ve located an excellent cosmetic dentist in your area, you have two choices to get the smile you want.
Option 1: Re-do the Dental Bonding
Dental bonding is less expensive than the next option I’m going to make you aware of. When done by an expert cosmetic dentist it can blend in perfectly with your teeth, comfortably, with a natural translucency. If you want your bonding whiter than your adjacent teeth currently are, it will be in your best interest to whiten all of your teeth first. This will enable the dentist to blend the bonding material to your beautiful new white color.
Option 2: Get Porcelain Veneers
While these are more expensive than bonding, porcelain veneers can change anything about your smile— the shape, the size, the color, even the character. The other big benefit is they last much longer. Well taken care of porcelain veneers can last a lifetime. The dental bonding will have to be re-done every five years or so. Either one can be made beautifully.
This blog is brought to you by Philadelphia Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Michael Weiss.