Test your Smile

1. Some people avoid smiling broadly so as to hide their smile.  Could this be you?
2. Do you find yourself covering up your mouth when you talk, laugh or smile?
3. Do you feel self conscious or awkward about your smile?
4. When the camera shutter opens do your lips close?  Do you hate close up shots?
5. Do you avoid bright lipstick because you’re afraid of highlighting discoloured teeth?
6. Do you have a moustache or beard to help hide your smile?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then cosmetic dentistry could help improve your smile.

Pictured: This young lady came in with very crowded teeth that she felt quite embarrassed about. She wanted her teeth veneered and crowned but I thought she would be best getting orthodontic braces to straighten them. This was what I advised her and she decided to go home and think about it. A few weeks later she was back again, she felt she couldn't wait to get braces put on, to her she felt embarrassed about her teeth NOW and wanted them fixed promptly. We did a preliminary waxup to see if it
could be done- without necessitating rootcanal work- and this showed it was possible. Three of the teeth were quite extensively cut back and three crowns and two veneers were placed. The patient was delighted.

Porcelain Veneers

Porcelain veneers are ideal for creating beautiful smiles when teeth are small, worn, spaced, discoloured or unusually shaped.

Sometimes the procedure involves restoring what tooth structure has been lost, other times it means reshaping both the teeth and your smile, broadening and brightening them. So that this reshaping proceeds to your total satisfaction we will often place temporary veneers for a few weeks to establish a blueprint for your new smile. This can be finetuned to perfection.

The slivers of porcelain – they are shaped a bit like a fingernail – are then bonded to your teeth and you can eat and go about your normal activities straight away.  Afterwards you will be delighted with your beautiful new smile.

Pictured: This lady had had a shortened front tooth for many years when in 1997 I suggested we could even the lengths up. She liked the proposal. The treatment plan called for her seeing a gum specialist to do a gum lift to lengthen the right hand tooth prior to proceeding. Once they were the same length it was then a matter of matching up the shapes firstly by narrowing  the left hand tooth by 1.5 mm and then by veneering the right
hand one- the veneer overcoming its other problem of being tucked in behind its mate. She is still a regular patient and it is satisfying to see such a great result still looking so good.

Porcelain Crowns

Over the years porcelain fused to metal crowns have been used to strengthen or disguise weakened or darkened teeth. Unfortunately you don’t have to be a dentist to notice them; they had a distinctive dark metal halo or shadow above them that often stood out – even to the layperson.  Nowadays we use metal free crowns – thus eliminating the shadow – they look so natural, they look like real teeth.

Pictured: This lady came in with a broken front tooth. The tooth was prepared for an all Porcelain Crown which was fitted 3 weeks later. This was one of the first all porcelain crowns we did and it still looks as good today as it did 7years ago when we placed it.

...More before and after photos