Freehold Cosmetic Dentists

I Have Porcelain Crowns and I Smoke.They Have Become Stained.Is There Anything I Could Use To Correct This?

I've had porcelain crowns for 12 years.They have become stained due to the fact I smoke.Are there any solutions to cleaning them or will I have to have them remove?

Porcelain is very stain resistant.  Typically any stain on porcelain is only on the surface and can be easily removed by your dentist or hygienist.  This would be similar to the coffee ring that you can get inside your coffee cup.  A little soap and water, and it comes right off!

If, for some reason, the surface has been roughened, then you will pick up stains more rapidly.  In this case, your dentist may need to use a special porcelain polishing system to smoooth the surface.

Hope this helps...Dr Champagne

Richard Champagne, DMD

Freehold Cosmetic Dentist

How Close Should Temporary Veneers Look Like the Permament Ones?

How Close Should Temporary Veneers Look Like the Permament Ones?

Temporary veneers should look and feel just the way that you want the final veneers to look and feel.  In fact, we no longer use the term temporaries, but rather they are called prototypes.  This an important distinction because the purpose of these prototypes is to guide the laboratory in fabricating your final veneers.  The protypes should be tweeked until you are truly satisfied with the look, feel, and phonetics.  Once this is accomplished, impressions and photos of the prototypes should be sent to the lab so that they can be used as a blueprint.

Hope that this was helpful....Dr C

Richard Champagne, DMD

Freehold Cosmetic Dentist

Is It Possible to Have Bonding on Front Tooth Without Roughening It with Drilling Machine?

I fell down when I was a kid. Due to this, my front tooth broke and became half. my dentist suggested me to have bonding or a crown. I prefer bonding since I don't want my tooth to be reduce; however, they told me that to roughen the surface, they will need to use the drilling machine and then a chemical. I am afraid of the drilling machine and I dont want my tooth to be reduced by it. Is bonding possible without drilling or I mean roughening?

In order for the bonding technique to be successful, the tooth surface has to be clean and free of any potential contaminants.  Once the tooth is clean, a mild acid is applied to the surface that will have bonding apllied so that the material will adhere.

Dentists will often use a drill to be certain that the surface is clean, but there is no need to drill away any tooth structure.  The goal of bonding is to be as conservative as possible, and to leave as much of the existing tooth structure in tact as possible.

Hope this was helpful

Dr Champagne

Richard Champagne, DMD

Freehold Cosmetic Dentist