Thank You for posting, this is a common question that we hear from patients all the time. Fortunately, not from patients that have chosen our services!There are a few things to consider when choosing to have a dental cosmetic procedure. First, seek expert opinions. Visit several cosmetic dentist in your area until you find one that you can trust and who listens to your concerns. Secondly, know your options. You may not be a great candidate for veneers. In this case your dentist will give their expert opinion and help you make the right decision. Lastly, once your natural teeth are prepped for a restoration, like a traditional veneer, it is irreversible to your original enamel. If removed, you will indeed need to place a new type of restoration over your prepped enamel to keep it strong and healthy. Veneers are great options for patients looking to enhance their smiles but they are not always the best option for each patient. Veneers are great for front teeth that have small chips, small fractures or teeth that are thin and brittle. A less invasive and on the rise request is Invisalign ~ clear braces that can achieve a beautiful smile and correct bite issues at the same time. Again, discussing your concerns & goals with your dentist is key in choosing how you should move forward with cosmetic dentistry!Have a great day!Don HarveyAlpharetta, GA
Congratulations to you for starting your journey on a new SMILE!You are correct, clear braces are fabricated by taking initial impressions of your teeth which are then sent to a lab where they scan the impressions into a computer which then will fabricate your custom trays. Acquiring Impressions with putty or PVS material ~ In the process of taking those initial impressions with a putty or PVS material, there are times that you may have a distorted impression. Usually this is caught by the lab technician and your dentist may call you back in to remake an impression. Distortion can happen by the technique that was used by the dentist or assistant, or during the shipping process. Acquiring Impression with iTero (intraoral scanner) ~ In the process of taking your initial impressions with iTero, the dentist will use an intraoral scanner to acquire your impressions digitally. There is a lot of research produced that states the iTero is the best way to acquire impressions for accurate fit. However; PVS material is used today and when taken properly can produce an equally great product. Just another thought, as you are wearing your aligners, they should start out fitting tight and by days 5-7 you should fill a difference in how much easier it is to take them in or out. This is because the first days of each new aligner is moving the teeth and the last few days of the aligner are holding the teeth in the set position. If you feel like you continue to have a space between your teeth and the aligner, have your dentist check the fit of the tray. It maybe something he is able to fix at the office or perhaps he may have to acquire new impressions to have your trays remade. While you are at the dentist, ask them about whitening your smile using your Invisalign trays & a take home whitening gel. Our patients love this added bonus!
Your dentist can fabricate a custom fit set of whitening trays after taking impressions of your teeth. These trays will then be used by you at home with a lower percentage of whitening gel that you will place into the trays and wear for 4-5 hours (depending on the product). The material that is used for whitening trays is different to each doctor, but most of the time the tray material is a thin clear plastic.If you have Invisalign trays, you absolutely can use these for whitening your teeth. You will just need to purchase the whitening gel from your dental office. Keep in mind that your Invisalign trays are not scalloped along the tooth/gumline like custom fit whitening trays and less gel is better to avoid excess gel on your gums causing inflammation and discomfort. Drink lot's of water leading up to you whitening your teeth, along with starting a toothpaste for sensitivity. Continue water and toothpaste during and after whitening to help aide in tooth sensitivity. Rule of thumb ~ When eating and drinking foods that are colored with dyes have the potential to stain your teeth. If you are unable to brush your teeth immediately, rinse with water.
Thank You for allowing us the opportunity to view your case based on the photo you provided as well as the concerns that you have addressed in your question. At such a vital age in your life, I can completely understand the importance it is for you to have a more attractive & confident smile! You will first want to schedule an appointment with a highly skilled dentist that has experience in occlusion. At your dental appointment, you will have an x-ray taken most likely a Panoramic or a Cephalometric image and your dentist is going to examine how your upper and lower teeth meet as well as note any crowding or spacing. With that being said, if I were your dental provider I would highly recommend you reconsider Invisalign. If you were my sister or friend, Invisalign is what I would recommend for you before moving into restorative options that would require drilling on your teeth. The benefits of straightening your teeth and correcting your bite are essential in how long your dentistry is going to last you, as well as how your overall oral health is affected. Absolutely, you could place veneers on your teeth and understand that it is not reversible. Once you drill on your healthy natural tooth, also expect every 10-15 years to replace your veneers (the time frame can vary depending on bite, trauma and oral health). Cost wise, you are going to spend around $1000-$2000 per veneer. The way the Invisalign system works is you wear a set of Invisalign trays (called aligners) for two weeks at a time. Each tray is manufactured so that the teeth are slightly straighter than the previous tray. The teeth will typically move 1/10mm per tray. Most the time patients are surprised at how short the treatment time actually is. Treatment times will obviously vary depending on the complexity of the case, however; we have treated cases very similar to yours within 12-18 months. Invisalign will not require you to drill on your teeth and you still have the option at the end of Invisalign treatment to change anything about your smile that you don't like with veneers, if you wish. Cost wise, you are going to spend around $4500 - $6000 for Invisalign.To sum things up, Invisalign is going to address more concerns that are actually affecting your smile, bite, oral health and it will cost less and NO drilling on your healthy tooth structure! Veneers will cost you for 4 teeth in the ballpark of $8k and will only address the 4 front teeth that will be drilled on (can't reverse this once done) and you'll still suffer from bite and oral health problems.Good Luck! Thank You Again :)
Thank you for posting your question here and allowing a dental professional to give you expert advice on how to treat a broken front tooth. Fortunately, you are not alone, there are hundreds, even thousands of patients like yourself who have fractured a front tooth and have successfully restored their smiles! The treatment recommendation will vary on each patient based on the condition of the healthy tooth structure remaining. It is first recommended to visit a dentist and have them take an x-ray of the tooth to see if the nerve is involved at this point and how deep/large the decay is. Once your dentist determines the health of the nerve as well as the health of the remaining tooth structure, a recommendation can then be made. Here are a few restoration scenarios of treatment after removing the decay ~ 1.) if nerve is not involved - possibility of bonding with a resin material can be placed (keep in mind it's on the front tooth and also the size of the restoration needed). You will always need to be cautious with certain foods & drinks as you can break the bonding or capture stain around the bonding margin. This step is usually done in 1 visit, however; you may be asked to come back for a follow-up for final adjustments. Also another point to keep in mind is that you will have to re-visit this procedure in the future, it is not a permanent fix but cost much less than alternate options.2.) if nerve is not involved - placing a buildup with a porcelain crown. This is the #1 recommended treatment option as it will fully cover the remaining tooth structure allowing full strength to your bite. Stay clear of porcelain fused to metal crowns in the front teeth; they do not allow for a natural esthetic smile. This step is usually completed with 2-3 visits, the dentist will prep the tooth and allow a dental lab to fabricate a crown that will then fit over the prepared tooth. In the meantime, you will wear a provisional (temporary) crown that is cemented in place. Keep in mind this is also a great time to whiten your smile, before the permanent crown is made and cemented, you have the ability to brighten your teeth with either a professional whitening kit or in-office whitening. Once the shade of your permanent crown is recorded and fabricated, the only way to change the shade of the crown is to have it remade. The cost of a porcelain crown is more than bonding but the likeliness that you will have to have it remade before the bonding is very low. With proper oral health at home and your annual visits to the dentist - you should expect a porcelain crown to last 10-15 years (when you seek an expert cosmetic dentist who also focuses on occlusion as well as esthetics). 3.) if nerve damage is involved - recommendations may include Root canal therapy followed by a fiber post & core build-up, then restored to full strength with a porcelain crown. Again these step's are more costly than bonding but once the nerve is damaged, you have to proceed with also treating the nerve as well as the remaining tooth structure. You could expect 2-4 visits to complete this sort of treatment.4.) if nerve damage is involved & additional fractures are present - recommendations may include extraction, synthetic bone, membrane and implant placement. In the intermediate time as the implant is healing, your dentist could make a removable acrylic flipper for you to wear to cover the missing tooth space. Once the implant is fully integrated with the bone, the restoring process begins. This would include the lab fabricating a porcelain crown that would cement to an abutment that screws into the implant. This procedure is the most expensive out of the above mentioned, however; the results for treatment like this are highly successful and allow you to return to full function and allows a beautiful esthetic end result. In the end, it comes down to what is best for you situation. Are you looking for longevity or a short term - quick fix. Both can easily be achieved, just remember it's an investment in YOU & you are well worth it! You'll pay now or you'll pay later! Good Luck!
