Peter Rinaldi, DMD

With the advent of upgraded ceramics and bonding techniques the restorative dentist should always be as conservative as possible. Therefore veneers should always be the first choice of treatment especially when teeth have not been heavily restored in the past. When a tooth has had endodontic treatment, if a large access opening was made on the tongue side and now filled with composite, many dentists may decide that a crown may be more suitable.  This would create a more uniform material for that particular tooth. 

Whether it is a bridge supported by your canines or implants, aesthetically it is always better not to place implants next to one another. Try to have the implants placed apart as not to lose the interdental papillae.  There fore nothing is ever gained by having implants placed for each individual tooth that is lost. 

Unfortunately, even with orthodontics we can not achieve all that we want to aesthetically.  Differences in tooth size, arch size and missing teeth prevent us from getting the ultimate result. If the spaces can not be closed totally by the braces, then some form of cosmetic treatment is needed. This could be done either by the bonding of direct composite or by the bonding of veneers. It would depend upon your age, the amount of tooth structure that needs to be replaced, long vs short term goals, and also the cost of the procedure.

Direct composite bonding would be a could choice to correct what you dislike about your smile. That being said, it should be thought as a short term solution. Placing veneers in the future would offer longer stability of both function and strength. Either way you should get a very good result.

In an ideal situation, with cost not being a factor, porcelain veneers would be the better option for long term stability, function, and esthetics.  Whether or not 6 or 8 teeth are done depends on the amount of new length that you are trying to achieve both functionally and esthetically. It appears that you may have lost canine guidance. If that is true bite balancing should be done first, then add length to the canines. If the length that is needed to gain this function isolates the back of the mouth, then you will need to add the premolars as part of the treatment.  This allows for a proper flow of the smile and it doesn't appear that you had six new teeth placed. Also, if you opt to brighten your smile with the veneers, then you will need to add the premolars for the same reason. If very little length is added to the canines and there is no color change to be done, then 6 veneers will work fine.