Many patients have asked me why I don’t offer same day veneers like some offices do. There are a number of reasons for this. The primary reason I do not believe in same day veneers is that if there is no provisional phase, there is no way to fine tune the look of the veneers in that provisional stage. Whenever I do a cosmetic makeover for a patient, there is a lot of give and take about what you, the patient, would like to see in your new smile. We are talking about color of the veneers, shape of the veneers and the way your veneers will help support your lip in a more youthful look. I take your suggestions, sometimes a photograph of what you like, and try to give you that look in the wax mock-up that I make for you. But until you have that look in your mouth, there is no way you can be sure that it will give you what you really want. It is much like looking at a dress or a suit on a mannequin and expecting it to look the same on you. You have to try it on! That is what we do with the provisional restorations. When I prepare your teeth and take the impressions for your veneers, you walk out of our office looking just like our wax mock-up. We have you return to our office in two to three days, when your lip is no longer numb to customize your provisional restorations to give you the look that you want. You will also have a better idea about the shade of tooth that seems right because the provisional restorations will give you a good idea of what a change in tooth shade will do for you. Very often when we place your provisional restorations in a shade that is whiter than your teeth used to be, you can be startled by the change. (It should be mentioned here that almost nobody chooses a shade darker than their present shade.) However, it is not uncommon for us to receive a call the next day asking if the final veneers can be “just one shade whiter” than the provisional restorations. So you see, the provisional restoration phase is very important because it gives us a chance to try out what is going to be permanent and make changes easily to ensure that your new smile is the right smile for you! The other reasons I use laboratory made veneers is that when the laboratory makes the veneers, the stain is incorporated into the veneer and so the color is more permanent. Also the laboratory technician that I use is highly skilled in the staining and shaping of the veneers. There isn’t anyone with his unique abilities available to do this quality of work in my office or any other office. I am a firm believer in the use of specialists every step of the way to your new smile. When I create a cosmetic makeover I use the best specialists I know of to allow me to produce the very best result possible for you.
If you are at least in your late forties, you probably show signs of tooth wear in your mouth. The signs we most often see are chipping of the front teeth, large facets on either the upper or lower teeth, recession areas at the gum line of teeth in the upper and lower arches, especially the eye teeth and the teeth just behind them, sensitivity to cold, and or a definite “meshing” of the teeth when you slide your jaw either from side to side or back and forth. When these signs are present, there’s also a strain on the muscles that control your biting and chewing. When these muscles are under strain, it can cause the nerves that govern these muscles to give you symptoms that, while typical for this condition, are very different from the ones in the paragraph above. Patients who exhibit these secondary symptoms need to have their bite restored to an ideal position because there is no way to measure a non-ideal position. That is accomplished by either just adjusting the bite using computerized measurements, or restoring or redoing many of the old worn or fractured teeth or restorations in the back and placing porcelain veneers on the chipped or broken teeth in the front with the use of our computerized measurements. These secondary symptoms can vary from person to person. You may have one or several or all of the symptoms. They range from head or facial pain, jaw clenching at night, neck pain, difficulty in speaking or swallowing, limited mouth opening, a jaw that locks, headaches, tingling in the fingers, to eye strain. These symptoms can be mild to severe and change back and forth depending on the time of day or recent activity. Typically people who have these symptoms go from medical doctor to medical doctor for a cure, often receiving medication that only masks the problem, but never cures it. Or just getting a “pat on the shoulder” with the words, “You’ll just have to learn to live with this.” Sometimes these symptoms can be so severe that they can completely take over your life.
We had a new patient in for a visit just the other day and she had some very interesting questions about veneers that I am sure are on the minds of almost everyone who wants porcelain veneers The first question she asked is, “Will my veneers look natural?” This is a very good question. She was concerned that she sees so many people with porcelain veneers that are thick and unnatural looking. She wanted to make sure that her veneers would not look too thick. I reassured her that the veneers we make are not thick and bulky. The pressed and cast porcelain that we use is much stronger than the porcelain used by most dental offices. Because our porcelain is much stronger, we don’t need to make it thick to give it the strength to last in your mouth. She then looked at the photo of her upper teeth and noticed the translucent area at the biting edge. She asked why she doesn’t see that in other people’s veneers. We explained that we always place translucent areas on our veneers. I was able to show her how I map out the shape and amount of the translucent areas and the variations in colors I wanted the laboratory to place on her veneers and why this makes our porcelain veneers look like real teeth. We also discussed our unique method for creating the new smile that will change her life. The thing that makes our porcelain veneers different from the veneers that are produced by other dental offices is the refinement of the provisional veneers two to three days after these provisional veneers are placed. This allows us, along with your input, to customize the look of your veneers to give you not just a good result but a great result. A great result that looks like you and feels like you. A great result that will not only light up your mouth, but your whole face.
When you wake up in the morning with headaches that seem to ease up over the course of the day, it could very well be from your teeth. Actually, it is not from a problem with a tooth or your teeth, but your bite, or as we dentists say, your occlusion. Everyone tries to have as many teeth touch one another when we close our mouths. In order to do this, we will thrust our jaw in whatever direction necessary to have as many teeth as possible meet. However, in doing this we can place a strain on the muscles that control our bite. The major muscles that control our bite are the Anterior Temporalis (On the side of your forehead above your eyes.), the Masseters (Your cheek muscles), The Posterior Temporalis (Behind you ears), and the Digastrics (Below the lower jaw). When these muscles are stressed we often see many of the following symptoms: headaches, pain in the area in front of the ears, popping or clicking on opening or closing, an inability to open the mouth completely, ear congestion with fullness or pressure in the ears, dizziness, ringing in the ears, difficulty in swallowing, sensitive teeth, clenching or grinding, facial pain, neck pain, postural problems, pain in the temples, pain in the forehead, pain in the shoulder, tingling in the fingertips, and nervousness or insomnia. We may also see worn or chipped teeth, usually due to grinding. It is also possible to see worn and/or chipped teeth and postural problems without any of the above symptoms. Some people will have almost all of these symptoms; some people have only a few of them. It varies greatly. Having a bad bite is like carrying around a 50 pound bag of sand within you. Some people are able to carry that weight without any problems because of a lot of things: genetics, diet, attitude, exercise, fitness, luck, and probably a hundred other things we don’t understand yet. Some carry it around and are visibly struggling a little because their muscles are sore. Some struggle more and limp along and get persistent pain, and some get all sorts of symptoms that increase slowly until suddenly they drop that 50 pound bag and then everything goes haywire. By fixing the bite we can reduce the size of the bag to the point where it is either empty or so small it doesn’t matter any more. We can usually eliminate these morning headaches by correcting your bite. Whether or not we need to do this will depend upon how these headaches are affecting the quality of your life. Ask us how we can help you to a pain free future.
