Regretting Veneers, should I have gone back to the orthodontist? (photos)

Question

I had braces for 6 years. After that, they told me I had pegged laterals and that braces would not be able to fix the huge gaps that I had between my front teeth and laterals.So they put huge veneers over my two laterals (as seen in the first picture). 5 years later, and I hate the way it looks, so my new dentist said I could get veneers on my front 6 teeth to balance the size out (2nd picture).But now I hate that I had to lose my natural teeth for it.Should I have gone back to the orthodontist?

Sarah Thompson, DMD · Answer

I'm sorry to hear that your regretting your decision. Personally, I don't think orthodontics would have given you a better result. Don't be so hard on yourself. There's no turning back now, so embrace your new smile. I hope this helps. Click save on the save button below my name, so that you may ask me more questions in the future.

Gary Braunstein, DDS · Answer

Orthodontics alone would not have been able to give you the smile that you wanted. If you are happy with your new smile, then don't beat yourself up and dwell in the past. If you are not happy with the way your smile now looks, speak with your dentist and tell him what it is that you do not like. To make major changes would require removing the old veneers and making new ones. If you and your dentist decide to proceed, my recommendation would be to have your dentist take an impressions of your upper and lower teeth and send to a laboratory to do a diagnostic wax up. The lab will reduce the size of the existing veneers on a stone model and design new veneers in wax. You and your dentist should give the lab as much information about how you want them to look, or just ask to make them ideal to blend with the size of your natural teeth. You should send the lab the two pictures that you are showing in this post. If you decide to proceed after seeing the wax up, your dentist will remove the existing veneers and be able to copy the wax up to make your temporary veneers. In this way, you will get to preview how the new veneers will lool, to assure that you will get the desired results.

Joseph B. Silberman, DMD, FAGD · Answer

At this point, there's no point in beating yourself up over that. What's done is done. The bottom line now is whether or not you're happy with how your teeth look today. If you're not, you can see someone who can make beautiful veneers that will look like teeth and last a long time. If you like the veneers, keep taking care of your teeth and they'll hold up well. Unfortunately, you can't go back and remake your decision. I hope this helps!

Regretting Veneers, should I have gone back to the orthodontist? (photos)

Answers (3)