6 Veneers for This 40 Yr Old Girl - Carmel, IN

Due to poor genes, I've always had bad teeth and cavities, but my fear of dentists had kept from getting full treatments. Therefore, I usually had teeth pulled rather than enduring painful root canals. I also had one crooked front tooth that had an underbite while the rest overbit. This bad practice eventually caught up with me and I ended up with only 1 bottom molar on my left mandible ( none on the right). Still terrified of dentists, I started chewing on the left side until my sole back tooth got a cavity and one of my front teeth broke off.

This is what finally drove me back to the dentist - after many years of voluntary exile. I carefully chose one of the only offices in my city that offer IV sedation (for chickens like me). Both the doctor and staff were very friendly and did everything they could to make me feel comfortable. My options, however, looked bleak: I could either have my broken tooth capped, the back tooth fixed and go back to chewing on one side until something else broke, or I could have the back tooth fixed and a set of nice veneers which would give me my first straight pearly smile ever.

True, the veneers were the way more expensive option, but I believe they'll do wonders for my self-esteem. I've never smiled of pictures, because I've always been self-conscious of them. I also plan to have two implants put in later in the year for my lower jaw, but that will be another story.

So - after 6 hours of dental work under IV sedation - I got the temp veneers set yesterday and I must say (in addition to the pain) they feel gross! They're thick and bulky, making it hard to chew food. It feels like I'm chewing food with a plastic mouth-guard quite honestly. They're so foreign to my mouth that they evoke a gagging sensation.

I believe they're better suited for people who have more than one back tooth to begin. In fact, the nurse told me I should try chewing mostly with my back teeth during the temp stage (What back teeth???) Furthermore, the one back lower tooth I had no longer meets with my back upper teeth, making chewing nearly impossible.

The temps look ok from the front, but the 2 teeth to the right (left side on the picture view) seem to jut out. This was an under-bite before, but now I'm becoming a rabbit.

I'm supposed to go back this Thursday (1/28) to have this all corrected, but with no sedation this time - making me even more afraid. :(

The jury's still out on whether or not it's "worth it", because I haven't completed the process yet. But I'll update as I go.

When I went back to the office yesterday, I was so afraid! I didn't know whether they'd make it better or worse, if I'd have to put up a fight to get what I want, or if I'd just roll over and let them take advantage of me. I'm glad to say relief hit me as soon as I stepped through the door. The nurse who cared for me while I was sedated 3 days earlier saw me in the waiting area and said she wanted to see how I was doing before she left for the day. When I voiced my concerns, she immediately smiled and reassured me that everything was going to be okay. They knew they'd probably have to tweak my temps, but since I was IV sedated for nearly 6 hours, getting cavities filled, teeth shaved away, etc... they figured they should send me home to recoop before trying perfecting them. Also, because I was laying flat on my back, they could only see one angle and I couldn't talk to them to tell them whether or not my bite felt right.

When I went back to see Dr. Fraize, he also assured me that they weren't happy unless I was happy. He drilled away at my bucked teeth (front, bottom and backs) until they matched the ones on the left. He also corrected my bite significantly. He added some wax in areas, take some away in others. They took impressions of my teeth again and sent them off to the lab.

This appointment lasted for about 2 hours, but it didn't hurt at all and I felt SO much better when I left. The teeth didn't feel so bulky that I wanted to gag and they looked much more even. When I got home and tried eating again, I was relieved beyond words that I could reasonable bite and chew my soft food.

I was eating a piece of bread Friday morning (2/12) and a piece of my temp veneer broke off one of my teeth. It was filed down, ugly as sin and throbbing from the exposure. I called the dentist and they said they couldn't get me in to fix it until Tuesday afternoon! So I had to go through the first half of weekend with a super-sensitive tooth which hurts when anything touches it, including air.
To top it off, today the rest of the front temps broke off, exposing another tooth and 1/2 of my front tooth. Now I look like a monster for Valentine's Day!! Forget going out anywhere! I've only been chewing very soft food and drinking supplement shakes so I can't figure out how they came off so easily. I only hope my permanent veneers don't!
Alas, I have to get through the rest of today, tomorrow and most of Tuesday looking like this. :(