Porcelain Restorations | A Great New Smile makes a Lasting First Impression

Jim’s Teeth Before the Restorations

Jim had a smile that he was not proud of and that didn’t represent him well. He travels across the country frequently for business and wanted a smile that would make a good first impression. Jim came to Adler Cosmetic & Family Dentistry because he wanted a quality smile that would give the best impression.

During Jim’s consultation, he was able to discuss with Dr. Adler what his needs and concerns were. He wanted to have restorations placed on his upper teeth to improve the look of him smile and would plan on doing the lower teeth at a later date. Jim also needed to have treatment completed in a relatively timely manner because his hectic travel schedule did not have him in town for more then two months before he had to fly out again. Dr. Adler knew that he could give Jim the smile he was looking for and so was up for the challenge.

Jim’s Smile Before

Jim began by doing Zoom Whitening to lighten all his teeth so that his lower teeth would better match the new restorations. All of Jim’s tissue was carefully isolated to insure that it was not exposed to either the whitening solution or the light. Once the tissue was fully isolated, the Zoom whitening gel was applied to the teeth and then activated with the Zoom light for 15 minutes. This process was repeated four times to insure the best results. Afterwards, Jim’s teeth were dramatically whiter.

Dr. Adler and Jim had decided that eight restorations would be placed on his upper anterior teeth. They wanted to make sure that when he smiled that people would only see his great smile and wouldn’t notice that the restorations were not his natural teeth. Eight restorations were chosen so that when Jim smiled the restorations would go back as far as his smile and there wouldn’t be any awkward area visible between where his restorations were and his natural teeth started. Because Jim has a deep bite, his lower teeth are not visible when he smiles which was part of the reason he decided to wait to have the lower teeth restored.

Jim’s Great New Smile

The eight upper anterior teeth were prepared for all porcelain restorations. Any existing decay was removed and the teeth were shaped for the restorations. A shade of the underlying tooth color was taken so that the lab could take that into account when designing the shade of the restorations. The lab will use multiple shades in each restoration to insure that it looks as natural as possible. A darker shade is chosen for around the gum line and then the color gradually lightens toward the tip of the tooth. The end of the restoration will have some translucency to mimic the natural look of a tooth. Many crowns will look fake because they are a single shade and are not translucent so they look dark and flat in color. Our lab makes sure that the crowns are as close to the real thing as possible. After the teeth were prepped for the restorations, impressions were taken so they could be sent to the lab for custom fabrication. Temporaries were then placed. The temporaries are not as good looking as the final restorations but they come pretty close and still look better then what he had.

Once the final restorations were returned from the lab, Jim came in to have them seated. The temporaries were removed and the teeth cleaned with an antimicrobial solution to disinfect them. The teeth and restorations are etched to insure a good bond. A bonding liquid is then placed along with the cement to chemically bond the restorations to the teeth. Dr. Adler is constantly upgrading his materials to insure that the finest products are being used and that the patient is getting the strongest bond. Once cemented the bite is checked, any excess cement removed and the restorations are polished. The final result is a great smile and some good looking teeth. Jim now has the lasting smile he was looking for and will be able to make a great first impression.

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