Patient Stories

Restorative Dentistry

Alejandra - Composite Bonding Something damaged one of Alexandra's central incisors when it was being formed. There was orange discoloration, and the tooth was slightly shorter than the one next to it. Due to Alejandra's young age, crowning the tooth was not an option. An opaque resin was applied to mask the orange stain and lengthen the tooth.
Angela - Composite Bonding Angela had let decay progress too long. As a result, the edge of one central incisor broke off. It was hard for Angela to smile! Knowing how hard it is to match a porcelain crown with an adjacent natural incisor, we carefully feathered resin bonding into the surrounding tooth enamel. Note how light is reflected identically off the repaired tooth and the undamaged tooth next to it.
Anita - Porcelain Crowns This hair stylist had crowns placed on three upper incisors when she was young. The crowns were much too long, and their very opaque white color was a poor match to the rest of Anita's natural teeth. The three old crowns were removed. We experimented with temporaries to see what shape and size of incisor would look best. Then our lab duplicated our work in new porcelain crowns.
Betty - Bonded Fillings One night Betty slipped and fell in the bathroom, breaking two upper and two lower incisors. The fractures made it difficult to eat because of severe sensitivity. The first dentist Betty visited wanted to do four porcelain crowns. We thought it wiser on this young patient to repair the damage with resin fillings, until we were sure the tooth roots would survive the trauma.
Brenda - Porcelain Crowns Brenda was a real estate professional who had grown dissatisfied with porcelain and metal crowns done many years earlier on her upper two incisors. Brenda bleached her teeth. Afterwards, we fabricated two new all-porcelain crowns on Brenda's central incisors. Note the close color match to her natural teeth.
Bruce - Bonded Filling Bruce cracked his front tooth in an accident when he was a child. Amazingly, the filling that was done lasted over 30 years. Old resin fillings turned brown as they aged. A porcelain crown would have been a more durable option, but after the success of the first filling, Bruce wanted to try another. We found a shade that matched exactly.
Carmen - Bridge Dental treatment in Mexico is highly variable. Carmen lost her right upper incisor, and had this bridge done. The plastic over the metal was very thin, and cracked off. The old bridge was removed, and experimenting was begun using plastic temporaries to see what contours might look best. Finally, the lab fabricated a new porcelain and metal bridge, exactly matching the shade of Carmen’s natural teeth.
Diane - Porcelain Crown Dianne had bleached her upper front teeth to make them beautiful. Sometime afterward, for no good reason, a premolar tooth with a large silver filling broke in half. What you see here is the whole front of the tooth broken, exposing the amalgam underneath. Catastrophic fractures like this leave little option except porcelain crowns. One was fabricated for Dianne's broken premolar.
Diane - Porcelain Crowns Many years ago, Diane had stained teeth covered by porcelain veneers. One had chipped. Gum recession had made stained edges painfully apparent. Diane first bleached her teeth. Bonding was done on a lateral incisor. Then two new all-porcelain crowns were carefully matched to the new color of her other teeth.
Elaine - Dental Implants, Bridge Elaine lost a front tooth early in life, which was replaced by a bridge. Both anchor teeth had root canals. One of them cracked in two, making it necessary to remove the bridge. Two implants were placed, and a more attractive new bridge was fabricated, To improve esthetics further, direct resin bonding was done to the lateral incisor on the left in the photo.
Gabriela - Porcelain Crown Gabriela had one central incisor that was discolored from a dead root, and the other was worn and short. A root canal, post, and porcelain crown was done on the incisor on the left. A porcelain veneer was planned for the incisor on the right, but the patient decided to delay this treatment.
Gary - Dentures Our goal is always to save teeth, but we often cannot save everything. By the time Gary came to us, gum disease had doomed all of his upper teeth and lower molars. After extracting all the teeth we could not save, we fabricated a very realistic upper denture for Gary. A lower partial replaced Gary's missing back teeth.
John - Porcelain Crown John had the incisor on the left crowned in the Air Force. Through the years, his natural teeth had worn, making the crowned tooth appear much too long and light in color. One option would have been to crown John's other incisor. However, we always try to avoid crowning virgin teeth for esthetic improvement. The decision was made to only replace John's crown.
Karla - Bonded Fillings Karla was a busy mother with three small children. Decay had damaged several teeth. What bothered Karla most were the large cavities in front. Usually crowns are done instead of fillings in cavities this large. In order to help save Karla money, we agreed to do the best we could with resin fillings. This is the result.
Lazarus - Dental Implants, Bridge A former boxer, trauma had probably played a big part in the lost of four of Lazarus' teeth. Lazarus made it clear that he was not interested in anything which had to be removed from his mouth. After bone grafting procedures were completed by a surgeon, three implants were placed. An implant bridge replaced the four teeth he had lost. Lazarus could smile again!
Linda - Denture Linda had worn upper dentures most of her adult life. The previous denture represented years of wear. The most undesirable feature of Linda's smile was that the teeth seemed to disappear beneath one side of her upper lip. I studied Linda's graduation photos, to learn the true shape, size, and position of her natural teeth. After many trials, we arrived at a denture setup that made Linda's smile much younger.
Paul - Dental Implant Through no fault of his own, a root canal tooth fractured far underneath the gums. It could not be saved. The tooth was extracted and a bone graft done. After several months, a titanium implant was placed, the top of which you see here. After three months of healing, a porcelain and metal crown was fabricated. Then it was cemented to the implant head. Paul had a complete set of teeth again!
Richard - Partial Dentures Richard was a Hapeville High classmate I had not seen in over 35 years. The years had not been kind to Richard's mouth. He had lost several teeth, and many front teeth were so loose from periodontal disease that they could not be saved. Fortunately, Richard still had enough sound back teeth to construct partials, rather than fixed dentures.
Steve - Dentures Steve had lost his all his upper teeth, and many lower ones. For years he ate with an incomplete set of back teeth. As a result, his upper denture wore unevenly. We replaced Steve's missing lower teeth by a removable partial denture. In so doing, we made the lower arch very regular. Once this was accomplished, it was easy to construct a new upper denture that gave Steve a more even smile.
Tara - Porcelain Crowns Tara was a young mother of three children. She had extensive dentistry started as a teen but never had it finished. As a consequence, her smile deteriorated badly, hampering her social life. (continues...)
Tara - Porcelain Crowns Tara's main problem was decay. The orange tooth is actually a very old stained temporary crown. Tara's smile makeover was accomplished by posts, crowns, and fillings. Extensive use was made of temporary crowns to idealize her smile, prior to final laboratory fabrication. This treatment, completed in a little over four months, changed this young woman's life.
Terrance - Composite Bonding This young teacher was in an auto wreck. When his head hit the dash, his right lateral incisor and both central incisors were broken and sensitive. Terrance thought it would take porcelain veneers to repair the damage. We thought it would be difficult to match porcelain veneers to other teeth. So direct resin bonding was done to repair the chips on the front teeth.
Clyde - Porcelain Crowns Clyde never had braces as a child, and his front teeth had worn unnaturally as a result. At nearly 70 years of age, Clyde wanted something he had not had all his life - an attractive smile. We reduced only Clyde's four upper incisors for beautiful all-porcelain crowns that made Clyde's crooked, worn teeth appear straight. Now he flashes a big smile every day when he goes to work!
Partial Gold Crowns Very few dentists do these fine restorations anymore. We do! Note how little of the tooth is reduced compared to conventional full porcelain crown. These are the longest lasting restorations available in dentistry.
Are Silver Fillings Outdated? Some dentists may think so, but this amalgam buildup I used to restore a root canal tooth cost the patient about a quarter of what a lab-processed crown would have cost. It may function in the mouth for over 20 years. There is no filling material that beats the cost-effectiveness of silver amalgam. It also resists decay much better than white plastic fillings.

EasyRotator