Porcelain Veneers to Mimic Natural Teeth
Porcelain veneers are used not only for super white Hollywood makeovers. Depending on the patient's preference, we can use porcelain veneers to simply restore the smile back to its original healthy state. In the case below the patient just wants to have a natural looking smile without the blemishes of decay and old fillings. Detailed characteristics were built into the porcelain veneers to make them come to life. In these close-up photos we can see spots of white decalcification, layers of translucency, and intentional surface textures. Combined with proper tooth length, contour, shape, and proportion, the result is a natural and beautiful smile. When this patient smiles in real life, it is very difficult to tell that the teeth have been restored.
Actual patient case photos are copyrighted by Alex Nguyen, DDS
Judging Teeth with Cell Phone Pictures of Teeth
Two days ago I received an email from a patient's father with a picture of his son's tooth. The message was : "I am sending you photos of my son's tooth (bottom left). It seems there's a small piece of something growing out. I will call your office tomorrow to make an appointment." I looked at the photo of what seems to be a gum laceration around a molar tooth. The quality of the picture did not clearly depict whether that tooth was a baby tooth or a permanent tooth. Hence, my suggestion to the father was to observe the area and see how it does in a couple of days.
This morning I received an update email from the patient's father. "My son wiggled the tooth, and it came out." Attached to the email was a photo of a baby tooth that has exfoliated on its own. We both laughed and joked at the quality photography that was sent to me for a diagnosis, but the moral of the story was : We cannot diagnose a dental issue with a cell phone picture.
As a restorative dentist, I have received multiple photos from patients asking me to judge their smile and their teeth. Cell phone photos just do not have the proper focus and magnification for a proper assessment. When a photo of a smile is taken using a cell phone, any slight inclination of the phone in any direction will distort the shape of the teeth and the lips. Furthermore, proper assessments of the details of teeth require high quality macro-photography with proper illumination with a high quality flash system.
Your Smile Becomes You !
Porcelain Veneers with Minimal or Zero Removal of Tooth Structure
A clinical presentation of a porcelain veneers case where I was able to accomplish the smile enhancement with very little or zero tooth structure removal. Due to the extremely thin and transparent pieces of porcelain, this technique cannot be used in cases where the natural teeth are too dark. In the right clinical situation, these types of porcelain veneers are so realistic looking that it is very hard to notice that the teeth actually had any enhancement done. This patient has received many compliments for her rejuvenated smile.
Case selection and coordination between the right dentist/ceramist team is crucial in producing a favorable result.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85GcrjTE0ts