Keeping it real... One tooth at a time?

Cracked central

Dentists can perform complex restoration of "worn out teeth" with the help of laboratory generated ceramic restorations, but It can be a real challenge keeping a patients anterior teeth looking good for a lifetime without resorting to having them crowned or veneered.

 Teeth can become worn and yellowed as they age. Sometimes they break or become weakened by the number and size of fillings used to restore them. When that happens crowning can be the best option, but what about teeth that still have enough tooth structure they may just need a little tweaking.

Often teeth bleaching, accomplished in the office or at home, with custom trays, can brighten older teeth. This can greatly improve  their appearance.  Bonding can also play a role and can be used to cover any exposed dentin caused by the loss of enamel. Usually this can be accomplished by small minimally invasive preparations that may be needed to anchor the bonding onto worn teeth.
repaired central (minor bonding)


After these simple steps, often the appearance of my older patients teeth can be  drastically improved without extensive restorative dentistry. At times "comprehensive dentistry" using a large number of laboratory restorations are needed but when simple composite restorations combined with tooth bleaching works wonders it's "good day for dentistry"!

from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2019/01/keeping-it-real-one-tooth-at-time.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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