One of the great attributes of our office is that we are a one stop shop. If you need it, we provide it. This is one example of what we can do. This girl came in to see me a few years ago with the general complaint of not liking her smile. I discussed goals with her and devised a long term plan. This is the order of the treatment I provided.
I sedated the patient and removed the 4 wisdom teeth and I removed the upper right primary (baby) lateral incisor. She was born without her permanent lateral incisor. The baby one was discolored, too small and just unnatural looking. The discolored tooth is the baby tooth which is in the canine position. The canine is in the lateral incisor position. After the baby tooth was removed, the permanent canine was orthodontically moved back into its proper position leaving the open space for the lateral incisor implant.
Orthodontic treatment took place over approximately 1 1/2 years to align all of the teeth for a proper bite and strategic placement of the teeth in the front for future placement of the implant on the upper right and a veneer on the “peg” lateral incisor on the upper left.
This patient had a very gummy smile because of “altered passive eruption”. I performed crown lengthening after ortho was completed. I removed excess bone and gum tissue on the upper front 6 teeth. The after photo is just 2 weeks after the procedure was performed.
The patient bleached (whitened) her teeth after this so as to achieve the color she wanted before doing the veneer on her upper left lateral incisor and the implant to replace her upper right lateral incisor.
The final picture was taken right after I placed the crown on her upper right implant. The upper left lateral incisor has a veneer on it to restore a natural contour to the tooth.
That patient had treatment in 5 dental specialty areas to achieve her final result.
- Dental anesthesia – I.V. sedation for the removal of teeth and crown lengthening
- Orthodontics
- Periodontics – the crown lengthening procedure
- Oral surgery – the removal of the wisdom teeth and the primary tooth & implant placement
- Prosthodontics – the placement of the crown and the veneer