My eleven-year-old broke her two front teeth quite badly. Most of the structure is gone. She only has the top and sides left. Everything else is gone. We went to our pediatric dentist and he suggested removing the teeth. I wasn’t keen on that idea so I took her to my dentist. He said that dental bonding was the solution. I was so glad to hear that she could keep her teeth, I didn’t even look into the procedure. When the results were done, her bonding was so awful. It was lumpy and uneven and in places the color didn’t even make sense. She’s horrified and I don’t blame her. I don’t know what to do. Is there any way to fix this? I’m devastated for her.

Carolyn

Dear Carolyn,

I’m shocked that your pediatric dentist suggested you extract her teeth. That was quite extreme. I expected he would have suggested dental crowns, but that would be a bad idea as well. The pulp of our teeth shrink as we age. In an 11 year old, that pulp is still quite large. Doing a crown on their teeth can kill the pulp.

Your other dentist was on the right track in recommending dental bonding for the repair. The problem lie in he did not have the skills to do such a massive repair. Dental bonding has to be done freehand and takes a great deal of training and artistry. When done well, it will blend in perfectly with the remainder of the tooth structure, as evidenced by the image above.

My suggestion is you look for a practice that has a dentist who is accredited with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry on their staff. Ideally, they should also be a practice that enjoys working with children. But, if you had to choose, go with the AACD accredited dentist. Your current dentist should be willing to give you a refund.

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