Tag Archives: retainers

Invisalign

I’m Tired of Braces

I’ve had three sets of braces in my lifetime and I’m getting sick of it. No matter what I do, my gap in my front teeth keeps returning. My dentist is suggesting that I get porcelain veneers. He said I can get two veneers on my front teeth to close the gap. If I do that, will it really fix it? Like for good?

Lainey

Dear Lainey,

Invisalign aligner

 

While porcelain veneers won’t close the gap, they could make the  gap look closed. The benefit of porcelain veneers is that they can change anything about your smile, including the same, size, and color of your teeth.

This is an advanced cosmetic procedure. I would only allow an expert cosmetic dentist to do this. It would be a challenging case and you don’t want end up as another cosmetic dentistry horror story.  If you go that direction, I would get an AACD accredited dentist to do the work.

You could also try closing the gap with Invisalign. This doesn’t use metal wires and brackets the way traditional braces do. Instead, it uses clear aligners to straighten your teeth. Once the gap is closed again then you need to wear a retainer at night to keep it closed. This helps mitigate adult tooth movement.

You may not have to wear it forever. After a month or so, check it to see if your teeth are staying in place. You do that be leaving it out for a couple of days. If it goes back in easily. Leave it out some more, but keep checking it.

If it is a little tight going back in, then you’ve had some movement and you’ll need to keep wearing the retainer. You can either wear the provided aligner every night or your dentist can provide you with a splint retainer that attaches to the back of your teeth and will be on there permanently.

This blog is brought to you by family friendly dentists in  Lafayette Drs. Foreman and Thimmesh.

Invisalign

Help! I Look Like a Chipmunk!

Can you advise me? I’m looking for a second opinion. My two front teeth are long and stick out a bit from the rest of my teeth. I always feel like my teeth make me look like a chipmunk. My dentist is suggesting I extract them and get dental implants, but I want to make sure there is not another option before I go that route.

Avery

Dear Avery,

Invisalign aligners
Invisalign Aligner

Whatever you do, please do not have your teeth extracted. That is way too drastic a solution. I suspect your dentist said that because he doesn’t have any training or familiarity with cosmetic dentistry options for people in your place.

Bear in mind that I have not examined you. However, I do have some general advice. Though, I’d like you to see an expert cosmetic dentist and get his or her opinion. Look for someone who is AACD accredited.

One thing you can do is trim down the protruding teeth. This can be done with diamond burrs and diamond strips. A dentist skilled in this procedure can file them on the sides and bottom to make them match the remainder of your smile more appropriately.

The next step would be to move the front teeth back into place. You have a couple of options for this. The first is to get a retainer to move them back. The second would be to use Invisalign. That would be my suggestion.

If a lot of the tooth structure has to be removed in the trimming process, you may need porcelain veneers to cover the exposed dentin. The key to all this will be a great cosmetic dentist who looks at your specific case and makes recommendations. However, at least now you know you have good options and don’t have to remove your teeth and replace them with dental implants.

This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentists Drs. Foreman and Thimmesch.