Smile Gallery: Cosmetic Dentistry

Dental anxiety prevented this wonderful patient from seeking our help until her pain was unbearable. Her anxiety was addressed with a combination of oral sedation, nitrous oxide, and our caring team focused on addressing her needs in a calm, comfortable environment.

Over several well-planned visits, we were able to remove hopeless teeth, complete initial gum disease treatment, complete root canals on teeth with pain and infection, and then make long term 3D printed temporary crowns and bridges to test out her newly established bite. Missing teeth on the lower arch will be replaced with dental implants in the future.

After several ...

Our patient desired a subtle, minimally invasive cosmetic improvement in her smile. She specifically didn’t like how some of her front teeth were rotated, the gums were uneven, the edges of the teeth were worn, and overall wanted a brighter color.

To help her meet her goals we recommended:

Aligners

Bleaching

Composite Bonding

To start, we used our 3Shape Trios intra-oral scanner to create a digital model of her mouth, then worked with Clear Correct to design a series of clear aligners to move the teeth and gums into ...

Our patient is planning his wedding later in the year and wanted to make his smile picture perfect. We discussed his smile goals and formulated a three-step plan:

1. Aligners to improve tooth position in coordination with our orthodontic partner
2. Bleaching to improve the overall tooth color
3. Direct composite veneers to repair the worn edges and improve the shape of his teeth

His orthodontic treatment took about 12 months in coordination with the orthodontist using Invisalign. During the orthodontic treatment he periodically used Opalescence gel within the aligner trays to improve his tooth color. We ...

Experiencing a chipped front tooth can be a distressing ordeal. Beyond the immediate pain and discomfort, the lingering question remains: “Will my smile ever look the same again?” Fortunately, advancements in modern materials and digital technology enable us to restore teeth to their natural appearance seamlessly.

The Challenge

Our patient had an unfortunate accident, tripping on a sidewalk and chipping two of her front teeth. Thankfully, neither tooth required root canals. However, they had been previously repaired with filling material, which chipped again over time. The additional challenge was achieving a natural look ...

Before visiting our practice, this patient had undergone "instant orthodontics" with a single crown on her front tooth in an attempt to correct the alignment of her teeth. While the color match of the crown was pleasing, a significant amount of tooth structure had been removed. Additionally, the adjacent and opposing teeth remained misaligned, and the gum levels were uneven.

Eventually, the original crown debonded and fell out. At that point, we discussed using ClearCorrect aligners to improve the alignment of all the teeth, level the gum tissue, and even out the edges of the teeth. We ...

This patient was unhappy with the uneven edges of her lower front teeth. She also did not like the differences in color between her natural teeth, an existing crown, and root canal treated teeth with fillings. 

This was a challenging case because thee existing root canals were causing discoloration of the remaining tooth structure. Sometimes the discolored roots can show through the restorations. 

Comprehensive Dental Restoration

We worked with our endodontist at Humble Dentist in Humble, TX to redo the root canals and ensure a solid foundation for new crowns.

After redoing the root canals, we removed the previous crown, fillings, and ...

Outside of trauma, gaps in the smile can occur for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's because the jaw grew too big and now your teeth aren't able to fill all of the gaps. Other times it's because your teeth developed too small, so there are large gaps. It could even be a combination of the two. 

To correct the gaps: 

• Orthodontics can be used to change the position of the teeth and the shape of the jaw
• Composite bonding or ceramic veneers can change the shape of the teeth
• A combination of both can be used

Our patient came in wanting to eliminate the ...

Comprehensive dentistry is an approach to oral health that focuses on addressing your overall dental needs instead of treating a single tooth problem. The purpose is to develop a personalized plan that considers your unique dental history, current dental health status, and long-term dental goals. The plan may include preventive care, restorative procedures, orthodontic treatment, oral surgery, and or cosmetic procedures to improve health, function, and appearance.

This patient came to us because she was tired of seeing a different doctor every time she went to her previous dental office and wanted a long-term plan to improve her overall dental health. ...

Our patient was looking to rejuvenate his smile after many years of fillings, wear, and chipping of his front teeth. Our challenge was to match new crowns and veneers to an existing bridge. 

We started by making a 3D printed digital prototype to simulate the final desired outcome. Then based on the 3D digital prototype, we reshaped and rebuilt the lower front teeth with direct composite veneers This created the space we needed to make crowns and veneers on the upper front teeth. The top and bottom teeth need to work together in harmony and frequently cosmetic treatment on the top ...

Our patient had orthodontic treatment with a different provider several years ago. During that orthodontic treatment, the lower front teeth were recontoured. Unfortunately, the teeth were not properly smoothed after recontouring and a retainer was never provided. This resulted in the teeth moving back to their original position and the irregular contours trapped food leading to gum issues and cavities between the teeth.

We removed decay, properly polished and recontoured all the contacts, then closed the spaces with direct composite resin. We then smoothed and polished the composite filling material to minimize risk of future food impaction.

Our patient had a small gap between her front teeth. She had orthodontic treatment in the past, but didn't wear her retainer and the teeth moved. We discussed the options of direct tooth colored filling material to close the space versus Clear Correct (clear aligners) orthodontics to close the space. She ultimately opted for Clear Correct orthodontics to close the space because it didn't require any shaving down of the teeth. A bonded (glued on) retainer was placed on the back side of the teeth to hold them in the desired position at the end of treatment. The outcome was ...

3D printing is relatively new in dentistry, but it has opened doors for patients that may not have otherwise been able to afford care. We now have the ability to 3D print dentures, nightguards, models, implant surgical guides, and in certain situations crowns. 

This patient came to us because she was unhappy with the existing composite bonding and was looking for a solution that would not break the bank. We went through the process of making a digital smile design that allowed her to visualize the potential outcome before we started working on the teeth.

We used the digital smile design as ...

Our patient initially came in with tooth wear and acid erosion on her front two teeth. We discussed the treatment options and decided to use a direct composite veneer to improve the length of the teeth while also repairing the damage from tooth wear and acid erosion. 

This new patient was getting ready for her senior pictures and came to us with a chipped front tooth. The fracture included the hard outside enamel and the softer dentin on the inside of the tooth, but thankfully the nerve was not exposed and there was no pain. 

We scanned her teeth with our 3Shape Trios scanner to create a digital model of her mouth. We then sent the scans to our lab partners at Keating Dental Lab. They were able to digitally repair the broken tooth by making a mirror image copy of the unbroken adjacent tooth. Keating ...

We offer three different levels of professional tooth whitening in our practice including: 

• In-office whitening with Opalescence Boost (40% strength)
• Custom take-home whitening trays with Opalescence (range of strength from 10-35%)
• Pre-loaded Opalescence Go whitening trays (10-15% strengths)

Most whitening products will improve the color of the teeth. The stronger the concentration of the whitening product, the faster the results, but also the higher the risk of sensitivity. 

For this patient we used a 20% strength Opalescence gel in a custom take-home whitening tray. This offered a good balance between the risk of sensitivity and the desired color improvement, while also protecting the gums from ...

Many years ago porcelain fused to metal (PFM) crowns were the only cosmetic crown option available. PFM can be a very successful crown option, but one of the problems with them is the appearance of a dark line where the crown meets the tooth. The dark line can be due to metal showing, from a lack of translucency (light can’t pass through the metal), or from new decay along the edge of the crown.

Our patient had porcelain to metal crowns on his two front teeth and didn’t like the dark appearance where the crowns were meeting his teeth. He also ...

Many patients have large silver (amalgam) fillings and they may last for many years or decades. Several things can happen to silver fillings over time though, including: 

• Staining or discoloration of the healthy surrounding tooth structure
• Corrosion leading to leaking margins
• Decay along the leaking margins or under the silver filling
• Cracks in the healthy surrounding tooth structure
• Chipping, cracks, or even loss of the silver filling itself

This patient had a large silver filling that was more than half of the chewing surface of the tooth and had a leaking margin with decay underneath the filling. After discussing the options we opted for a tooth ...

We are always excited to help patients restore the confidence in their smile. This patient had several large cavities that were causing discoloration of the teeth, were sensitive to cold and sweets, and were making it difficult to keep the teeth clean. 

In one visit, we were able to remove all the decay on five upper front teeth and one lower front tooth. We then used a tooth colored filling material to replace the missing tooth structure, close the space between the front teeth, and restore the smile.

If you would like tooth colored fillings to fix spacing between teeth ...

Sometimes the best replacement is with the natural tooth. Our patient accidentally broke his front two teeth (#8 and #9). Luckily, he kept the broken fragments and brought them to his emergency dental appointment. We were able to complete a root canal on tooth #8 because the nerve was exposed. Tooth #9 didn’t have a nerve exposure, so it did not need a root canal at this time. We carefully cleaned the teeth and the broken fragments. Then we reattached the broken portions with tooth colored filling material. We adjusted the teeth to minimize pressure on them when chewing, then ...

This patient initially came in looking for a more cosmetic option to replace their silver (amalgam) fillings. After a comprehensive exam and evaluation we discovered decay under several of the silver fillings, but not all. Silver (amalgam) fillings can be an excellent treatment option and last a very long time, but replacing them simply because they are not tooth colored is not something we typically do. We know all fillings eventually need replacement, so we encourage getting the most out of the existing fillings if possible.

For this patient, we discussed the pros and cons of replacing all three silver fillings ...

Sensitivity to hot, cold, and sweet can all be signs of a tooth decay. The decay could be under an existing filling or crown, or it could be a new cavity between two teeth. This patient one new cavity that had grown to the point of trapping food between the teeth. They also had decay forming under an existing silver filling. 

We used a rubber dam to protect the lips, cheeks, gums, and prevent the patient from swallowing dental tools. Wedges were used to separate the teeth and further protect the gum tissue. 

Then we removed the decay and existing filling. The ...

There are many reasons for needing a crown including a large failing filling and cracks extending through the enamel and into the middle of the tooth.

This patient started with a very large silver (amalgam) filling on their upper premolar. The silver color was causing the tooth to appear grey. It also had large cracks extending under the silver filling. 

We first removed the silver filling and built the tooth back up to normal size using a tooth colored filling material. This can work well for a short time, however due to the crack we were concerned about the tooth breaking over ...