Dentist Kent Blog » chipped tooth

Are your teeth worn like this? Case-by Chris Ibbott

admin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:16:13 +0000

This patient from Kent came to see us for a routine examination.

She was aware of grinding her teeth and of her worn teeth and was conscious of the way her teeth were changing shape and wearing down as a result of this.

She wanted to improve the appearance of her smile but in a very gentle way which would not involve any further damage to her teeth. We suggested the use of composite resin bonding as her wear was not too severe and she was only in her early 30′s.

Firstly she used a home tooth whitening kit to lighten her stained teeth to a colour she was happy with.

We then restored the lower teeth with directly placed composite resin. This required no adjustment of the natural tooth, only building back the lost tooth structure. Long term this may be replaced with ceramic materials.

At a separate visit we restored the edges of the upper six front teeth.

The patient was really pleased with her new smile and was happy that her teeth were protected from the ongoing wear.

Tooth Wear Treated at Dental Elegance- case by Neelam Patel

admin — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:28:44 +0000

This gentleman had become increasingly concerned with his upper front teeth which had worn down over the years. He also was not happy with the discolouration of them. After discussing several options with him he decided to have e-MAX veneers placed on 7 front teeth with a crown on one. He was delighted with the result and it has given him the confidence to smile again. Tooth wear affects many people and it can give rise to many problems. Tooth wear usually occurs if you grind or clench your teeth (as in the case shown below) but it can also be caused by other reasons such as acid erosion. Treatment of wear through veneers is just one option- we have several other ways that we can help. If you are worried that your teeth are thinning, looking shorter or discoloured then give us a call today.

Restoration of worn teeth and smile with direct composite bonding-Case by Chris Ibbott

admin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:42:14 +0000

This patient came to see us for a routine examination.

He was largely unaware of the wear that was affecting his upper and lower front teeth as it had been happening over a long period of time.

Once it was explained to him that he had worn right through the hard outer enamel and was now into the softer dentine which wears ten times as fast he was keen to do something about it.

Firstly he used a home tooth whitening kit to lighten his stained teeth.

We then decided to restore the teeth with directly placed composite resin. This required no adjustment of the natural tooth, only building back the lost tooth structure. Long term this may be replaced with ceramic materials.

The lower teeth were restored first in one session, followed a few weeks later by the upper teeth.

The patient was really pleased with his new smile and was happy that his teeth were protected from the ongoing wear.

Before

After

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After

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Re-building of worn teeth- Case by Chris Ibbott

admin — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:07:36 +0000

This patient was very aware of grinding his teeth and had some uncomfortable sharp edges on his lower front teeth which had been repaired in the past but had now, some years later, chipped away.

Using photography we were able to show him how he was grinding his teeth at night and how he was wearing his teeth away. His front teeth had worn right through the enamel in some areas. This of particular concern as the softer dentine underlying the enamel wears ten times as fast!

This patient wanted to protect his teeth and was keen on restoring them rather than just wearing a night-guard to protect from the grinding. He did not want porcelain veneers or crowns and was keen a solution that was as gentle as possible to his teeth.

The lower teeth were restored in one visit and the upper teeth in the same way two weeks later. The upper and lower front six teeth were restored with direct composite bonding and no tooth structure was removed to do this. No anaesthetic was needed as we were purely adding to what was already there.

The direct bonding was adjusted so that the patient could still grind on it and fit his teeth together comfortably. The patient will go on to have a night guard made to protect his new smile as he’ll almost certainly carry on grinding.

The patient was thrilled with the improvement to his smile made by simply replacing what he had worn away!

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After

Instant orthodontics with composite bonding! Case by Chris Ibbott

admin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:21:34 +0000

This young man came to us very self conscious about his smile and particularly one of his upper lateral incisors which had been repaired a number of times and kept on breaking. He was also unhappy about the position of his upper right canine which was crowded and left high in his smile.

He did not want to have orthodontic treatment at this time so we discussed other options.

Initially we felt that tooth whitening would help him to feel better about his smile and we then looked at composite bonding or porcelain veneers as options for improving the appearance of the upper right teeth. He chose the former of these two options.

After three weeks of tooth whitening the upper right canine and lateral incisor were built up in a single appointment with composite resin.

The patient was very happy with the result which he says has enabled him to smile without being conscious he is even doing it.

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After

Re-buiding of worn teeth-Case by Chris Ibbott

admin — Mon, 09 May 2011 14:16:31 +0000

This gentleman meets alot of clients through his business and has become conscious of the appearance of his front teeth. A number of different treatment options were discussed, including porcelain veneers, and he decided that he would like to whiten his teeth prior to rebuilding the worn edges with tooth coloured composite bonding.

First of all he whitened his teeth for about a month with a home whitening kit. Following this the lower six front teeth were all restored with dental bonding material to their original shape.

Not only does this restore the appearance of the teeth but it protects the worn dentine of the tooth which, once exposed, wears up to 10 times as fast as the tooth enamel, meaning that the wear of the teeth can become quite rapid.

Next he will progress to have his upper teeth restored in the same way.

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After

A gentle smile makeover

admin — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:11:36 +0000

This young lady came to us very unhappy with her smile. Despite being a very bubbly person she was reluctant to smile for photos because she was so self conscious of her dark front tooth. This had darkened because the nerve had died and some old stained filling material was present. The edges of her teeth were also worn and chipped.

Over the course of a few months the root canal treatment in the dark tooth was repeated, the dark tooth was bleached inside and outside and the rest of the teeth were whitened. After this some existing fillings were replaced and partial composite veneers were bonded over the two front teeth. A little gum re shaping was also carried out.

The final touch was to simply smooth off and re-contour the edges of the front teeth where they had worn. This last step had the effect of giving a much more youthful smile with softer lines as can be seen in the photos below.

In short, the patient got a new smile, which she was thrilled with, without the use of expensive treatment options. Just a little alteration of what she already had!

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After

Disaster averted!

admin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:22:11 +0000

This lady was very distressed when she came to see us with a chipped front tooth. Her front tooth had just been badly fractured in an accident and she was understandably very concerned about her appearance.

The tooth had been fractured close to the nerve but the root itself was not broken and so the tooth could be restored without any other intermediate treatment beforehand. Photographs were taken and the treatment options were explained and discussed. These were either to have the tooth restored with a porcelain veneer or a direct adhesive composite restoration sometimes known as dental bonding. It was explained that, despite being a more hard wearing material, the porcelain veneer would entail the removal of a little more tooth structure. In addition, an exact shade to match the rest of the teeth is not always possible with the first attempt, and sometimes a veneer has to be re-made. By contrast, the adhesive composite resin can be placed without the removal of any tooth tissue and the shade can be developed as the tooth is built up directly in the mouth. For these reasons this lady decided that the composite restoration was for her.

The tooth was restored in a single visit and the patient was thrilled with the result. No temporary veneer needed, so impressions, no 2nd visit for fitting and no concerns about shade matching.

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Don’t put it off!

admin — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 12:29:13 +0000

This lady knew that she needed some fillings but had been busy with life work, etc and didn’t get around to having the treatment (despite our advice!) for a year or so. She was rather horrified when we showed her this picture of what was found when we started removing the decay in her three back molar teeth. Fortunately we were able to painlessly place these great looking direct adhesive composite fillings and she’s good as new!

We prefer to use these white filling materials to dental amalgam as these materials bond to the tooth structure allowing us to keep the filling as small as possible and we believe that it will reduce the chance of chips and cracks in the teeth.

The moral of the story however! Get the treatment done as soon as you can. It will mean smaller fillings, less time in the chair, less chance of toothache and less of a dent in your wallet! And make sure you cut down on that sugar intake and keep up with the fluoride toothpaste and mouthwash afterwards.

If you know you need some treatment and you’d like your teeth back to ‘good as new’, please give us a call!

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after!!

Worn Thin Chipped Front Teeth

admin — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 20:41:15 +0000

If you have worn, chipped, rough or sensitive front teeth then you may be suffering from tooth wear. Tooth wear can be a sign of grinding, clenching or even acid erosion of the teeth. In the first picture below you can see that this patient has worn through the enamel (the first whiter layer) of his front lower teeth and this has led to dentine (the second yellow layer) exposure. The dentine exposure was making his teeth sensitive to cold air and liquids. As dentine is softer it will wear down quicker and this can lead to the teeth becoming shorter and more worn. Unfortunately as the enamel and dentine are lost they are lost forever.

The good news is that through simple minimally invasive dental techniques we can rebuild the teeth to strengthen and rebuild the teeth to protect the precious natural tooth structure from further breakdown. In the second picture below we have rebuilt the teeth using tooth coloured filling material.

The length of the tooth has now been restored to the ideal level and the filling material is now acting as a protective ‘cushion’. The treatment required no local anaesthetic and is cost effective. This patient also had an immediate relief from the sensitivity he was experiencing prior to treatment. If you would like to see if the dental elegance team can help you then give us a call on 020 8850 8820.