I’ve had braces twice already, but my two front teeth keep becoming crowded with one another. Each time I get braces, they look fine, but eventually they crowd up again. I don’t want to keep doing braces over and over again. I thought getting porcelain veneers would be the solution. I was hoping to just get two for the front teeth, but the dentist is insisting on six of them minimum. That’s a lot of money. Do I legitimately need six?
Stacey
Dear Stacey,
It would be hard for me to tell whether you actually need more than two without seeing your teeth. If you want to send a picture I could give you a better idea. In the meantime, there are two possibilities. One is that your dentist is just trying to squeeze more money out of you by requiring more porcelain veneers. The other is there are some issue with the adjacent four teeth where your dentist is trying to give you the best result possible. You could get a second opinion from another cosmetic dentist. Some will give a complimentary consultation.
After a patient is finished with their orthodontic treatment they need to wear a retainer for a period of time in order to train the teeth to stay in their new place. Some patients, however, have consistent adult tooth movement and because of that will need a permanent retainer. Those can be worn only at night or bonded to the back of your teeth permanently to keep the teeth in place.
If you decide to go with the porcelain veneers, make sure your dentist has post-doctoral training in cosmetic dentistry. This is an advanced cosmetic procedure and smile makeovers are not adequately taught in dental school. Patients who’ve gone to inexperienced cosmetic dentists have ended up with a smile that was worse than the one they came in to get fixed. I have a file of cosmetic dentistry horror stories from patients who’ve had work done by a dentist who had no business doing veneers.
The blog is brought to you by a top-rated cosmetic dentist in Kalamazoo, Dr. Susan Dennis.
