Dr. Hall,
My mature daughter is thinking of having veneers applied to her two canine teeth which are ‘peg’ teeth, and her dentist wants to do all four front teeth at quite a price. From what I have read on your website, you do not recommend bonding (which she had done many, many years ago – about 25 years – and are no longer satisfactory). Question: Since she cannot afford to have the veneers done all at once, and since it appears that the two canines will need to be bonded anyway to accommodate the veneers, do you feel she would be better off to have all four teeth bonded now (at 1/5 the cost of veneers) and repeat the process every five years or so?
– Donna from Florida
Donna,
First of all, I probably wouldn’t recommend that she go to “her dentist” for this work. Somewhere around 98% to 99% of family dentists are not artistic enough to do a smile makeover. So I would start with a second opinion from an expert cosmetic dentist – unless she has lucked out and her dentist is a highly qualified cosmetic dentist.
Second, if this bonding is going to cost 1/5 the cost of veneers, I seriously question the quality of it. It takes as much time to do direct bonding that looks good as it takes to do porcelain veneers. Either this dentist is giving you a ridiculous sale price, or the dental bonding is not a very high quality. Beware.
I’m suspecting, if these teeth are “peg teeth,” that they are actually lateral incisors and not canines. That would explain about the four veneers being suggested – the two lateral incisors and the two central incisors. Why does she need the four veneers? Maybe the reason is that this dentist doesn’t have the confidence that he or she can match the two veneers to the existing teeth.
Pardon me if I’m off base on any assumptions I’m making. I would need more information to make an accurate recommendation. If I knew who the dentist was and what he or she expects to accomplish with the extra veneers, I could be more helpful. But if what I suspect is true is indeed true, that this dentist is only a family dentist who does some cosmetic dentistry, then I would recommend one of two options:
1. Go to an expert cosmetic dentist and get two porcelain veneers. If the dentist is good at cosmetic dentistry, most cases of peg lateral incisors can be corrected with two porcelain veneers and maybe some minor shaping of the adjacent teeth.
2. If you want to get by as cheaply as possible, for now have this dentist slap on some composite on these peg teeth and get by with this for a year or so and then later go somewhere and get it done right, so it really looks good.
I hope this is helpful.
Dr. Hall
About David A. Hall
Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.
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