Should porcelain veneers have a hump at the gumline?

Dr. Hall,
I am in the process of having two front teeth veneers replaced. I started out with these teeth having bonding. Then I had that replaced with veneers, but they felt bulky. They looked fine but it was hard to close my mouth. So then my new dentist did bonding, but the job came out horrible. So my dentist told me she could help me have a more comfortable smile and still look good by doing a new set of porcelain veneers, so she has prepped my teeth for new veneers.

My question is, is it necessary that the front teeth hump out for veneers or is it possible to have a smoother surface at the top? Most of the veneers I have seen seem to be humpy but I did see a nice transition on the durathins. Right now I am in temporaries and they look ok but have that hump at the top I am referring to. Please, I would be happy to hear any of your thoughts.
– Yolanda from Virginia

 
Yolanda,
You don’t sound to me like you have a lot of confidence in your dentist, and, from what you say, I’m not having a lot of confidence in her either. If you have to tell her not to make a “hump” up near the gumline, you’re in trouble. The first step in getting beautiful cosmetic dentistry is having an artist for a dentist, and I’m not getting the feeling from you that you have that. Maybe you do. Hopefully you do. But if she’s the one who did the horrible bonding, that doesn’t bode well for your veneers.

To answer your question, no, there absolutely should not be a “hump” near the gumline. Not only can that look bad, but it creates an area that tends to attract plaque and will cause gum inflammation. But your dentist should know that.

And the question is not whether or not you should have bonding, or conventional porcelain veneers, or DURAthins. All of those will produce a beautiful result for you in the hands of the right dentist.

But with you already in the hands of this dentist, what do you do now? I would make sure you get a try-in so you get a good look at these porcelain veneers before they are bonded on. Don’t let her pressure you into bonding them on unless you can see clearly how they look IN YOUR MOUTH and you like them. If you don’t like them and your dentist says, “Oh, they’ll look better once they’re bonded on,” don’t let her do it. Every excellent cosmetic dentist will insist that you love the result before bonding on veneers permanently because everything about them can be fixed before they’re bonded, but once they’re bonded, you’re stuck.

And if she ends up not ever getting it right, you can switch and have a more artistic cosmetic dentist take over. But I’d give her the chance to get it right first.

I hope it goes well.
– Dr Hall

Do you have a comment? We’d love to hear from you. Enter your comment below.

Click here to ask Dr. Hall a question of your own.