What would you recommend for my smile? I had a huge overbite as a child from sucking my thumb, had braces and was very happy with the results. My problem is that I’ve been told I have periodontal disease and now have a HUGE gap between my lateral incisor and canine tooth and makes my smile look crooked.
– Karen from Washington
Karen,
Your periodontal disease sounds serious. Once your teeth start moving, they are already getting loose and may have lost half or more of their bone support. So your treatment plan is going to have to focus on that first. Exactly what options are available to you, that is going to depend on the severity of your periodontal disease. And your first step is going to be getting your periodontal disease under control, if that is even possible. Your dentist has hopefully made that clear to you.
And from there, you need to proceed cautiously. If saving your front teeth is a hopeless proposition, for example, you probably won’t want to invest thousands of dollars in porcelain veneers. Instead, you may want to be looking at getting dental implants, or a removable appliance to replace the hopeless teeth. On the other hand, if the periodontal disease can be brought under control and the destructive processes stabilized, the teeth may be able to be moved back into an esthetic position with braces and stabilized there with some type of splint that will prevent them from moving again.
You do want to be sure that your dentist is one of the small minority of dentists who is truly sensitive to appearance-related issues. 98% of dentists have a strong engineering mentality, focused on fixing things. While they are generally honest and skilled practitioners, they are not artistic and would not fully appreciate your concerns about your appearance or be able to give you back your beautiful smile. I would urge you to check our list of screened cosmetic dentists and choose one of those. That is why I operate this website.
Dr. Hall
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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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