Dear Dr. Hall,
It was a blessing to come across your website!
A few years ago I had composite tooth bonding done on 5 of my front teeth because my teeth were very tiny and had some gaps inbetween even after my braces were taken off. I was 15 at the time and needless to say my parents paid for everything. I’m 22 now and even though my smile still looks very decent I notice they’re starting to wear. I have been contemplating getting Lumineers but after reading the horror stories on them I know I’d prefer to just get them bonded again. One thing that has me somewhat scared is that I want to improve my smile but I don’t want people to see too much of a difference. How much would it cost me? What would they do to the bonding I have now?
– Angie in Florida
Angie,
You’ve brought up several good questions. And I hope I haven’t made you too much afraid. All those “horror stories” on the web site have one element in common–the people thought that their family dentist or a general dentist could do cosmetic dentistry. If you go to an artist/dentist, someone who really has that passion for beautiful dentistry and has the training to be able to do it, dentists like we recommend on our web site, you won’t have anything to worry about. Check out our Florida cosmetic dentists. All of them are artists who would do beautiful work.
Now your questions:
What would the cosmetic dentist do? He or she would probably shave down the existing bonding and then re-bond the teeth with composite or with porcelain. From your perspective, it would be very easy. But for the cosmetic dentist, it would require a lot of artistic talent.
And here’s where you would see the difference between a true cosmetic dentist and your family dentist. The cosmetic dentist will make sure you see exactly how you will look before the case is completed. He or she will listen carefully to you, and you will get the color you want, the shapes you want, and everything else the way you want it. A general dentist typically plans out what he or she thinks the teeth should look like and then gives you a quick look just before they bond everything on, and that’s why we get these sad stories of people who get home and don’t like how they look.
How much would it cost? In Florida, I would expect this to cost from $1200 to $2000 per tooth. Check our page on cosmetic dentistry costs for more information.
Will people notice a big difference? I wouldn’t worry about this. I can tell you many stories of people who had major changes to their teeth and their friends could tell they had done something but couldn’t put their finger on it. You’re focusing on your teeth now, but your friends aren’t. They won’t really notice what you have done to your teeth–only that you look better. My strong advice to you is to not hold back but go for the beautiful smile. You can show up with an absolutely stunning smile and the people who are close to you will look at you and say, “What was it–did you get your hair done? Have you lost weight? I can’t put my finger on it, but you look really nice today.” I saw that over and over again in my practice. And I had the same thing happen to me. When I decided to specialize in cosmetic dentistry, I decided to get braces to improve my smile a little. The day I got my braces off, my own family didn’t even notice! I purposely didn’t tell them because I wanted to see for myself if the things my patients had been telling me was true, that people didn’t notice what you had done to your teeth.
Should you just re-do the tooth bonding? I think this would be a mistake. I can’t see any advantage to re-doing the bonding over getting porcelain veneers. The bonding will start to look dull and worn in a few years, and then you’ll have to re-do it again. That’s EXPENSIVE! Since your teeth are too small already, all they’ll have to do to prepare your teeth for porcelain veneers is pretty much to remove the old bonding. And the porcelain will be beautiful for many years, will resist stains, and won’t wear down.
I hope this is helpful.
– 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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