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What type of crowns should I get for my two front teeth?

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Dr. Hall,
I’m looking to replace my two porcelain-fused-to-metal front teeth crowns for aesthetic reasons. I have a root canal done on one of them and would like to know what would be the most aesthetic-looking restoration that might have to cover up a dark tooth? I’ve been told that the feldspathic layered porcelain could achieve that, but I’m concerned about strength of this type of crown. Any light you can shed on this for me would be greatly appreciated.
– Kathy J. from Arizona
(See Dr. Hall’s answer below.)


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Kathy,
I appreciate your concerns, but you’re asking the wrong question. Far more important in getting beautiful crowns is who is making it, not what it is made out of. Yes, it is true that it is impossible to get a completely natural look out of porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns. But there are a number of choices of all-ceramic crowns that can look so beautifully natural that even a trained professional wouldn’t be able to tell, even on close inspection, that they aren’t your own natural teeth. As far as strength, any of the all-ceramic options would be strong enough for your front two teeth. You need to find a dentist with strong artistic ability and then let him or her use a material that they are comfortable with. They will have a master ceramist who is also intimately familiar with the material and knows how to work with it to produce beautiful results.

The underlying dark tooth needs to be masked out with some type of opaquer. There are various ways to do that. Myself, I preferred blocking out the dark color with composite buildup material and doing the crown over that. But some colleagues would rather have their technician accomplish that with an opaque layer in the crown. Any of the popular crown materials—feldspathic porcelain, lithium disilicate, or zirconia, can be made opaque and can accomplish that quite nicely. With zirconia and lithium disilicate, the ceramist will then layer that over with feldspathic porcelain to produce a beautifully natural result.

Many expert cosmetic dentists have great success with e.max crowns, which consist of a strong core of lithium disilicate layered over with feldspathic porcelain.

The most challenging aspect of your case will be to get a dentist/ceramist team that can block out the dark color of your one front tooth and get it to match perfectly the other front tooth. So you’ll need to go to an expert cosmetic dentist.

The worst thing you could do would be to pick the material you want and then ask your dentist to use that type of crown on you. Doing that puts pressure on the dentist to go outside their comfort zone, asking the dentist and ceramist to work with a material with which they may not have much experience. That’s a recipe for an unattractive result. Plus, if the dentist doesn’t have enough artistic ability, they’re not going to produce a beautiful result, no matter what material they use.

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.

My dentist wants to wait till the nerves settle down before replacing my crowns

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Dr. Hall,
My dentist convinced me to replace all my old amalgam fillings even though many were still stable. She was going to replace them with either composite or crowns depending on the size of the filling and how much tooth structure would be left. Anyway, we started on the project, and about six weeks ago she did three zirconia crowns for me. These crowns are so uncomfortable for me. They feel bulky to me, they press on my gums to the point that sometimes it hurts, and my bite feels off, making these teeth sore. It’s causing me a lot of stress, which especially concerns me because I have a new baby that I am nursing, and it’s like the stress is affecting her. She hasn’t been able to sleep lately and has been waking up crying all the time.
So I canceled the rest of her treatment plan. But of course she refuses to refund the money for the 3 crowns because she’s convinced they are fine and says if there is any problem, she will fix it. I don’t trust her to fix it though.
But now I have gone to a new dentist, and I want her to re-do these crowns. I realize that I will have to pay for this out-of-pocket, but I really want to get this done. But this new dentist says she does not want to touch my crowns until I give the nerves time to heal and lower the risk of needing root canals. But that can be months. I don’t know if I can wait that long.
 
– Gail from New Jersey
 


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Gail
I’m confused by the reluctance of your new dentist to replace these crowns, saying that the nerves need to heal. The problems you have with the crowns—pressing on the gums, bite is off, they feel bulky—have nothing to do with the nerves of the teeth. If those nerves were irritated, there would be heightened sensitivity to cold in those teeth. While it doesn’t sound like your first dentist has a strong level of expertise when it comes to crowns, it doesn’t sound like your new dentist has a firm understanding of dentistry either.
Yes, a crown preparation, where the dentist is cutting deeply into the tooth, can be irritating to the nerve of the tooth—in some cases highly irritating. But removing an existing crown is only mildly irritating, if any at all. If, indeed, the nerves had been highly irritated by the first crown preparations, which it doesn’t seem like has happened, six weeks would be enough time for them to settle down.
I wish you well and hope you get this problem solved. I see no reason for a delay in replacing these crowns, and I am very wary of the level of expertise of this new dentist of yours. She is displaying timidity in tackling this problem—not a good sign at all. I warn patients in several of my blog posts about how easy it is to push some dentists outside of their comfort zone, and she is giving you a red flag here that she isn’t comfortable re-doing these crowns. Maybe what is making her timid is the difficulty in grinding off zirconia crowns. They are very tough and very hard to grind off, especially if they are bonded on. The worst thing you could do would be to urge her to go against her instincts here.
If you’d like help finding a dentist who could do a good job on this for you, let me know and let me know exactly where in New Jersey you are. I know a number of excellent cosmetic dentists there.
Good luck,
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.

She says she’s too young for partial dentures

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Hi Dr. Hall,
I’ve had teeth problems my whole life. I have chipped missing and discolored teeth. It seems like no one wants to help me fix them. The only thing the dentist wants to do is partial dentures. I guess I could do that but I would really like something more permanent in the front. I’ve tried to talk to him about it and he doesn’t say anything. Finally he said the way your teeth are we can’t do anything else but take out the bad teeth and do partials. I thought with all the stuff dentists had they could fix anything. My question is if you have really bad teeth can they still get fixed? Plus why do dentists suggest partials instead of fixing your teeth? By the way I’m 35 feel like I’m to young for full partials.
– Theresa from New York

Theresa,
Dentists vary a lot in their interest in saving teeth. In my practice, I was passionate about that and rescued a number of teeth that other dentists said were hopeless teeth. Almost every tooth that has tooth decay or is broken can be fixed, but there are many dentists who don’t want to go to the trouble of saving them. And for missing teeth, if you’re willing to pay for dental implants, that is by far a better way to treat missing teeth than removable partials.

Also, when you have a mixture of missing teeth, chipped teeth, and discolored teeth, as you have explained, there are usually a number of different ways to fix them. But some of those ways require newer technologies such as dental implants or dental bonding and some dentists aren’t comfortable doing those.

You can be grateful, at least, that your dentist isn’t willing to go out of his comfort zone. Some dentists will do that, to please the patient or to avoid losing the patient, sometimes with disastrous results.

Just get a second opinion. Look for a dentist with a similar philosophy to yours. Again, don’t try to push any dentist out of his or her comfort zone. Listen to what they recommend, gently prod to see if they are giving you all the options, ask what they recommend, and then decide if that’s what you want to do. If you do want to save the teeth, you want a dentist who enjoys doing that, because they will have a passion and practice in doing that successfully. And for a dentist who is good at placing dental implants, that is the thing they will certainly prefer doing for you and will likely be the first thing they recommend.

Good luck,
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.

What do I think of 3N Veneers?

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Dr. Hall
I have read many of your answers about the veneers available with interest. I have found them very useful.
I have a question about 3N veneers. Many practitioners in the Middle East refer to these as being better than Lumineers as they look more natural and less thick. I have checked on the net but I haven’t found 3N veneers in a dental clinic situated in UAE or Saudi ARabia. Could you please clarify this to me because they say they are used in Europe but I don’t know the name given to them here in Europe. Thank you in advance for your valuable tips.
– Asma from Brussels, Belgium

Dear Asma,
Thank you for your question about 3N Veneers and your information about their popularity in the Middle East. I had to look this up, as I hadn’t heard of them before. They have an attractive but very small website that doesn’t tell us a lot about them and all its information appears directed toward the prospective patient.

But how your 3N veneers, if you got them, would look would depend totally on the dentist doing them. Can 3N veneers look beautiful? It looks to me like they can, but they can also look ugly. Look at it this way: Do you think that there is anything about 3N Veneers that would prevent a dentist from making them too opaque and chalky-looking, too bulky, the wrong surface texture, or the wrong color? Of course not. As a patient, picking the porcelain would be like choosing the members of your country’s Olympic ski team based on the brand of skis they used. Or buying an oil painting based on the brand of brush the artist used. When you study art, do you categorize paintings based on the brand of brush or the brand of canvas? No, you categorize paintings based on the artist. Once you know the painting is a Picasso, or a Rembrandt, or some other artist, you know a lot about it and will have a rough idea of its value.

When actress Demi Moore got a smile makeover, I will guarantee you that she didn’t go and research brands of porcelain veneers. She asked around and found out who did beautiful cosmetic dentistry and went to that dentist and let the dentist pick the brand of porcelain.

And once you’ve found that dentist-artist you feel comfortable with, you don’t want to tell them what materials to use or what lab. They do their own research and will pick a lab and a porcelain that they are comfortable with. If you try to push them out of that comfort zone, you’re taking a chance.

Bottom line–I don’t see anything in what I can read about 3N Veneers that makes them special in any way. Yes, I don’t see the stark white and bulkiness that I see in Lumineers. But you don’t see that either in DURAthin veneers, or other brands of ultrathin veneers. And the problem in the appearance of Lumineers is mostly from the laboratory–only partly from the material.

– Dr. Hall

Read my page, Choose the cosmetic dentist, not the laboratory or the porcelain.

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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.

Perfectly matching a crown on a front tooth

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Dr. Hall,
I recently got a porcelain veneer crown on a tooth that I chipped when I was 10 years old. The first permanent crown that was put on did not match my other teeth, so I had to get it redone. I just got my 2nd one put on and after everyone in the office said it looked great, the color is still off and it is darker than my other teeth. I know a perfect match is difficult, but I would rather it be whiter than darker because that would be less noticeable. I was wondering if I were to get the crown redone again, if this would have any long term side effects on what is left of my tooth underneath my crown? Please let me know what advice you can offer and if it would be safe for me to try to get another crown remade.
– Kyle in Ohio

Kyle,
I’m not sure what you mean by a porcelain veneer crown. I think you may be referring to a porcelain fused to metal crown – because that has a metal foundation and has porcelain veneered over the metal. To get the best match to a natural tooth, it’s best to use an all-porcelain crown, because that can be made to have the same translucency as a natural tooth. But if your dentist hasn’t brought up doing an all-porcelain crown, then I wouldn’t mention it. That’s a recipe for trouble if you start pushing a dentist out of his or her comfort zone – rarely will they admit to a patient that they’re uncomfortable with a newer technology.

And yes, it is possible to get a perfect match on a single front tooth,  so that you couldn’t tell, even at very close range, any difference between the crown and the other natural tooth. But this requires extra training and talent that most dentists don’t have. This is why I publish this website – to help people find excellent cosmetic dentists that can do this work.

Dentists generally choose that field because they like to work with their hands and they like to fix things. So they approach things from an engineering mentality. They aren’t good at subtleties of color. And tooth color is very complex. There is a lot of variation in all the colors that are within a single tooth – from the gumline to the biting edge there is a color gradient, plus there are spots where the color is slightly different. Add to this that tooth enamel is fairly translucent and the dentin underneath it is only partially translucent. So matching a tooth gets very complex.

When everyone in the dental office was trying to tell you that this tooth matches so great, that to me is a big red flag. Really good cosmetic dentists don’t act that way – they listen to the patient. So when we would try on a crown, we would ask the patient what they thought. I would pay close attention if there was any hesitation on the part of the patient, and I would insist that they be happy with the result. I would never tell a patient that a tooth or a smile looked great if they didn’t think so. And for a single front tooth, even for an excellent cosmetic dentist, it may be three or four try-ins before the lab would nail the color exactly.

On the other part of your question, it shouldn’t hurt the tooth at all to do this again, as long as the dentist knows what they are doing and is reasonably careful. But don’t try this with a general or family dentist. I would say that about one dentist in maybe fifty or a hundred could do this well.
– 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.

What metals are in porcelain fused to metal crowns?

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Dr. Hall,
I have 6 porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns. I have two questions:

1) What are the usual metals contained in the metal shell?

2) Is the metal shell the thing that begins to show at the gumline, causing the black lines? (I have those black lines.)

Thank you for your information.
– Carolyn from New Jersey

Carolyn,
There are two basic types of metals that are used in porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns – precious or noble metals and base metals. Noble metals used are gold, platinum, and palladium. Base metals would be chromium and nickel. Dentists will classify these crowns as porcelain fused to high noble, porcelain fused to noble, or porcelain fused to base metal.

The noble metals have less tendency to corrode, provoke less sensitivity, and are made to a more accurate fit.

The metal can show at the gumline, and this is what causes the dark, sometimes it’s even black, line at the gumline. Dentists may try to hide this under the gum, but after several years, sometimes the gum recedes and this line is visible anyway. The dentist may ask the dental lab to cut back the metal at this front part of the gumline and leave this margin all in porcelain. This is called a porcelain butt margin. The dentist will pay an extra fee for this – about $30 to $40, and they generally pass this on to the patient. While this makes this line more subdued, it will usually still be present. The reason is that there is still a lot of opaquer that has to be used in the crown to mask the metal. The contrast between the opaque crown and the natural tooth structure makes it difficult to blend colors here, and creates the effect of the dark line.

Patients generally prefer the all-porcelain crowns, which will eliminate any dark line. And the general natural translucency of the crown without any metal is much more natural-looking. But be careful. I would never ask a dentist who is more comfortable doing a porcelain-fused-to metal crown to do an all-porcelain crown. Dentists who are good at all-porcelain crowns will far prefer them for front teeth. If your dentist suggests a porcelain fused to metal crown for a front tooth and you are concerned about the esthetics so that you want all-porcelain, take that as a signal that you are in the wrong practice. This dentist places a low priority on esthetics and if you try to nudge them out of their comfort zone, the results could be disastrous.
Dr. Hall

Follow-up – in a subsequent e-mail exchange, it came out that Carolyn is probably allergic to the metal in her porcelain fused to metal crowns. Read the posting on dental metal allergy.

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.

I have one tooth turning dark

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When I was young I fell while skating and chipped my front tooth. I have a small filling in the left corner that has been there for many years. As I have gotten older (57) my front tooth is getting darker. I have talked to my regular dentist and he feels is could be risky to do a crown as the tooth is dead and the canal has calcified. I felt Lumineers was a great solution to this is problem but he said I would be unhappy with this procedure, and there have been problems with this. My tooth is getting darker and it makes me not want to smile. Any suggestions?
– Sally from California

Sally,
Lumineers is just a particular brand of porcelain veneers, so I will answer your question by talking about porcelain veneers in general.

I am getting the feeling from what you’re telling me that your dentist is uncomfortable with these cosmetic procedures. Porcelain veneers are usually not taught in dental school, and, while they work great for dentists who know how to do them, they can be intimidating for dentists who don’t. I think this is where your dentist is coming from.

One firm rule I always tell people is to not ever push your dentist out of his or her comfort zone. I have received so many e-mails from people who have really gotten burned trying to do this. Dentists are trained not to let you know when they are uncomfortable because it makes patients nervous. You’re lucky that your dentist is giving you these clues. He feels you would be unhappy with the result, and in his hands, you may well be unhappy. But porcelain veneers are a very beautiful restoration when done right.

So my advice is to stay with your regular dentist for your cleanings, checkups, and general dental work, but to find an expert cosmetic dentist to solve this particular problem.

If you otherwise love your smile and the only problem is this one dark tooth, then if it were me doing it, I would just do either direct bonding or one porcelain veneer over this tooth. If there are other things you don’t like about other teeth, then a full set of porcelain veneers may be in order. But find a true dentist/artist for this. Go to our list of recommended cosmetic dentists. If you’re not convinced you need an expert, please, for your own sake, take the time to read through some of the cosmetic dentistry horror stories that people have told me, and then you’ll be convinced that the average dentist on the corner is no place to go for this appearance-related work.
– 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.

My dentist recommended

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Hi Dr. Hall,
My dentist had recommended porcelain fused to metal crowns for my front top anterior teeth to fix wear and a gap. After reading all the different kinds of crowns available I asked if he could do an all ceramic set maybe Zirconia. His reply and his partner’s reply is that they will only do porcelain fused to metal crowns. Their credentials (at least the partner who overlooked my case) are quite impressive as are their prices, and they say that since I tend to grind my teeth and I do not want to wear a night guard that if I get Zirconia they feel that they won’t hold up. Is it true that occasional grinding without a night guard eliminates Zirconia or an all ceramic crown. I have been waiting for years to have this fixed and they are ready to start the process. They also charge more for anterior crowns vs posterior, not sure if that is the norm. I need to get my smile back. Thank you for any response you could provide!
– Bob in Los Angeles

Dear Bob,
I recommend a second opinion. Yes, Zirconia crowns are very strong and will work on the front, even under great stress. And something great about them is that they can be made thinner than porcelain fused to metal, meaning that less of the tooth is ground away, which will leave your front teeth stronger. I used all-ceramic crowns on front teeth with people with severe grinding problems, and they didn’t break. And zirconia is much stronger than the materials I used then.

Not knowing your mouth, I can’t prescribe with certainty, and the issue may be more that they feel they need metal as an opposing chewing surface for your lower teeth, which doesn’t wear down the lower natural teeth as much. Although there are soft porcelains that can be used on the surface of zirconia, too.

I suspect that, in spite of your dentist’s credentials, he may not have that passion for appearance-related dentistry. His passion may be for things that work well – it’s kind of an engineering approach. Many dentists that have a great deal of education are very academic types and consider it beneath them to worry too much about appearance issues.

And don’t ever try to push a dentist outside his or her comfort zone. For others that may read this post, if your dentist recommends porcelain fused to metal crowns for front teeth, don’t try to get them to do all porcelain. If they really care about the artistic quality of their work, they will have a strong aversion toward placing porcelain fused to metal single crowns on front teeth. If you don’t like the preferences of your dentist, then find a dentist who is more in harmony with those preferences rather than push your dentist outside their comfort zone and risk disaster. You’re fortunate that your dentist had the integrity to resist your request. Some will say, “fine, we can do that,” and they really aren’t good at the technique that you want, at all.

But I would strongly encourage you to give in on the night guard issue. There is a risk beyond just wearing your teeth down. As you get older, you can break off your teeth at the gumline from the grinding. That can happen whether you have crowns or not, and may even happen more readily if you have crowns.

Yes, some dentists charge more for anterior crowns.

You’re in the Los Angeles area. We recommend a number of excellent Los Angeles cosmetic dentists there. Go to one of them for a second opinion. See what an expert cosmetic dentist says before you go ahead with this.
– Dr. Hall

Click here to read more about porcelain crowns on front teeth.

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.

Pain after white fillings

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Dr. Hall,
I saw another question about pain after having white fillings. My scenario sounds exactly like the one you outlined, where I wanted white fillings (after my wife had several at her dentist that looked great) and my dentist seemed reluctant. I had two done a week ago and have a constant aching on the side of the mouth where they were done.  The dentist warned me about the possibility of infection from saliva and seemed very reluctant when I said I wanted white fillings. The procedure was quite painful. Now I have this aching. Is it likely to clear up on it’s own? I am reluctant to call this dentist back. I am using Advil to help with the pain.
– Mark from Washington

Mark,
Thanks for a great illustration of something I try to teach our visitors — don’t try to push your dentist out of his or her comfort zone. When dentists know how to do these white fillings properly, they far prefer them to the old silver/mercury amalgam fillings. And when they are done right, there is no contamination from saliva.

We have a page on our web site devoted to the reasons for having pain after new white fillings.

If your dentist is reluctant to do a procedure that you want, in most cases it’s wise to back off.

I would recommend getting these fillings replaced by a dentist who knows how to do them right. If they were indeed contaminated during the bonding process, not only have you allowed bacteria to get in the little tubules of the dentin of your teeth, but the filling is not sealed against continual contamination. You may be able to get insurance coverage for this, but even if you can’t, I wouldn’t risk further harm to your teeth.
– Dr. Hall

Related links:
Tooth pain after filling
Silver fillings – many dentists call them silver fillings, but they have more mercury in them than silver. I like to call them amalgam fillings, which is the more correct term for a mixture of silver and mercury.
Find a cosmetic dentist.

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.

Dentist says ovate pontic won’t work for her. Is that true?

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Hi Dr. Hall, I have a question. I am having a bridge done next month Sep 4th. And I asked for the ovate pontic technique bridge, and he replied that in my situation he can’t do it because my gum is already healed and basically its not in shape to do the ovate pontic bridge. He said that is only done when the teeth are freshly extracted. Is that true? Can you please tell me if there are other ways of making it look like its coming out of my own gums and more natural? Thanks.
– Brenda in Florida

Brenda,
No, it isn’t true that this technique is only used for a dental bridge when the tooth is freshly extracted. It is primarily used when the ridge is fully healed. Your dentist is deflecting your request. Based on what you’re telling me about what he said, I don’t think he would be what I would classify as a true cosmetic dentist/artist. Don’t push him–disaster lurks.

Your approach here is a common mistake people make. They underestimate the degree of training and commitment to cosmetic dentistry that separates your family dentist from those who truly dedicate themselves to this. And they also don’t realize the difference in personality characteristics between a general dentist who says that he or she does cosmetic dentistry and a true cosmetic dentist, who is an artist. And they think they can research a technique on the Internet and then teach their dentist how to do it, or simply ask for it. It won’t work–there’s a steep learning curve for these techniques, and there has to be a passion for appearance-related issues that the dentist feels.

Your dentist has been trained to exude confidence toward you. This makes you comfortable in his chair and reduces your anxiety. He doesn’t want to tell you, “You know, I really don’t understand much about the ovate pontic technique. Could you teach me?” He’s not going to do that. So he says, based on his limited understanding of the technique, “It’s not appropriate for your situation.” Again, don’t push him.

A dentist who really knows how to do the ovate pontic technique will not do a bridge on front teeth without using that technique. You will not have to tell him or her to do it. But there are very few who know how. And then the dentist has to train the laboratory technician, because this technique is truly revolutionary as far as how you shape the pontic. When I did them, it took several cases before the laboratory technician truly understood what the requirements were.

If you want an anterior bridge that looks beautiful, natural, and creates the illusion that the false tooth is growing out of the gum, you need to find an expert cosmetic dentist. If you’re going to stay with your present dentist, let him do it the way he knows how to do it and don’t try to push him out of his comfort zone. If you want to try a second opinion on this, check with one of our Florida cosmetic dentists.

And there is a lot more than an ovate pontic that will make a bridge replacing a front tooth look natural. The biggest issues are color and translucency, and, just like the ovate pontic technique, very few dentists master these issues to the extent required to create a beautiful bridge. But an expert cosmetic dentist will know all of these things. That’s where I think you should go.

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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