Cosmetic Dentistry Orange County | Huefner Sensational Smiles Blog

When your cosmetic dentist designs your new smile, whether it be by using porcelain veneers or porcelain crowns, much must be decided. Obviously the color of the teeth are important, but there are multiple other things to address. The length of the teeth, shape of the teeth, position in your bite, shape around the gums, size and placement of the teeth relative to the upper and lower lips, etc. are all things that are very important components that help make up the final result of your new smile.

With so many things, how can a dentist determine the final smile design in just one or two appointments? The answer is that most experienced cosmetic dentists would never decide such important things in one or two appointments. Most utilize an extremely important concept called the "trial smile".

At the beginning of treatment the experienced cosmetic dentist evaluates the patients teeth, gums, face, lips, etc. and has some idea how he would design the smile. However, what the dentist has in mind may not be exactly what the patient wants, or even what the patient could determine from just one or two appointments. And, the person who should be most happy with the smile design is the patient, right? So, the dentist first designs the "trial smile", or temporary smile, according to what he deems will look best for the patient.

Then the dentist prepares the teeth, places the "trial smile", and then has the patient wear the "trial smile" for a few days, or sometimes even a few weeks to make sure that the patient approves of the color, shape, length, etc. of the teeth. If there are any changes that the patients wants to be made, those changes can be done much easier to the "trial smile" than the permanent porcelain veneers or porcelain crowns.

If the patient wants the teeth to be longer, then the teeth in the "trial smile" can be lengthened by adding to them. If shorter is what the patient wants, they can be adjusted and shortened. Then after the changes to the "trial smile" are done and approved of by the patient, the cosmetic dentist can precisely direct the ceramist how to make the final porcelain veneers or porcelain crowns.

Below is a photo of Dr. Huefner's patient Sandra. She hated the way her teeth looked, and this made her very self conscious of her appearance, especially when smiling or in photos. Obviously you can see that her teeth were discolored and she had numerous cavities and fillings. Her gums were also uneven and the the front teeth had worn and shortened over the years.

Sandra's teeth before cosmetic dentistry

Sandra wanted whiter teeth, but how white? Also she wanted the spaces between her teeth closed. She wanted her teeth to all be the same color and she didn't want any unsightly cavities or fillings to show. Dr. Huefner also recommended that he even out her gums with his dental gum laser. Porcelain veneers were the recommended treatment. So, Dr. Huefner first placed Sandra in a "trial smile" of his design to allow Sandra to "test drive" her appearance and make sure she approved of the design.

Sandra in her "trial smile" after evening out her gums with the dental gum laser

Sandra wore the "trial smile" for four days, returned to Dr. Huefner's office for the final approval. Then the final porcelain veneers were made to the specifications that Sandra had approved of. The end result was that Sandra got a beautiful new smile and was trilled with the way her new teeth (porcelain veneers) looked!

Dr. Norman Huefner, Cosmetic and General Dentistry, Laguna Niguel, CA

Labels: length porcelain crowns, length porcelain veneers, shape porcelain crowns, shape porcelain veneers