Cosmetic Dentistry Orange County | Huefner Sensational Smiles Blog

Dawn was congenitally missing her two upper lateral incisors. This is a common problem, as 3-5% of the U.S. population are congenitally missing either one or two lateral incisors or lower bicuspids.

Dawn congenitally missing her two lateral incisors

She had braces for two years and the orthodontist had put two false teeth on her retainer. Now 18 years old and soon going off to college, she was becomming increasingly dissatisfied with the appearance of her teeth and smile and wanted an improvement before she left. What were her options, she asked Dr. Huefner.

One option was dental implants, however that is not a good choice until her facial growth is completed, which it hadn't in her case. It may be five or more years until she could have implants.

Another choice was a better removable partial denture than she currently had. But she hated the fact that it came in and out and really wanted a more permanent solution.

The traditional treatment would be two 3-unit porcelain bridges. However that would mean that the teeth on both sides of the missing teeth would need to be reshaped and completely covered over with crowns, meaning that instead of just two teeth replacements she would have six!

Wasn't there something better, more conservative for Dawn?

Yes, today modern cosmetic dentist now have a better solution, permanent non-metal, porcelain on fiber reinforced resin bonded lingually retained bridges. No drilling on the front of any of her teeth, just very conservative preparation on the backs of the adjacent teeth. Here is the results that we achieved for Dawn with two bonded lingually retained bridges.

Dawn treated with two conservative lingually retained permanent bridges.

As you can imagine, Dawn was trilled with the improvement in her teeth and smile that we were able to achieve for her.

Dr. Norman Huefner, General and Cosmetic Dentistry, Orange County, CA

Labels: bonded lingual bridges, congenitally missing teeth, dental implants irvine, irvine porcelain veneers, san clemente cosmetic dentist

Laura broke off her upper right cuspid in an accident and desperately needed a "new tooth" to fill the space. Unfortunately the root had broken right below the gum line and could not be saved to place a new crown over.

What were Laura's options? One choice was to have the remaining root removed and then have a porcelain bridge placed, utilizing the two adjacent teeth as supports for the bridge. Unfortunately the tooth in front already had a root canal and was severely weakened and would not support a bridge. Another choice replacing the missing tooth with a removable partial denture. However, that choice was unacceptable. Laura did NOT want any replacement that would come in and out. The third choice was having the root removed and place an implant and porcelain crown. This was the best choice of treatments and Laura was excited about this being the treatment she wanted to solve her problem.

The fractured root was removed and an first implant portion was inserted into the hole left from extracting the remaining root.

A "flipper" (immediate partial denture just for esthetics) was utilized for a few weeks until the implant and gums healed.

Then the second part (top part of the implant) was placed into the first part, which was then immediately covered over with a porcelain crown to give Laura back her smile again!

For more information about implants and replacing missing teeth, call us today!
Dr. Norman Huefner, General and Cosmetic Dentistry, Laguna Niguel, CA

Labels: dental implants irvine, implant dentist orange county, mission viejo implants, porcelain crowns rancho santa margarita