We recently had the pleasure of welcoming Hannah to our practice to help with her smile enhancement. During an initial consultation with Dr Viraj, we listened to Hannah’s concerns and learnt that she was unhappy with the current shape, colour, and level of her teeth. We also found that she was born with a smaller tooth called a ‘peg lateral’, a common abnormality in the size and shape of your second ‘incisor’ tooth. This had been covered up at a younger age with a crown, which now appeared discoloured in relation to the rest of her teeth. Hannah also suffered from discolouration of some of her teeth caused by ‘demineralisation’, a term used to describe a change in the amount of minerals in your teeth.

After completing a thorough examination including detailed x-rays and high quality photographs, we were able to work with Hannah to explore options available to her. We discussed options such as: teeth straightening, whitening, composite bonding, and veneers/crowns. Taking into consideration factors such as finances, timelines, and risks involved, we decided on changing Hannah’s smile with ‘composite bonding’. Composite bonding is a minimally invasive (as little damage) procedure which involves bonding a white composite resin onto your teeth in order to change its shape, size, and colour.

Consultation & Photos

Photographs of her initial smile were displayed on a larger screen in order to pin point the areas which Hannah wasn’t happy about. We then sent these pictures, along with moulds of her teeth, to our laboratory who we work closely with to support cases.

3D Scan & Simulation

After sending detailed instructions to our laboratory about what changes we wanted to make, they were able to use the latest technology to 3D print a model of what Hannah’s teeth could potentially look like.

Trial Smile

We then used this 3D model to create a ‘trial smile’, where we temporarily placed a material onto her teeth to allow her to visualise how her smile could change. Once Hannah was happy with trial, we were then able to proceed to the final steps.

Composite Bonding

Dr Viraj then placed the definitive composite material onto the teeth over the period of a couple of hours. After a final touch up and polish, she was ready to leave with her new smile.