When you have a gap between your teeth, especially between your front two teeth, you may feel like that’s all that everyone looks at – your gap! Dr. Amanda Smith and Dr. Nicole Byer are sensitive to this concern and appreciate how many patients feel this spacing issue can detract from their looks. Veneers for teeth gap at Nashua Cosmetic and Restorative Dentistry are often the answer for patients with gapped teeth. A beautiful smile that blends in attractively with the rest of your face and that allows your best features to shine through can be yours in two or three visits.
There are some considerations that our doctors will discuss with you during your initial consultation; for instance, if you have multiple gaps and spacing issues, or bite-related problems, you may be a better candidate for orthodontic treatment with Invisalign. This straightening method is also considered to be a cosmetic alternative to braces since Invisalign’s aligner trays are transparent and barely visible in the smile. They also achieve straighter smiles in about half of the time, on average, of conventional braces – for about a year. But nothing quite beats the ease and efficiency of veneers for the appropriate patient with gaps that don’t need to be resolved with orthodontic intervention.
So, you’re a great candidate for veneers – now what?
Veneers are considered to be a premier cosmetic treatment, for good reason. They are thin layers of durable, natural-looking dental porcelain. Of all the dental materials, porcelain best mimics your teeth’s natural, protective enamel in terms of strength and appearance, including its translucence and how light reflects off it. As great as veneers can be, it’s important to turn to the right dentist for treatment. How veneers look and feel depends on the skill and experience of the dentist placing them. As an example, if you have a very large space between two teeth, and only two veneers are used to close that gap, your smile will look unnatural. Veneers may also look “fake” or bulky if they’re too big for your face, are overly square shaped with little to no curvature or are a mega-watt white shade with too much “shine.”
Our doctors are members of prestigious organizations, including the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and the American Academy of Oral Systemic Health. While oral health is always paramount (and they assure your teeth and gums are healthy before moving forward with veneers and other elective, cosmetic treatments), you can also trust that all treatments – restorative or otherwise – look natural, attractive, and perfectly and uniquely “you.” Artful and competent smile design and preparation get results you’ll want to show off, not results that are a source of further embarrassment for you because they don’t look like “real” teeth. As part of the smile design and preparation process:
- A very small amount of natural enamel is removed from the tooth or teeth to be treated. This allows for the veneer to be securely bonded to the natural tooth structure and assures that the veneer doesn’t stick out too much. After all, there must be sufficient room for the veneer to cover the natural tooth (and that irritating gap).
- Information is collected to be used by Nashua Cosmetic and Restorative Dentistry’s lab partner to make your veneers. An impression of your teeth is also created, so ceramicists can use it as a model or guide to make veneers that are lifelike in every way.
- Our doctors use digital impressions and intraoral cameras to collect information about your teeth. These technologies are comfortable (no messy putty or goo!), well-tolerated by patients with small mouths or who tend to gag during dental procedures and are very precise. Digital imaging is also associated with far less radiation exposure than conventional x-ray techniques.
For the ultimate in color-matching and a uniformly beautiful smile, your teeth may be whitened. This way, you get a color boost as well as veneers that blend in attractively with the rest of the smile. Your dentist will discuss ways to approach this with you if you have existing restorations that aren’t amenable to whitening treatments. Sometimes, patients opt to have the upper teeth that are visible when they smile veneered, while the lower teeth that don’t show in the smile are whitened. They may later choose to get veneers on both upper and lower teeth.
Dental bonding can also be an economical way to close the gap and fix certain spacing issues; however, the material used as part of the bonding process is not as long-lasting as porcelain. Call (855) 363-3793 so the dental team at Nashua Cosmetic and Restorative Dentistry can schedule an appointment with you to discuss your options and the pros and cons of each treatment.