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I’ve Had Braces Three times and Still Hate My Smile

Posted by Annmarie SanSevero

I had braces, in my teens, then twice again in adulthood. Despite that my teeth keep shifting and crowding again. The over crowding have made my two front look too big compared to the rest. I was hoping to get some porcelain veneers to put on the teeth next to my two front ones. This way it could make my smile look a bit more normal. My dentist said that it is going to take six veneers to make them look right. That is a lot more money than I have. Is six absolutely necessary?

Harriet


Dear Harriet,

Image of a porcelain veneer being held up to a tooth.

It would be impossible for me to give you a definitive answer without examining or at the very least seeing a series of images of your teeth. It basically boils down to three possibilities, though. One possibility is the dentist is not skilled enough and doesn’t know how to just do it with two porcelain veneers. A second option is that he’s just trying to make more money off of you. A third option is that it truly would require six veneers to make it look right. There are excellent cosmetic dentists out there who would not want to give you a subpar smile, both because it would not be good for you and it would reflect poorly on the quality of their work.

What you could do is get a second opinion from an expert cosmetic dentist. This way you have more than one dentist giving you feedback on what needs to be done. However, be sure of two things. First, I don’t want you to tell the second opinion dentist what the first dentist said. Don’t even tell him or her the name of the first dentist. They may know each other, which complicates things. The dentist may struggle with the idea of bad mouthing a colleague. If they don’t know who it is, there’s no conflict of interest.

The second thing I want you do is make sure you see an expert cosmetic dentist. I would look for someone who was accredited by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD). These are the best cosmetic dentists in the world. Being AACD accredited is different than just a membership. Any dentist can join to become a member. In order to become accredited, a dentist has to pass stringent exams and demonstrate real artistry before an examination board.

This blog is brought to you by Franklin, TN Dentist Dr. Christopher Weber.

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