My two front teeth are slightly chipped from a softball to the face a while ago. Are veneers the only way to fix this? They look crooked because each tooth is is chipped diagonally, with the chip going from the inside of each tooth to the outer part. kindof like an upside down v. Its not as dramatic as a v, but thats the basic shape. Any advice would be great. Thanks!
2007-12-19 16:12:28 · 4 answers · asked by Laurel 2 in Health ➔ Dental
No a veneer is not the only way to fix your tooth, a white filling can be used too. To have the most esthetic long term solution you should probably be looking at having veneers placed. It depends heavily on where you go what you will pay. I think $100 for an anterior esthetic filling is very low, more like $400. And veneer more like $1000-$1200, but again all depends where you live and who you see. Either way ask to see photos of the dentist's previous work of this type. A lot of dentist's will have before and after shots in their office. Some dentists are considerably more skilled in the artistic placement of anterior fillings. Depending on the positioning of your teeth and depth of chips you may not need to get numb at all. Your dentist will have to keep an eye on these teeth as many times teeth involved in a traumatic injury will later die and darken.
2007-12-20 05:40:12 · answer #1 · answered by enamelcutter 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No veneers are not the only way to fix this fracture. Bonding white filling material or composite onto the teeth will restore their shape. However, bonding can easily break off if you bite down on something hard, like a pecan or beef jerky. If it did break off you would need to have it repaired again. Also bonding looks good initially, but after a year or so, the edge of the bonding, ie where the filling meets the tooth often gets a brown line around it. This can occur much faster if you smoke or drink dark drinks like coffee. Composite will darken as it absorbs darker matter.
A veneer is a thin sliver of porcelain that gets bonded to the entire lip surface of a tooth, sort of like a false finger nail gets glued down onto your natural fingernail. The porcelain will not change color. And it is much more difficult for a veneer to pop off than a little white filling....but a veneer can pop off.
Lastly a white filling might cost $100, a veneer is $400-600.
2007-12-19 19:38:03 · answer #2 · answered by Dave F 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i agree with Dave i have had bonding on the edge of my front teeth and it kept breaking off, I bit down on a ritz cracker and it broke, i work for a dentist so we finally put on veneers and i love them, they were so easy to put on, no drilling, no shots and they look great. also bonding is cheaper but i personally like the look of the veneers they are also cheaper than crowning the tooth which is a lot of work to prep, did you have to have root canal to the teeth when you got hit? if so, bonding would only be a temp fix you would need a crown or veneers, as i did have root canal to one of my front teeth because of an accident i knew i would eventually have to have crown or veneers
2007-12-19 21:12:44 · answer #3 · answered by aerogirl06 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
chat with a dentist and ask him(her) everything
hint: don't bit your nails - ever - the veneer might chip off again.
2007-12-19 16:16:56 · answer #4 · answered by cave_animal 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋