Hope Restorative & Cosmetic Dentistry

Archives for September 2012

Two weeks between aligners

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Can you tell me why I have to wait two weeks between sets of invisalign aligners? It seems to me that my teeth move into position faster than most. Mine are in the new position after just a few days, but my dentist still wants me to wait the two weeks. That seems like a waste of time for me.

Cassie W. from Arlington, TX

Cassie,

Your teeth are actually moving at the appropriate rate. With Invisalign, generally your teeth will be in position after a few days. The remaining time is to allow your bone to mold around the new position of the tooth. This prevents them from coming loose and doing permanent damage to your tooth roots. This will put you in a worse situation than when you first started out fixing your teeth.

The rest time is really important. So, just think of the additional week or so and time spent strengthening your tooth roots.

Lumineers for Tetracycline

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I’m hoping you can advise me. I’ve got tetracycline stains on my teeth. I want to cover them with porcelain veneers. I’ve decided to go with Lumineers so my teeth don’t have to be ground down to nothing. However, I’m not sure how to know which dentist to pick from their site.

Thanks in advance, Justin

Justin,

There are several things here to consider. First, there isn’t actually any grounding done to your teeth with porcelain veneers. There is about a mm or so that is shaved off the front, but that is to keep them from looking bulky. If you click here to look at my porcelain veneers page, you’ll see a picture on the top right that shows a veneer about to be placed on a shaved tooth. As you can see from the picture, you cannot tell a difference between the shaved and unshaved teeth. Lumineers are advertised as a no-prep veneer, many dentists still prefer to prep the tooth by shaving a tiny amount to prevent that bulky look you get with veneers. Plus, with your tetracycline stains, the shaving will allow the veneer to wrap around the tooth, which will hide the stains better.

When it comes to choosing your Lumineers dentist (or any other veneer for that matter), I wouldn’t go by the list on their website. They tend to put dentists on there who do a lot of business with them. It has very little to do with their skill as cosmetic dentists. Tetracycline stains are some of the absolute hardest to deal with, so you will want a dentist who is highly skilled. You can either look for a dentist who is accredited with the AACD, or you can go to the mynewsmile.com website and look for one of their recommended dentists in your state. Both will give you highly qualified cosmetic dentists to choose from.

This blog  is brought to you by Tulsa Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Jerome Cha.

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