By: Dr. Elizabeth Eggert
How did this start?
M (name omitted by request) has been a loyal patient of Eggert Family Dentistry for nearly 20 years, since even before Dr. Elizabeth’s time. In 2013, M underwent jaw surgery, also known as orthognathic (or-thog-NATH-ik) surgery, which corrects irregularities of the jaw bones and realigns the jaws and teeth to improve the way they work.
In December 2015, during a recare visit, he mentioned that he had to force his muscles to bite correctly and wondered if that was normal after jaw surgery. He also noted that his teeth were jagged and did not have a clean line. He didn’t want to think about them all the time, like when eating or when looking at himself in photos.
At that time, M decided to undergo our records process to determine how lengthening his front teeth would help improve his bite. While M’s bite was improved after his orthodontics and jaw surgery, there had been enough prior damage to the teeth and the joints that M still had some bite imbalances after he healed from his surgery.
After working up M’s case, Dr. Elizabeth determined that with six upper veneers to lengthen his front teeth and some minor equilibration to even out high spots in his bite, M should feel better about both how his teeth fit together and with how they look.
What did M want?
M wanted to get rid of the gap he saw between his lateral and canine incisors and he wanted no chips on the front teeth. He wanted a whiter and brighter smile as well without all the white lines on his natural teeth.
What was involved?
Dr. Elizabeth started the case by mocking up the new shape of the teeth on dental models. M really liked the result. We started the treatment by evening out M’s bite with equilibration. Then, impressions of his new bite were taken and sent to the dental lab so a lab wax-up could be completed. This gave us the actual blue print for his new teeth. In the interim, M underwent the Zoom In-Office Whitening procedure to brighten his teeth to the desired color for his new veneers. Soon after the whitening procedure, M came for his preparation appointment and then 2 weeks later, his veneers were carefully inserted.
What does M think?
In his final interview, M was asked how he felt about his course of treatment and his decision to complete the veneers. He said, “I was concerned about it being painful or that there were going to be a lot of appointments to complete the treatment. While there were a lot of appointments, the time went quickly and it was painless.” He is very happy with the outcome and would recommend that anyone thinking of getting veneers to just get them done! He said it was easy to have an open dialogue with Dr. Elizabeth and it was great to have a solid plan along the way.
M did say that he hasn’t had many comments on his veneers, but he’s glad about that because he wanted everything to look very natural.
M’s story is just one of many others who have experienced magnificent results with Dr. Elizabeth Eggert. Veneers can yield beautiful and predictable results for accomplishing an improved smile. At Eggert Family Dentistry, we love providing “Dentistry for a Lifetime of Smiles” – thanks M for trusting us to help you continue to smile big and now more confidently!
