Historically, porcelain veneers have been an effective treatment option. In addition to preserving tooth structure, adhesive technologies offer excellent options to improve both the esthetic and restorative needs of the patient. As dental materials and techniques have improved, porcelain veneers provide durable, aesthetic, and structural improvements to a person’s smile. These dental restorations alone provide exceptional results and, when coupled with other treatment options, can provide patients with conservative options that are remarkable.
The following case study was sent in from Dr. Katie Sugar of Sugar Family Dental.
The patient presented with teeth crowding, overlapping, and irregularities. Tooth #9 had been endodontically treated and was very dark. The patient wanted to improve his smile, specifically wanting to achieve a straighter, whiter, and more balanced smile. However, the patient did not want to have any crown preparations and indicated that he would like to take as conservative an approach to his case as possible.
Dr. Katie Sugar, DMD
Sugar Family Dental
Dr. Sugar began the case using Invisalign to move the patient’s teeth to a more ideal position. Invisalign and other clear aligner therapies are excellent options for correcting malocclusions and aligning teeth to a more esthetic and functional place. This patient had some crowding which is a common issue involved in malocclusion. In most mild to moderate crowding cases, clear aligners work great to reposition the teeth. In addition, Dr. Sugar did some tooth whitening to lighten the teeth as much as possible to help with the final results.
The Next Challenge
At this point, great improvements had already been made to the patient’s smile. The next challenge was to restore teeth 8 and 9 using veneers. The patient had previously indicated he did not want any crown preparations. His desire was to get as close as possible to the desired results using the most conservative techniques.
It was decided that Emax layered veneers would be the best option to mask the discoloration of tooth number 9 and provide the best match to the surrounding dentition. Emax has been used in dentistry for over 30 years. It is a great restoration for this type of case, as it comes in a variety of translucencies and shades.
Emax provides excellent esthetic results and precise fit. A 500MPa flexural strength makes it a long-lasting restoration.
Additional benefits of Emax include:
Shade Selection
select the correct Emax ingots and provide the ideal shade match, the following information must be provided. This will ensure that the patient’s color expectations are met.
Specifically, the following should be provided:
With this information in hand, the Smiles by Design team at Burbank Dental Lab was able to select the corresponding Emax ingot that provided the closest color match while masking the dark underlying stump shade present on tooth #9.
Burbank Dental Lab Fabrication
After the case was prepared with veneer preparations, the case was digitally scanned using an Itero scanner and uploaded to the digital portal on the website at Burbank Dental Lab.
The case fabrication process began with the following steps:
Thank you Dr. Katie M. Sugar, DMD
Burbank Dental Lab is very grateful to Dr. Katie Sugar of Sugar Family Dental for giving us the opportunity to work with her on this case. The results of this case are outstanding, and this stems from planning and following the necessary communication steps to get a case like this right. Working with the patient’s desires to remain conservative provided for an excellent starting point with respect to tooth position and shade.
Successful cases follow proper preparation design, appropriate material selection, patient input, and knowledgeable technicians who can mimic the surrounding dentition with the given materials. If you have any questions regarding your next case, please call or chat with a Smiles by Design team member at Burbank Dental Lab.
Burbank Dental Lab would like to thank Dr. Katie Sugar for providing the notes and photos for this case and for giving us permission to use them.