By Alexander Germanis
Photographs used to be a special thing. Because of the cost of a camera and film, not to mention the skill necessary to use them, photos were usually only taken during very special occasions. One had only to flash their smile or think of a reason to hide it only a couple times a year.
Now, due to the advent of digital photography and the cell phone, nearly everybody can take a photograph whenever and wherever they want. For those who do not have confidence in their smile, those inventions are not necessarily a good thing.
Like in last month’s issue, Dr. Emil Verban, Jr., DDS has kept a dental journal of such a patient for whom a camera lens was not a welcome sight. Now in her 60’s, his patient “always wanted to have a beautiful smile,” he says. “That’s one thing she always wanted; she wanted to feel confident in her smile.”
For someone with numerous fillings, all of which are heavily worn, not to mention the staining and discoloring of the teeth associated with aging, a beautiful smile is something that gets harder and harder to maintain or even attain in the first place.
But Dr. Verban knew what steps to take to attain that smile she always wanted. The fillings were the first issue. “You couldn’t just replace those fillings,” he begins. “So, we actually did full coverage Empress porcelain crowns.”
Like with the case mentioned last month, the next step in the process was similar. “Models were taken of her existing teeth and diagnostic wax-ups were performed to determine how we were going to change her smile from her original teeth.”
Dr. Verban explains how the wax-up is an integral part of the process. “Because the laboratory forms the teeth, we give instructions to the lab saying we want to lengthen the teeth, say by two millimeters, or we want to widen it and make it uniform in appearance. So, there’s an analysis that’s done as far as the existing size and what dimensions we want to change the teeth. From there, provisionals (temporary teeth) are made and we can add and subtract or change the provisionals before we go to the final stage.”
In this particular case, Dr. Verban explains, the patient’s teeth were lengthened. “The change in the dimensions of the teeth are established in that diagnostic wax-up,” he continues. “Once those changes are discussed with the patient, she thinks, ‘Yeah let’s try that.’ Then we can always make modifications and changes in the provisional stage.”
The provisional stage, during which the patient wears a temporary set of teeth to determine if the alterations already made look and feel proper, is usually the longest single stage of the overall process. As Dr. Verban explains, all of the provisional teeth themselves were prepared in just a single day. “She then wore those provisionals for three weeks,” he adds.
“At the end of the three weeks,” he continues, “we took the provisionals off, we made impressions of her teeth, sent them to the laboratory,
and they prepared her final teeth.”
Comparing the before and after images, the improvements are easy to perceive. Originally, Dr. Verban states, “She would hardly show any teeth. The spacing [was not good] and there was no uniform dimension to the teeth. So, we actually made her lower teeth larger and changed and broadened the smile and filled in the corridors on the side.”
Years ago, a patient like this would have continued to hide her smile when the camera pointed in her direction. Fortunately, like with other aspects of the medical world, dentistry has seen tremendous improvements in the recent past. There are now far more options available to help preserve, improve, and enhance someone’s smile throughout their life, so there is no more need to shy away from the camera lens.
If you missed last month’s article, you may read it online at HealthyCellsBN.com or call Cheryl at 309-664-2524 to request a copy. To learn more about how modern dentistry can bring a smile back, read part three in Dr. Verban’s dental journal, available in next month’s issue of Healthy Cells Magazine®.
For more information, you may contact Emil Verban, Jr., DDS at 309-662-8448 or visit www.mcleancountydental.com. McLean County Dental is located at 2103 E. Washington Street in Bloomington. Dr. Verban provides his patients both general dentistry expertise and the ability to provide specialized services such as cosmetic procedures and dental implants.
Photo courtesy of McLean County Dental