A patient came to me asking to improve how his smile looked. His teeth were healthy, but the gaps bothered him — he wanted his smile to look better and fuller, without spaces between the teeth. After an examination and a detailed aesthetic analysis, we concluded together that the best solution would be a prosthetic restoration — bonding or veneers — preceded by a change in the position of the teeth, that is, orthodontic treatment.
Without changing the position of the teeth in the arch, an aesthetic restoration alone would have been possible, but it would have required grinding down healthy teeth considerably because of their unfavourable positions. For a young patient with perfectly healthy teeth, that would not have been optimal. So together with the orthodontist we prepared a treatment plan with two key stages: first invisible aligners for 1.5 years, then restoring the upper and lower teeth with bonding. This was meant to give not only excellent aesthetics but also stable contacts between the teeth.
In cases like this the problem is often that the teeth are too small for the dental arches, which leads to gaps. Many patients come with the idea of "closing up" the teeth with braces. Unfortunately, that is rarely possible without harming the look and function. Comprehensive treatment needs a precise plan, close cooperation between the prosthodontist and the orthodontist, and an approach that takes into account not only aesthetics but also the stability of the whole bite.
For my patient the solution was restoring the upper and lower teeth with bonding in a light bleach shade. His smile became brighter, fuller and more harmonious — exactly as he had dreamed. The patient is happy, so am I, and the cooperation between the orthodontist and the prosthodontist brought fantastic results.
— Mikołaj Kisiel, DDS