Our case of the month for April was one involving E Max crowns by Ivoclar, which is our opinion, give the best aesthetic results. In the past, tooth coloured dental crowns had a layer of metal underneath for strength with the ceramic bonded on the outside. Now these could look perfectly acceptable but there were issues. Having two layers means that more of the underlying tooth has to be cut down to accommodate the material. For any of you that has read any of our posts knows that we believe in minimally invasive dentistry, cutting away more tooth than necessary just does not sit right with us. Another issue with metal ceramic crowns is that the metal layer may become visible over time as the gums recede which gives that classic grey line around the tooth. Not very desirable. One of the main advantages of ceramic crowns is that there is no metal underneath and this grey line will never be an issue. 

The aesthetic qualities of E max crowns are second to none. Our case shows that the crowns can be fully customised with translucency at the edges, varying shades, light reflection and opaque areas to name a few. The skill of the dental technician plays a huge role here and we work with some excellent laboratories know for excellence. 

For our case, Ceramic Studios in Kensington made the wonderful E max crowns fully which were fully customised.
 

Our case of the month for March is a simple but great one- we love it so much! It features composite bonding which is a favourite treatment of ours. People often ask what is cosmetic or composite bonding. Well the answer is simple. For many years, dentists have been using adhesive technology to bond fillings inside of teeth. The same technology can be applied to the outside of teeth to make them look pretty! In essence, if a tooth is worn down, fractured, uneven or discoloured then composite bonding can be used to enhance the tooth without having to cut the tooth down or destroy healthy tooth enamel. After all, dental enamel is the hardest tissue in the body for a good reason. It is there to protect teeth- why on earth would we cut it all away? The old days of Extreme Makeover (remember that show) are over. 

Often cosmetic bonding can be used for very subtle treatments such as our case. In this example, we treated the front teeth using Social 6 lingual braces to straighten the teeth first and then use composite bonding to enhance the smile line to even the edges, make pointed teeth look natural and camouflage the canine teeth which were quite pointed. There was absolutely no drilling of the underlying teeth, no needles were required, an entirely pain free process. Take a look at the difference: