Dental crowns are one of the best ways to protect badly damaged teeth. In most cases, crowns are needed on back teeth that may have needed a root canal treatment. For front teeth, the most common reason for the need of a crown is due to trauma . This could be from a childhood playground accident or a sports injury for example. Ouch!

If a front tooth crown was placed many years ago, over time there will have been changes in the mouth including the level of the gums and the shape and colour of the teeth. This often why there is a 'black' line around old crowns where the gum has receded and the underlying root becomes visible. Older crowns will have been made with a metal base, called a metal ceramic crown and the metal can also show as the tissues change.
 

Our case of the month for December 2022 was a wonderful one where Invisalign was used to corrected a heavily rotated tooth. In the past, we would not have been able to treat this type of tooth rotation with Invisalign and only fixed braces would have been considered. However, with the advancement of technology and digital treatment planning, we can now treat virtually any case with Invisalign. In fact, the system is now so advanced that the end results we are seeing with Invisalign is far superior to the traditional train track braces.
 

Our case of the month for August 2022 was a fabulous one! A real smile transformation done correctly. Forget 'Turkey Teeth'! A smile transformation should involve minimal or no biological damage to the teeth and gums to enhance the aesthetic and functional issues. The term 'Turkey Teeth' comes from social media posts where a smile makeover is done over a weekend by hacking away natural healthy tooth structure and placing multiple crowns and veneers. These are often linked together with no means of cleaning between them. This is a recipe for disaster with not only a high risk of nerve death and root canals but also gum disease and infection. The cost of rectifying this treatment will far outweigh the 'savings' from going abroad and also lead to life long maintenance.

Anyway, back to our case and happier news. We first started with careful planning to straighten the teeth using Invisalign full. One of the main issues was that the dental arches were very narrow which is why you cannot see the back teeth on smiling. This is called the buccal corridor. With expansion, we have the opportunity to create space and correct crowding without IPR ( in between teeth filing and slimming) which we always strive to achieve. Invisalign is simply the best at arch expansion in our opinion. After only 8 months, we had lovely straight teeth ready for the next stage.
 

Our case of the month for March 2022 is a true smile transformation in every sense of the word. In this case, we successfully corrected a complete reverse overjet or underbite using Invisalign Full. We then enhanced the overall aesthetics using a home whitening kit (Philips ZOOM) and bonding.