Angelina was not happy with her smile but she first needed a lot of work to get her mouth to a healthy state. She had badly decayed teeth broken down fillings, poor fitting crowns and some periodontal issues. Good dentistry starts with a good foundation. You wouldn’t build a building on quicksand. I first had to fix the teeth that were savable and get her gums in shape. Due to the amount of money required to do the work right Angelina had to extend her treatment over many years, which is something a lot of my patients have to do. It’s very difficult for most people to come up with that kind of money right away. Angelina and I set up a plan where we would start on the teeth that needed the most work first, saving one tooth at a time. Slowly but surely she stayed the course and now has a beautiful, healthy, smile that should last a lifetime.
Claire was missing her left and right front lateral teeth. The canines or eye teeth were where the laterals should have been. (The canines were more to the center of her mouth). The first thing I did was bleach her teeth. I was able to lighten her teeth 12 shades. I then restored her back teeth with tooth colored fillings. In order to restore her missing tooth on her left side I wanted to make a bridge without metal. First, I had to remove the excess gum tissue that had filled up the space. After the healing phase, I placed a 3-unit bridge (which is basically 3 crowns attached to each other) and a crown on her right side to make the canine look like a lateral tooth
Ken had extensive dental treatment in the past but was still unable to chew and digest food properly and he was unhappy with his smile. The first thing I did was stabilize his bite (give the back teeth a place where Ken could chew food and rest his jaw muscles comfortably). Some of his back teeth were broken down so badly that in order to place crowns properly periodontal surgery was necessary. I tried to adjust the old flipper (a partial denture that can be removed from his mouth.) he was currently using but with his bite now established a new flipper was in order. (The flipper was necessary to replace the missing teeth until I was able to restore his implants.) Ken wanted a whiter and more youthful smile. Three crowns and three implant crowns were made several shades lighter than his original teeth. I then cemented them all into place at the same time in the front of his mouth. Ken was finally to get rid of the removable flipper.
“Dr. Siegel saved me.”
Is your mouth making you look older than you really are? You don’t have to have ugly silver fillings or gold crowns anymore. In just one or two appointments, we can change dark fillings and crowns into beautiful tooth colored restorations that will look like you’ve never had a cavity.
Eric felt his smile was holding him back. Veneers would not work because many of his teeth had large old restorations in them. Full crowns were what were needed to restore his smile. Eric was nervous about how the final teeth would look. So I prepared a mock-up of his teeth that he could look at and hold in his hand before we started. Once Eric approved the set-up we began treatment. The temporaries I made while waiting for the lab to finish the crowns were an exact duplicate of the mock up that he approved. And of course I made his temporaries much lighter than the color of his original teeth so he could evaluate both the color and the shape that his new crowns would soon be. Eric did not ask for any changes and he was very happy with how they looked. I sent the mock up back to the lab so they could duplicate what I already placed in Eric’s mouth.
“This man is an artist and craftsman without the pretense that you normally get with other dentists, I recently had six crowns completed and was very nervous. The whole process exceeded my expectations. I wish I had found this place years ago but better late than never. I am a consultant and salesman and was unhappy with my smile, Dr. Siegel and the staff are very kind and non-judgmental and I would recommend this place to anyone looking to improve their smile and life. I would never had taken this picture and posted it to facebook without this new smile. Thanks big smile dental! ” Eric T.
Michael had ill-fitting broken down crowns in the front of his mouth. He needed three crowns to achieve a beautiful smile makeover in only two visits.
Jessica was embarrassed to smile. Her front needed root canal therapy when she was younger. It since has turned black. The best way to correct her front teeth would have been with a crown and a veneer. The least expensive way to change the color of this tooth is to bleach it from the inside. Jessica opted to bleach. This was one stubborn tooth to whiten. After many visits, I was finally able get close with the color. Jessica was happy with the results. “It finally feels good to smile.”
Tom came to me because he did not like the space between his two front teeth. He was undecided on which was the best way for him to correct the problem. His choices were braces or veneers. He was leaning towards braces but wanted to see a mock-up of how veneers would look. I proceeded to do the mock up for him. In Tom’s case his mock up consisted of me placing a restorative material on his four front teeth and taking photos so he could view the changes later. Tom’s two front teeth were close to the right size or a little wide but the teeth next to them were definitely to narrow.
Rainaldo had basically the same problem as Tom did (he didn’t like the gap between his two front teeth). I did a mock up for veneers on his front four teeth. The mock up looked great. I explained the positives and negatives of both veneers and braces. In addition to wanting to change his smile, Rainaldo’s back teeth were rotated and not perfect. He wanted to think about. To my surprise again and five months later Rainaldo said he wanted braces.
Luckily, I did not have to remove any teeth. Several teeth on the bottom had to be “slenderized “and the back premolars needed to be de-rotated. In a little less than a year, his teeth were in a good position and his smile looked great.
Most orthodontists will tell you it’s easier to move the teeth to the right place than to keep them where you want them. I knew that Rainaldo’s front teeth were going to want to open up the space in the middle of his mouth again. The best way to stop this from happening is with two retainers. First a permanent retainer behind his four front upper teeth and then a removable retainer that goes over the permanent retainer. Rainaldo has to wear the removable retainer at night. The removable retainer also doubles as his take home bleaching trays.
Michael broke his front tooth in such a way that it was un-restorable. He had to have the tip of his root removed (which was still in his jaw bone) and have an implant placed.
If you look carefully at his two front teeth, you will notice a space between them. Michael wanted the space closed in addition to the implant tooth. Any time I am going to replace one or more teeth I always ask the patient if they would like to whiten their teeth. If you’re going to spend the time and money to fix your front teeth, they better be the color you want them to be. If you change your mind and want to lighten your teeth later all the work you just went through will have to be replaced to match your new lighter color (Bleaching only whitens natural teeth, it will not whiten crowns, veneers, or fillings).
Michael proceeded to whiten his teeth with BriteSmile in-office whitening and take home trays and have two veneers placed in addition to his implant. Finally, Michael has the smile he has always wanted.
Well it’s easy to see that Nidia either has too many teeth or too small of a mouth. Her teeth were so crooked and crowded that some teeth were pushed completely out of the arch. The only possible way to fix her teeth was with braces. Nidia needed to have her first four premolars removed before we could start. The results speak for themselves.
To say Issac was not very happy with his smile would be an understatement. His two teeth (his laterals) next to his front teeth (centrals) were crowded inside behind his teeth. His canines or “eye teeth” had moved forward where the crowded out teeth should have been. When he smiled “it just looks wrong”, he said. Veneers would have been very difficult here for many reasons and still I would have had to remove two teeth from his upper jaw.
Wisely Issac opted for braces. The first premolars on both sides had to be removed (the fourth tooth back on each side). Next, I had to bring the canines back into the space of the premolars to make a space for his lateral to fit. It took a while but finally all of his teeth were in the right places. “This was life changing” said Issac, “I now have a smile I can be proud of. Thank you Dr. Siegel”
When Carlo first came to me, he insisted on having veneers placed on his front teeth. But there were two problems that had to be addressed. First, his front tooth died, that turned black and needed a root canal. Second, his teeth were angled out to far forward. In order to place veneers I would have had to destroy his front four teeth. I started by performing root canal therapy on his front right tooth. I then bleached the inside of that tooth only. Carlo did not want to wear regular braces, so he opted for Invisalign to pull his teeth back into the proper position. With his teeth certainly much better Carlo has decided that he no longer needs veneers. He also saved a lot of money.
Charles is in the entertainment world and he wanted his teeth to be perfect for personal and business reasons. Straight white teeth are what Charles wanted and in only two appointments, that is what he got. Needless to say, Charles is all smiles now.
This patient was so embarrassed about her smile that she would not let me use her real name or her full face in the pictures. She works with small children in the Chicago Public School system.
Well, you know how innocent and honest children can be. They would ask her what was wrong with her teeth and why she doesn’t fix them. My patient would hide her teeth whenever she could and when she needed to laugh she would put her hand over her mouth. And as I’ve said before, pictures were out of the question.
The best way to correct her problem was with braces and porcelain veneers. But time and money were a problem. She wanted to look better right away and could not afford the veneers.
She compromised and allowed me to hand craft veneers made out of a composite material instead of porcelain. The procedure was painless (no shots were necessary) and everything was completed in one visit.
When Jasmine first came to me, she was wearing Invisalign braces for two years with another dentist and was not happy with the way her teeth looked. I thought I could have taken over the Invisalign case and make it work but Jasmine said she wasn’t happy with the shape of her teeth or her gummy smile. Jasmine insisted on eight veneers.
She did not have to bleach her teeth because the veneers went far enough back that I didn’t have a problem selecting a shade she liked (in most cases this is the best number of veneers to place in order to get the best results). Because Jasmine wanted an “extreme” makeover, I was able to bring the back teeth out farther to give her a broader smile. I threw in a little gum surgery to alleviate her gummy smile. For the first time Jasmine’s pictures show a full broad beautiful smile.
Nicole did not like her smile. She specifically did not like the shape of her teeth (“they were too skinny”) and the spaces or gaps between them. She also wanted her teeth lighter. I had Nicole bleach her teeth until she reach the shade she wanted. I then prepared her front six teeth for veneers.
“Thank you Dr. Siegel I’m so happy with my smile makeover that I can’t stop smiling.”
Julie felt that her smile was too pointy and wanted a broader, wider smile. She also wanted her teeth to be as white as possible. First I bleached her teeth so her lower teeth would match her top teeth. I then made her temporary veneers so she could see the color and the shape of what her final veneers would look like. Julie wanted her front teeth longer so I modified her temporaries making them slightly longer. Her teeth looked great longer. The only problem was she was now having trouble speaking clearly and was lisping. She did not have a problem speaking with the original temps. I was able to make her teeth slightly longer than the original temps and shorter than the modified temps and her speech came back to normal. As I said earlier Julie wanted her teeth to be as white as possible. So I had her veneers made in the lightest possible shade (010). I’m usually uncomfortable making veneers that light but Julie insisted. Not every one can have teeth that white but Julie was able to pull it off. Her smile is now stunning.
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