Laura had been a patient of Dr Murphy for over 20 years. Over time he had placed multiple NHS porcelain crowns and metal fillings around that time.
Her front teeth had been traumatised and were root filled. There wasn’t much left but subsequently, metal posts and crowns were fitted.
Laura had discussed the feeling that she wanted to have a smile makeover many, many times over recent years as she felt more self-conscious about the appearance of many teeth.
Getting rid of as much metal as possible became her main priority.
Laura felt that her teeth were too yellow and her smile was also very narrow. She asked about porcelain veneers and replacement fillings with composite resin.
Dr Murphy advised that if we wanted to tackle all of the issues, the heavily filled back teeth would require crowns.
Some were suitable for veneers and it was deemed feasible to expand the canines and premolars – effectively widening Laura’s smile.
The old fillings and crowns were removed, exposing the metal posts- thankfully in tact.
Acrylic temporary crowns were fitted for a period of two weeks. Some home tooth whitening was carried out with custom fitted gum shield. Generally patients receive this at half price in extensive cosmetic dentistry makeover cases.
The final result: it’s possible to see the better distribution of tooth widths if we look carefully at the below image. The two central incisors are more comparable in size with the lateral incisors which we made slightly wider. The canines, which were ‘ leaning’ in were expanded with minimal prep porcelain veneers. Other premolars were improved similarly with veneers or ceramic crowns, creating the desired effect of a wider smile.
Laura had six Emax porcelain ceramic crowns and four Emax porcelain veneers placed at a total cost of £3740, excluding X-rays which are £11 each.
Laura commented that “my teenage daughter is jealous of my smile now, when before she told me I had brown teeth! Thanks so much to Brendan and the girls. I know it’s a cliche but I wish that I’d just done it 10 years ago, it gives you a huge lift in confidence.”
Dr Brendan Murphy (BDS Glasgow) 1992 GDC 67679 is clinical director at Crystal Dental Glasgow. He has been a dentist in Glasgow for more than 20 years. He is passionate about patient care and highly experienced in cosmetic dentistry. He shares the case studies on this website as examples of what is possible when faced with often tricky dental issues. It is never too late to seek help even for long term dental problems.