James from Paisley had a severe case of badly stained teeth due to tetracycline (antibiotic) discolouration.
In this sort of case tooth enamel takes on a banded and darkened stain, classically with the darker areas around the base or neck of the tooth. A mix of brown and grey banding severely compromises the patient’s smile and they are generally very self-conscious about showing their teeth with any sort of facial expression.
Indeed James initially came to us at the request of his wife who had become worried about his loss of confidence.
You can see how badly stained his teeth are in this image.
Unfortunately in this case, even porcelain veneers would have been insufficient in creating a bright smile, which was the patients’ initial request.
Porcelain is not opaque enough in the thin section around the neck of the tooth, particularly under heavy loading, unlike ceramic pressed porcelain crowns. These will also block underlying darkened dentine.
Poor Confidence Due to Badly Stained Teeth
Due to James’ lower teeth protruding forwards and his habit of grinding them, it was decided that James’ abnormal bite – you can see it below – needed to be propped open at the back by a couple of millimetres.
This was achieved with composite resin in order to create a little space for porcelain to go on the front teeth.
A two week course of tooth whitening with 6% Hydrogen Peroxide was prescribed to lighten his lower teeth slightly. The brown stains are almost impossible to eliminate but were made slightly less offensive to the patient (and his wife!).
Confidence Boosting Dental Results
Four incisors and two canines were prepared for porcelain crowns and thanks to the adjusted bite, his first premolars were deemed suitable for porcelain veneers. In all, eight upper teeth were adjusted.
The end result you can see here is limited only slightly in the upper jaw by the difficult bite and James happily describes the result as “life changing.”
As always happens, James received a free initial consultation in our Glasgow dental practice. His total treatment for ridding him of his badly stained teeth cost £3253.