This patient had white resin fillings placed years ago, and had since decided to whiten her teeth. The whitening effect on the enamel of her teeth had a tremendous impact – however, in contrast, this tooth whitening made the original bright, opaque color of the fillings stand out in a negative way.
The patient had also complained of having gum recession leading to a large gingival defect between her two front teeth – she wanted to learn about her space closing options. We discussed her two most conservative options: 1) accepting the general shape and color of her existing teeth and replacing the bonding with new resin fillings, layering above the enamel to close the space, and 2) porcelain veneers. The patient selected the most conservative dentistry option available by choosing new resin fillings.
The internal resins were placed in a layered fashion, with a milky white layer at the deepest, and a wispy cloud-like translucent layer over top. By closing the space between the two teeth quite a bit, the overall smile looks younger and more vital. The patient is pleased to have had a painless one-appointment procedure that minimized cost and maximized cosmetic enhancement.
Replacing the resin fillings after bleaching the teeth allowed space closure and smile balancing.
For more cases like this, see our FlickR page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/drcaughey/sets/