What is the best way to close the gaps at the front of my mouth?
Q.
I have gaps between my two front teeth and between my right front tooth and lateral incisor, and my left lateral incisor and canine. I want to get braces to fix this. Orthodontist says my bottom jaw is too big for my top jaw, so can’t close the gap. Lateral incisors did not grow wide enough, so there is spaces. They can shave my bottom teeth vertically, push them backwards and close the top jaw teeth a little, but will need bonding on the sides of the lateral incisors to close all gaps. I am not excited about bonding on lateral incisors. I was wondering if a veneer on the canines would be sound and they could widen that tooth instead of widening the lateral incisor. Question – would that look too odd or be not strong on a canine tooth? Especially since the problem is that my lateral incisors are the problem with not being wide enough? i don’t want my teeth to look too wide or unnatural. I want a long term solution.
I have gaps between my two front teeth and between my right front tooth and lateral incisor, and my left lateral incisor and canine. I want to get braces to fix this. Orthodontist says my bottom jaw is too big for my top jaw, so can’t close the gap. Lateral incisors did not grow wide enough, so there is spaces. They can shave my bottom teeth vertically, push them backwards and close the top jaw teeth a little, but will need bonding on the sides of the lateral incisors to close all gaps. I am not excited about bonding on lateral incisors. I was wondering if a veneer on the canines would be sound and they could widen that tooth instead of widening the lateral incisor. Question – would that look too odd or be not strong on a canine tooth? Especially since the problem is that my lateral incisors are the problem with not being wide enough? i don’t want my teeth to look too wide or unnatural. I want a long term solution.
A.
Hi
Hi
You could either bond composite (tooth coloured filling material) to the smaller teeth / in the gaps or veneers. Both are very strong if there is good underlying tooth structure. Bonding is quicker and often cheaper to do but doesn’t always have the same finish as a veneer nor last as long.
I would suggest completing the orthodontic treatment, then ask your cosmetic dentist to ‘wax up’ the proposed treatment – this is a prototype made to work to and allows you to see the proposed end result before starting. This can then be used to make sure the relevant teeth have the correct height-width ratio, so they look balanced and not too wide.
Good luck
Mark
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