Do I need a brace? what are your thoughts?

[Carl]

what are your thoughts?
I really want a brace, or to somehow sort my teeth out,
the one with the black arrow is set back, and sensitive and the most discoloured.
the one with the red arrow is also set back,
the upper front left is chipped and slightly in front of the one to its right,
I'm not too fussed about the colour, and realise that my lower teeth are not too noticeable when i smile (picture 4) but is noticeable when i open my mouth, pic 3
Pic 2 and 4 is my normal comfortable resting place for my teeth, and i have a overhang of the top teeth,
1 and 3 is my front teeth touching, which is slightly sore in pic 1 due to the red arrowed tooth being sensitive
The main thing im worried about, is the lower front tooth that is sensitive, because its crammed, and also the upper front tooth that is set back, and the chipped upper front tooth too
just curious as to your thought? I realise that they are not terrible but not to my liking.
any thoughts would be appreciated :-) Carl

[Dr Pav Khaira]

It would be easy to resolve your issues with braces. Options available would be Invisalign, 3 Month Braces or even Incognito.

With regards to the sensitivity issues you have they may not be related to your tooth position and this would obviously need to be assessed, and your chipped tooth may need some form of bonding afterwards to correct the chip

I hope this helps

[davidbloom]

Dear Carl

Not bad pictures if a little blurred. The most conservative way to correct your crowded teeth would be braces. From what I can see the best 2 options ( each with pros and cons) would be
1. Inman aligners - These would usually be used to treat each arch separately as most people would find it hard to wear top and bottom together. Each arch could be corrected in about 3 months as long as you wear the appliance some 20 hours a day. The advantage is that the appliance is removable but it does rely on you the patient wearing it
2.Short term fixed orthodontics such as the six month smile. The brackets are bonded to the teeth and so not removable but as they are tooth coloured they are not too noticeable. Both arches can be treated together in approx 5-7 months.

Costs would be similar with option 2 possibly being slightly cheaper and both options would require permanent retention. The small chip could be assessed once the teeth are straightened and could be restored with composite bonding. If you did want brighter teeth, whitening could be carried out before the bonding. The changes are minor but would change the way you feel about your smile and so well worth considering. Veneers could provide an instant change but would involve tooth preparation and so are much more invasive and so not really the best option on your case..

The sensitivity may be related to how the teeth touch( as shown in your pic 1) and aligning the teeth may help this . If not conservative methods could help treat this but a full examination would be required to assess this and all aspects of your mouth to confirm the above

David Bloom