Anxious Patient & Emotional about veneers and gum contouring

[Calmy]

Hi all, just joined.
Finally plucked up the courage and recently saw a cosmetic dentist to discuss 4 front teeth (1 crown and 3 veneers). Made a complete fool of myself. The dentist only asked me to take a seat in a comfy chair and before I knew it I burst out into tears. He was very nice about and didn't make me feel stupid but I do cringe everytime I think about it. Has anyone else done this?
Also he advised to have some gum contouring just over one tooth where the gum line is lower which I have agreed to. I know I could ring the practice up and ask the question but I can't wait till the practice opens again. Does anyone know how long the healing process is?

[Dr Sepehrara]

Hi and thank you for your enquiry.

First of all I just want to reassure you that there is no need for you to feel embarassed at all. There are many people who feel the same way as you. At our practice we see many new patients who are apprenhensive and anxious about dental treatment, so please do not think you are the only one.

With regards to gum recontouring, the healing time varies with the technique used. There are many other factors that affect the healing process as well, such as general health, gum health, oral hygiene etc.

Therefore it is difficult to give you an exact time for the healing process to take place. I do recommend you ask your dentist as he will be aware of all those factors mentioned above.

Hope this helps.

Please feel free to message me if you require more information.

Kind Regards

Raha

[Calmy]

Thanks for replying. Would appreciate a rough guide, are we talking weeks or months ?

also I'm due to have a diagnostic wax up, would this be done before or after the gum contouring ?

[Dr Pav Khaira]

Hi Calmy,

Raha is right. And diagnostic waxing should be done prior to gum contouring otherwise the final gum position will be a guess rather than accurate position. Gum stabilisation normally takes 4 months, but most healing will occur in the first 4 weeks no matter what type of surgery is performed. The only difference being that the more aggressive the surgery the more discomfort over the first 2 weeks. Without bone surgery you can also expect about 50% rebound over a 12 month period.

Hope this helps

[Dr Sepehrara]

Each case is different and this depends on the factors mentioned earlier. Some cases we have carried out at our practice have taken about a month, while other cases have taken several months. Therefore healing times are different and depend on the type of procedure, on the patient, on the general health etc.

At our practice, we use diagnostic wax ups to show the patients how their teeth will look like and to help the dentist to plan the case from start to finish. We do this before any form of cosmetic reconstructive dentistry.

As I said, your dentist will be the best person to answer your questions.

Best Wishes,

Raha