Q: I am about to get porcelain laminate veneers on my top 10 teeth, but one tooth is missing. I will need an implant, but am concerned that the crown on this tooth will not match the veneers on the adjacent teeth. Debbie D. in Lantana.
A: No worries, Ms. “Double D”. (er… I mean Ms. Debbie.) Your aesthetic scenario has challenged us tooth docs for decades. A veneer is a thin facing of porcelain that is permanently adhered to the front surface of the tooth for cosmetic purposes. Some degree of your natural tooth shining through the veneer allows for a natural looking “warmth” and translucency. To accomplish this with a tooth being replaced by a metallic, gray metal titanium implant takes some ingenuity. We are now able to select tooth colored custom implant abutment posts to anchor metal-free all-porcelain crowns to their respective implant. These tooth colored abutments act as your adjacent real teeth that have been prepared for veneers. I will be covering this topic at my next seminar.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Mitchell Josephs will be giving a FREE LECTURE on Incision-Free Dental Implant Surgery, Digital Crowns & Veneers and Choosing a Dental Office, at the Ross Jewish Community Center on Jog Road in Boynton Beach on Wednesday February 22nd at 10:00 am. Attendees will receive a FREE copy of his book: “Tooth Talk”. Seating is limited. Call “Shawn” at 561-259-3016 to register.
Dr. Mitchell Josephs practices Cosmetic, Implant and General Dentistry in Palm Beach and hosts the “Tooth Talk” radio on WBZT AM1230. (www.radiotoothtalk.com) Dr. Mitchell Josephs is a Faculty Advisory Board member at McGill University’s Faculty of Dentistry.
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drjosephs@palmbeachdentist.com
44 Cocoanut Row, Palm Beach, FL 33480
888-DRTOOTH (888-378-6684)
www.palmbeachdentist.com