Treating Uneven Spaces Between Teeth

Medically Reviewed by Sam Muslin, DDS, MAGD | Last Updated on 08/25/2022

He has been in college for a couple of years and began to take notice that there were uneven spaces between his teeth. He wanted to do something about it and heard about porcelain veneers and went to his dentist in Santa Barbara for an opinion. The cosmetic dentist recommended that his front six teeth get porcelain crowns in order to balance the sizes of his teeth. The patient wasn't sure that getting his healthy teeth ground down was a good idea.

Aren't All Dentists Equaly Trained?

All dentists are not the same just like all athletes are not the same. There skill level varies widely as some are professional athletes and other brag about their high school days! There are many dentists that have received training but their skill level also varies widely. This patient was smart enough to get a second opinion.

Before and After Treatment

Uneven spaces between teeth treated with prepless porcelain veneers

The Second Opinion

The second dentist also recommended grinding down his good teeth for cosmetic purposes. This dentist wanted to do porcelain crowns and also grind down his teeth for porcelain veneers on other teeth. He thought that he might go ahead and do it but he thought that he would consult one last dentist.

The Third Opinion – no grinding and widen smile

The third dentist said that none of his healthy teeth needed to be ground down and he did not even need a shot! What is wrong with this picture? How could one dentist’s opinion be “too good to be true yet be just what I wanted to hear”? It all evolved around the skill level of the dentist. The third dentist said that he could balance the sizes of his teeth without grinding down his teeth and could also widen his smile at the same time.

The third dentist was Dr. Sam Muslin and he explained that there was a huge health advantage to saving all of his tooth structure. Additionally, he explained that he works on the porcelain himself so he could balance the sizes of his teeth using his lab skills along with his ceramist. He also explained that the porcelain veneers would be super strong and would not break off like so many other dentist’s porcelain veneers because he has developed a very strong bonding method. This patient is a very smart young man and decided to move forward with the non-invasive dental treatment.

Treatment was Completed Years Ago

This treatment was completed years ago and the patient has since graduated from college, married and has his first child. He has gotten a great job opportunity and received promotions because his is very intelligent and also because he presents himself positively. Dr. Muslin believes that natural teeth should be saved and kept intact and that anti-aging dentistry, cosmetic dentistry and full mouth reconstruction dentistry that grind down healthy tooth structure is unnecessary and damaging to the long-term dental health of the patient. Dr. Muslin believes that with better training, many more dentist will be able to do full mouth bite reconstructions, overbite corrections and under bite corrections without grinding down teeth, without braces and without surgery.

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