Fixing Small Teeth

I have really small teeth. They look like baby teeth. Can I use dental bonding to make them look bigger?

Steven O.- Amityville, NY

Steven,

You can make your teeth larger, but I do not recommend dental bonding for that procedure. Instead I recommend you get porcelain veneers. Here is why.  Dental bonding is a good cosmetic procedure in specific cases, but not this one. It is made of a composite resin. Though it feels hard to the touch, it is actually softer than tooth enamel. It is also susceptible to scratching and staining.

By contrast, porcelain veneers are made of a material that is very durable, stronger even than tooth enamel. They are also stain resistant and last for decades. They are more expensive than dental bonding, but bonding doesn’t last for very long and by the time you replace it over and over again, you will have spent more money than if you had just gotten porcelain veneers in the first place.

One word of caution.  You have to be very careful which cosmetic dentist you get to do your smile makeover. There is not a recognized specialty in cosmetic dentistry, so anyone who learns a few cosmetic procedures can call themselves a cosmetic dentist. It takes many hours of post-graduate training and experience to become really skilled. Beyond that there is the matter of artistry, which differs greatly from dentist to dentist. You are honestly better off doing nothing at all than you would be if you had a set a bad set of porcelain veneers bonded on.

You may be wondering how you would know if a cosmetic dentist is good enough to do your veneers. One of the easiest ways (that I would recommend) is to go to the mynewsmile.com website. Here they have done all the research for you and you can look up qualified cosmetic dentists by state.  Dr. Newkirk is one of their recommended dentists for Illinois and he had to show his expertise by providing documentation of his cosmetic training as well as give visual evidence of his artistry on specific cases he has worked on.

This blog is brought to you by Naperville Cosmetic Dentist Dr. David Newkirk.