SABRINA

Sabrina – This patient had several different dental problems that needed to be addressed. These problems included many missing lower posterior teeth, decay, and excessive wear. Due to her missing teeth she had bilateral supra-eruption of the upper posterior bone and tooth segments that required cosmetic crown lengthening to raise the bone and gum tissue height and allow the necks of the upper posterior teeth to come much closer to the inner border of the upper lip. This surgery was performed by Huntsville periodontist Dr. Paul Weeks approximately 1 month prior to beginning any tooth preparation. Other gingival asymmetries involving the maxillary (upper) anterior teeth were also corrected by Dr. Weeks according to the smile design created by Dr. Beasley. After approximately 4-6 weeks of gum tissue healing, a diagnostic wax-up was utilized to help design this case based on a computer imaged smile design which applied the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry smile design principles. After the patient approved the computer imaged smile design. daVinci Dental Studios created a diagnostic wax-up which was used to create Sabrina’s provisional (or temporary) crowns based on a long list of parameters outlined by Dr. Beasley. This process makes it possible to take the computer imaged smile design off the screen and put it directly into the patient’s mouth for them to “test drive” the new teeth before any porcelain is made. Once the patient has had several days to test the temporary crowns, Dr. Beasley then evaluates the smile for proper aesthetics, phonetics, function, and comfort. Only after every aspect of the new smile is approved by the patient and the dentist is when an impression of the temporaries is made and sent to the dental laboratory to be converted into porcelain. This exacting process allows the patient to know with certainty that they will like the color, length, and design of their new smile because they actually get to wear the prototypes first. Sabrina utilized a Viajet oral irrigator daily during the time she was in provisionals to aid in keeping the gingival tissues healthy. All together, 12 upper teeth were restored with feldspathic to Lava porcelain crowns and 6 lower teeth were restored with feldspathic porcelain veneers. All missing lower posterior teeth were replaced with a removable partial denture utilizing Valplast tissue colored clasps which allow the lower partial denture to almost disappear. Porcelain veneers created by daVinci Dental Studios, West Hills, California. Valplast partial denture created by Trident Dental Laboratory, Hawthorne, California. Smile design and cosmetic dentistry performed by Dr. Brad Beasley.