CASE STUDY | Missing Tooth, Caused by Trauma of Car Accident; Waited to Repair, Causing Additional Damage

Patient: Andrea, 25 Years

Problem: Stopped Smiling & Lost Her Joy

Solution: All-Porcelain Bridge | Tooth Replacement

We’d like to introduce you to Andrea…

Problem:

Andrea is 25.  Her smile restoration story began one year earlier, when she had her front tooth knocked out in a car accident. Andrea became very self conscious and hated the way her missing tooth made her smile look, but she could not afford to fix it. This caused her to become distraught and depressed. As she sank to a lower state emotionally, it didn’t take long for Andrea to make the decision to stop smiling completely.

Solution:

One year after Andrea lost her tooth in a car accident and months after she had decided to stop smiling, she finally made the decision that she was ready to replace her tooth.  However, the area had healed in an irregular way, making it difficult to treat, and she wanted to fix her missing tooth without implants. What was the best solution? An all-porcelain bridge was created, minor gum tissue contouring to fill in her gap, restore her missing tooth and beautify her smile.

Process:

After making the decision that Andrea was ready to enhance not only her smile, but restore her overall joy and quality of life, we created an all-porcelain bridge to restore her missing tooth. Because the area had already healed irregularly, we also did minor tissue contouring to fill in her gap.

Let’s explain a couple of these procedures:

• What is a Bridge? A dental bridge is an option when there are teeth on either side of the missing tooth. A bridge is a fixed solution that stays cemented in the mouth and does not come out. This method can involve cutting down the teeth on either side of the missing tooth to be able to connect them together.  A bridge can replace one or two missing teeth easily, and sometimes more if there is enough support. Learn more HERE.
• What Is Gum Contouring? The procedure of gum contouring uses specialized tools or a laser to perform ablation, which removes irregularly formed gum tissue from trauma or excess gum tissue growing over the teeth. These laser-based procedures use technology that helps seal the tissue to reduce bleeding, creates a more precise shape and better targets hollowed areas or pockets where bacteria can form. For health reasons, gum contouring slows the progression of tooth decay and for patients with periodontal disease, removing the excess tissue can limit its recurrence. Learn more HERE.

Outcome:

Clearly, the results of Andrea’s transformation is that of an incredibly beautiful, not to mention dazzling, natural, pearly white and confident smile!

To put it mildly, Andrea loves her new smile and the BEST part is … once again, she’s SHARING HER SMILE with the world!!

We created one all-porcelain bridge for Andrea’s upper tooth and did some minor gum tissue contouring to help fill in the gaps. She LOVES to Smile now! Check out the difference in her actual smile in the photos:

• Before photo (top picture): her missing tooth had healed irregularly over time, causing her gums to look uneven.
• After photo (lower picture): shows Andrea’s transformed smile after two short weeks of healing! Her hand-crafted all-porcelain bridge was customized to not only create a restored, natural-looking smile, but it also perfectly matches her other front tooth creating a symmetrical and youthful smile. Notice how healthy her teeth, gums and smile look!

Just because life takes a natural toll it doesn’t have to steal your smile. Nor does it mean that we have to like it OR that we have to live with it! A smile transformation, like Andrea’s, is a long-term solution — not a short-term fix.

Close your eyes and imagine …

Steal Your Smile

I’m at a party, on a date, out with friends or family and someone says something funny or cracks a joke … it’s HILARIOUS and I want to laugh and smile. But because I have a gap in my smile, a missing tooth caused by the physical trauma of a car accident, I absolutely will not smile or laugh. Why? Because I’m so ashamed and unhappy with my smile, that I don’t want anyone to see it. Don’t a situation like this steal your smile.

From Bad to Worse

The emotional toll of your missing tooth goes from covering your mouth to hide to your smile to the hopelessness of feeling ashamed, unhappy, unworthy because you perceive your smile to be “ugly”. Or into an even deeper mental spiral to: I AM UGLY. You lose your joy and the twinkle in your eyes dim. The conscious decision to stop smiling, to no longer allow yourself to show expression, can lead to mental health issues that include depression. It doesn’t have to be that way! You don’t have to let anything steal your smile.

We Can Help

How horrible is this … to have a missing tooth steal your smile? This very feeling of despair is why we, as dental professionals, strive every day to help our patients restore their smile. Everyone deserves to smile, laugh, and enjoy life!

Andrea LOVES Her Smile and she LOVES TO SHARE HER SMILE!!

Andrea loves her smile so much that she has referred many family members and friends to our practice because we helped her feel and look better.

FEEL BETTER: We say “feel better” first because, this simple act of giving Andrea her smile back made her feel better She feels more beautiful on the inside which translates into looking better on the outside.

LOOK BETTER: How can this change your outward appearance? Because now your eyes shine with the twinkle of confidence and happiness and then, you start smiling again. This simple decision to start smiling  again, what a great decision that is.