Very Yellow Teeth Change With Porcelain Veneers To a Great Smile by Dr. Huefner

Extremely yellow teeth really frustrated Paul. He finally had “had it” and was ready to do something about it. He had tried bleaching, but his teeth were just too discolored for bleaching to give him the whiter, brighter smile than he had always wanted. Also, his teeth were crooked and he had a number of the mercury-amalgam fillings done in his youth on his side and back teeth. Not only did those discolor his teeth almost blackish, but they were weakening his teeth and they were starting to crack and break. It was time to replace the old dentistry and get a smile that he would be proud of.
BEFORE

Dr. Huefner recommended porcelain veneers for Paul, as not only could his teeth be made a lot whiter (as he had always wanted them to be), but they would be straight and even. Also, the veneers on the side teeth could be made so at the same time they would replace the mercury amalgam fillings giving him two benefits….better looking teeth and also stronger.
AFTER

Paul’s smile makeover with porcelain veneers was done in just a few visits, beginning to end just three weeks.

Dr. Norman Huefner, General and Cosmetic Dentistry, Laguna Niguel, CA

Peggy Gets New Smile with Porcelain Veneers by Dr. Huefner

Peggy’s teeth were straight after years of braces as a youngster, but she still didn’t like the way they looked. Actually, her front teeth did not have normal shapes. Also, her teeth leaned in and she wanted them whiter and brighter in color.

BEFORE

Peggy decided to have porcelain veneers to correct her teeth. Porcelain veneers were done on her eight front teeth.

AFTER

Peggy came back to our office yesterday and we took her final portrait photos. As you can tell by the way she is smiling, Peggy loves the way her new smile looks!

Dr. Norman Huefner, General and Cosmetic Dentistry, Laguna Niguel, CA

Porcelain Crowns and Porcelain Crowns Create Beautifully Natural Smile for Jackie by Dr. Huefner

Have you ever noticed someone’s teeth, the fact that they looked fake and unnatural? Jackie had two old porcelain over metal crowns on her front two teeth and she hated the way they looked. They were opaque and “just didn’t look natural and real”, were Jackie’s comments.
BEFORE
After looking more closely, Jackie didn’t like the color of her other teeth either. She wanted whiter teeth! Also, her lateral incisors (the teeth next to the front two teeth) were small and one was a little gray. What could she do to have a beautiful, natural smile….the kind that she had always wanted?Dr. Huefner suggested that she first bleach her teeth (teeth whitening), making all her natural teeth whiter, which she did. Then he suggested replacing the front two crowns with new all-porcelain crowns and making porcelain veneers for her lateral incisors. Thus, all four front teeth would match and be in proper proportion. Jackie agreed to Dr. Huefner’s proposed cosmetic treatment and the treatment was completed in just a few visits over a three week period. Here is the results Dr. Huefner achieved for Jackie by just treating her four front teeth.
AFTER
Afterwards, Dr. Huefner took these portraits of Jackie in his studio. As you can see, Dr. Huefner does both cosmetic dentistry and portrait photography for his cosmetic patients.

Dr. Norman Huefner, General and Cosmetic Dentistry, Laguna Niguel, CA

A New Smile with Porcelain Veneers Creates a More Professional Appearance by Dr. Huefner

For many patients who have discolored, chipped and otherwise unattractive teeth and are seeking a more professional appearance, porcelain veneers may be the best answer. This gentleman below was a perfect example of someone in that situation, he wanted a nicer smile. After discussing it with him for some time, he decided that he also wanted a more youthful appearance, and chose a whiter porcelain color (“Hollywood white”) and loved it.

BEFORE

AFTER

It is extremely important that the patients become very involved in the color selection to be very satisfied with the ultimate results. In our cosmetic practice we will make suggestions as to what color veneers will look best in our opinion, but it is the patients who have the final decision. By the way, cosmetic treatment like this patient had only take a few appointments and is much easier than one would ever possibly imagine.

Dr. Norman Huefner, General and Cosmetic Dentistry, Laguna Niguel, CA

Correcting Very Discolored Teeth with Porcelain Veneers by Dr. Huefner

Jeff, a long time patient and friend, had broken several of his front teeth in his youth. They were fixed with plastic bonding filling material back in the early 1980s, but over the next two decades the old fashioned materials of that era has discolored significantly and he was ready for a change. He wanted to know what newer and better techniques and materials we had today so that he could finally have a “nice smile without discolored, chipped teeth”? He made it very clear that he wasn’t looking for a “perfect smile”, just wanting to fix the front teeth that looked so bad.

Our advice was to first bleach all his teeth (teeth whitening) so that whatever he chose to do, the final result would be matching the other whiter teeth, not the other yellowed teeth. He did that and got a great result with the “home tray method” of teeth whitening.

Then we discussed doing porcelain veneers on his upper front teeth, either four porcelain veneers to match the other teeth, or eight porcelain veneers to create a uniform shaped new smile. Jeff chose to only do the four front teeth with porcelain veneers.

The results we achieved for Jeff was great, but it could still be better. If you look closely, you’ll note that the canine (eye) tooth on his right (your left) is inset, and not straight. We discussed that if anytime in the future Jeff wanted to have us place a porcelain veneer on that tooth to make it match the other side, we could do that for him.

Dr. Norman Huefner, General and Cosmetic Dentistry, Laguna Niguel, CA

Personalizing and Individualizing Your New Smile with Porcelain Veneers by Dr. Huefner

You want a “new smile?” Choosing the best smile for you can be challenging because there are virtually a thousand different combinations of shape, length, texture, opacity/translucency and color (shade) that porcelain veneers can be made. Cosmetic dentistry is a true art form, and rarely would two different cosmetic dentists create the same kind of smile design for the same patient. Let me discuss the amazing aspect of individualizing porcelain veneers and the creation of an individualized “personality” by varying their shapes.

It is interesting, as the shape of the upper front six teeth each play a different role in this regard. The front two teeth, called the central incisors, have the role of indicating age. The teeth next to the central incisors, the second tooth on each side from the front teeth are called the lateral incisors. They are the teeth that impart gender to the smile design. The next tooth back from the lateral incisors, the “eye teeth” or canine teeth, impart personality. I will explain how each of these teeth perform their respective roles.

First, the central incisors, which are the most obvious teeth to be seen (or sometimes “not seen”). In a young person they appear rectangular, with rounded corners, and are usually 11mm or 12mm in length. However, with age and wear these teeth shorten, sometimes as much as 1-5mm by the time one gets to middle or late age. Along with shortening, they become more square in shape and with that also comes square corners rather than the normal rounds corners of younger teeth. Thus, for someone who is concerned with their appearance and their age, changing the length and shape of the central incisors porcelain veneers can give one a much younger looking smile. Also, teeth in general usually darken with age, so to compliment this we almost always make the porcelain veneers lighter in color, depending on the wishes of the patient.

Next, varying the shape of the lateral incisors porcelain veneers can make a smile look more feminine or more masculine, imparting some gender characteristics. Thus for women, we shape the lateral incisors porcelain veneers to be more rounded at the end, and also slightly shorter than the central incisors. We call this a “gull wing” silhouette.

FEMININE SMILE DESIGN

For men, we lengthen the lateral incisors porcelain veneers to be almost the same length as the central incisors and make them more square in shape, which makes their teeth look more masculine.

MASCULINE SMILE DESIGN

But the most interesting is the choice in shape of the canine teeth, as these are the teeth that most imparts “personality” to the smile design. Cuspids that are pointy, more prominent, and longer than their adjacent teeth impart a more “aggressive” smile. This is used most often when a patient wants to appear “more powerful” with their new smile. The opposite can be created by flattening or rounding the tip of the cuspids and making them less prominent, giving the patient a more “passive” appearance. This design would be used most often with a large person or one with many dominant features who wants to soften their appearance with their porcelain veneers. But, most patients prefer that we create for them a more normal cuspid, not leaning to either the “aggressive” or “passive” smile design.

There is no “right” or “wrong” smile design, but what is most important that the cosmetic dentist discuss smile design options with the patient and that the patient have some input as to their preferences. Sometimes these are subtle differences with regard to shape, length and color of their new porcelain veneers and other times the differences can make a dramatic difference.

Dr. Norman Huefner, General and Cosmetic Dentistry, Laguna Niguel, CA

Gummy Smile Improved and Short Teeth Made Longer with Laser by Dr. Huefner

Monica had just gotten out of braces. Her teeth were straight, but seemingly too short and she showed too much of her gums when she smiled. She wanted longer looking teeth. What could be done with cosmetic dentistry to correct her problem and give her a nicer smile?

BEFORE
By using the dental gum laser, Dr. Huefner reshaped away some of her excess gum tissue, making her teeth appear longer and reducing a lot of her gummy smile.
Below is the photo taken one week after laser gum reshaping.

AFTER DENTAL GUM LASER
There are many great things about this approach. Healing takes only a few days and the procedure with laser can be done with just a little local anesthetic (some times with only using a topical cream anesthetic). There is essentially no bleeding afterwards and minimal discomfort. Most patients only find that they feel like taking a Tylenol or Advil for one day.

Dr. Norman Huefner, General and Cosmetic Dentistry, Laguna Niguel, CA

Cover Girl Smile with Porcelain Veneers for Tierra by Dr. Huefner

Beautiful Tierra appeared in the 2008 MAC calendar for both February and September. Here are the calendar photos as they appeared.

Tierra was Ms. Desert States 2007 from Reno, NV, and was second runner-up in the Mrs. U.S.-Globe Pageant. Prior to competing in the pageant Tierra came to Dr. Huefner for porcelain veneers (of course, done by MAC, Microdental Advanced Ceramics).

Dr. Norman Huefner, General and Cosmetic Dentistry, Laguna Niguel, CA

Porcelain Veneers Completes the Picture and Creates a Beautiful Smile by Dr. Huefner

After having chipped and broke several of her front teeth as a child Farah was ready for a “smile improvement”. The old plastic fillings had worn and discolored. Of special note, she was pursuing a modeling career and therefore it was very important for her to have a much nicer looking smile with “great looking teeth”.

BEFORE

Dr. Huefner suggested porcelain veneers for her front teeth, as she also had two “peg-like” lateral incisors (the teeth next to the larger two teeth). Her new smile with porcelain veneers was “sensational”, as you can clearly see here in the photo below.

AFTER

Several weeks later, Dr. Huefner took some portraits of Farah in his studio. As you can see in the photos below, she is an amazingly beautiful young lady with the perfect smile for her face!
Dr. Norman Huefner, General and Cosmetic Dentistry, Laguna Niguel, CA

How Cosmetic Dentistry and Porcelain Veneers Can Correct a Crooked Smile by Dr. Huefner

Facial beauty is a fascinating subject and there have been some interesting studies with regard to the perception of facial beauty. The results are that symmetry is oftentimes much more important than individual features. Since teeth and the person’s smile are the strongest focus area (where your attention is drawn when speaking to or looking at), the symmetry of the teeth and the smile is incredibly important! However, many people have at least some inherent asymmetry: an eye higher than the other, a nose that is off, one side of the face longer than the other, lips that are move differently on one side than the other or show more teeth on one side than other when the person speaks or smiles, etc. Most of the time this isn’t a significant problem, but for others like this patient of mine, her crooked smile really bothered her.

MISALIGNED OLD DENTISTRY BEFORE TREATMENT

Note how the teeth all point down to her lower right (her right is on the left of the photo), as seen from the five black lines. Also, that the bottom edges of the teeth cant (lean to one side) as well, as seen on the red line. Together, these all threw off her smile and detracted considerably from much of the beauty of her face.

BEFORE

To make things more interesting, this patient had some old dentistry that she didn’t like. The teeth and gums appeared as having different lengths. She wanted a whiter, brighter smile that would be even and symmetrical and offset her facial asymmetries. So, taking all aspects and features of her face in consideration here is the beautiful result we achieved with porcelain veneers and a new all-ceramic porcelain bridge (replacing her old-fashioned porcelain-to-metal bridge).

AFTER

In order to create a superb smile and result like this it is particularly important for the dentist to pay very close attention to all of the patient’s facial features. We fine tuned the gum symmetry and length, shape of the teeth using provisional (temporary) restorations, which allowed her to “test drive” her new smile first (we call this the “trial smile“). After achieving her full approval at this stage we gave our ceramist very specific and precise instructions on how to complete the final porcelain veneers and bridge. Above you’ll see our end result, and of course, a very happy and satisfied patient.

Dr. Norman Huefner, General and Cosmetic Dentistry, Laguna Niguel, CA