Posted by writeradmin
I hope you can help me and my daughter. She just turned twelve and had a nasty fall on her bike. It damaged her two front teeth. The center is pretty well gone and the teeth just look like a frame around an empty hole. Her pediatric dentist suggested we do composite bonding to fill in the missing parts. We agreed, excited she’d have her smile back. This is such a tenuous age where appearances matter a lot. Unfortunately, the bonding was a disaster. The color doesn’t match and it is all lumpy and uneven. I was hoping he could at least smooth it out and we’d try to whiten it but he said that once it’s finished there is no way to change it. Please tell me there is something we can do?
Janie
Dear Janie,
I am so sorry that this has happened to your daughter. You are right about this being a difficult age and the other children can be terrible bullies. While your daughter’s dentist did recommend the right treatment. It does sound like he did not have the skills to do the procedure. This does not surprise me. Most pediatric dentists do not invest in cosmetic dentistry training. There is not much call for it.
While the dental bonding cannot be changed, it can be completely redone. I would tell your pediatric dentist that the results are unacceptable and ask for a refund. Then you can go to a cosmetic dentist to have it done. Your daughter is old enough to see a cosmetic dentist and some of them also see children a lot younger than your daughter.
I would take the precaution of looking at the dentist’s smile gallery to see what type of results they get with their cosmetic work. Ask specifically to look at dental bonding cases they have done. As you can see from the before and after images above, when done correctly the result will be completely natural. You want someone with skill and this is an advanced procedure. The last thing your daughter needs is a repeat of the last go.
This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Cosmetic Dentist Dr. John Theriot.