A gentleman came to see Dr. Whitman to inquire about dental crowns for his bottom teeth. He had his upper six teeth crowned several years ago at a previous dental office. His primary concern and reasons for wanting dental crowns was the crowding with his lower teeth.
He had older, larger restorations that had stained over time on those teeth. In recent years, he noticed the teeth had shifted. The patient wasn’t interested in pursuing braces or orthodontic treatment to align the lower teeth. Instead, he was interested in getting dental crowns to match the upper teeth, realign the lower teeth, and fix the older, stained restorations.
However, the patient was concerned that doing crowns on the lower six teeth would be difficult due to the crowding of the teeth and the fact that it would be difficult to accurately match the shade of his older crowns on top. Fortunately, Dr. Whitman was able to help.
First Appointment: Impressions and Temporary Crowns
During the first appointment, Dr. Whitman took photos and prepared the patient’s lower six teeth for dental crowns. She then took the impressions and photos to a local lab that Leesburg Family & Cosmetic Dentistry works with. This way, the lab had as much information as possible to match the contour, shape, and look of the patient’s upper crowns. The patient left his first appointment wearing temporary crowns that Dr. Whitman had fabricated in-office for him.
To address the patient’s concern about matching the shade of his upper teeth, Dr. Whitman had the patient himself visit the lab so they could do a custom shade for the new crowns and see the existing crowns for themselves in person. This ensured that the lab would be able to customize the crowns to accurately match the patient’s existing upper dental crowns for a uniform smile.
Second Appointment: Permanent Restorations
The patient had been wearing the temporary dental crowns for about two and a half weeks up until his second appointment. When he came in for his final appointment, all six dental crowns were ready for his lower teeth, and Dr. Whitman fitted them.
The patient was happy with the work that was done, and was very pleased that the lab was able to replicate the crowns to match his existing teeth. In fact, he was so pleased with the results that he intends to return to have further crown work done.