Sculpting – Reshaping the incisal edges of the lower front teeth to improve the appearance of the smile and the face. One visit. No teeth braces, no shots, no pain. Before and after pictures. Dentist should learn how to properly reshape teeth.

These teeth initially showed a traumatic malocclusion that was unhealthy because some of the longer teeth were hitting harder against teeth in the opposite jaw than other teeth. Over time this could lead to a loose tooth and gum disease.

Occlusal adjustment as shown here certainly provides a significant cosmetic dentistry benefit but it equally provides a health benefit in the stable occlusion teeth bite that was created with all teeth closing against each other with equal biting force.

A porcelain veneer laminate failure on an upper left canine tooth. Notice the edge-to-edge occlusion teeth bite in this area and that the original dental veneer laminate did not wrap around to the palatal surface of the tooth to add extra retention. When creating porcelain veneers that will change a patient’s occlusion teeth bite because of a starting improper tooth position it is important to anticipate the extra bite forces and build extra mechanical retention into the tooth preparation.

This picture and x-ray shows occlusal trauma resulting from a poorly designed tooth crown. The oversized tooth crown effectively changed the original tooth position by making it longer resulting in a traumatic occlusion or malocclusion. Occlusal adjustment was performed on this dental crown so that during normal occlusion teeth bite this one tooth was no longer biting harder than the surrounding teeth. If this is not diagnosed and treated early then this tooth could suffer irreparable gum disease secondary to a traumatic occlusion.

A traumatic occlusion – bad bite – can cause periodontal gum disease. This 40 year old patient’s front teeth increasingly moved out towards her lip and down and she now has a teeth gap space. Fremitus – movement of tooth #8 – upon closing the mouth was noted as was the deep bite. Consider incisal adjustment of the lower anterior teeth and then periodontal scaling & root planing and then probably periodontal gum surgery in the upper anterior. Following gum healing consider dental bonding with a palatal splint after reducing the incisal length of tooth #8. This tooth moved easily back into a ideal tooth position with light finger pressure before the splint was placed. The lower incisal occlusal adjustment, the method employed to reshape teeth, created the room to move this upper tooth back.