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I did the final stage of Project New Smile today - 5+ hours in the dentist's chair! Right now my mouth and gums are a little sore from all the stretching and such, but it looks great. ;cD
When I went in this afternoon, the dentist started by removing all the old composite material. I was stunned to see how awful my teeth looked - even worse than the nicotine/coffee yellow, underneath that were two very grey, almost black teeth! Apparently once you get a root canal and the tooth dies, it's not at all uncommon for them to just go black. Add to that the broken front tooth, and I looked like a contestant for a jack o'lantern contest. I could laugh at it though, because I knew what I was going to go home with. Or at least, hoped I was going home with!
Then I had this charming sort of rubber sheet to wear over my tongue and lower teeth, because you can't get the composite stuff wet when you're applying it. It clamped to one of my back molars, then was attached to two stakes like a tent that stuck out of my mouth. Only my top teeth were uncovered. It's a bit difficult to explain, but suffice it to say I couldn't talk at all, and I spent a lot of time wiping drool off my chin! LOL! It looks something like this, though:
Then she'd put on these metal braces-like things to help push back my gums so the coating would come right to the top of my teeth. Then spacers to make sure that I didn't end up with one giant tooth. She then put on some kind of glue-like stuff, then the composite, which she shaped and formed and painted as she went. The tooth was then exposed to a blue light which made the composite harden.
Anyway, after finally getting the composite on all my teeth, she then went through and started making some adjustments to correct the bite, some shaping stuff, what have you. Then I looked at it and told her what I wanted changed, so there was some more grinding and sanding. Finally a protective sealant on it all, and voila! New smile!
I'm going to have to go back for some more minor stuff - now that the anesthetic has completely worn off and I can actually *feel* my face again, there is a rough spot right on the inside of my left incisor near the gumline that's annoying me. But other than that, I'm thrilled. Broke, but thrilled! >.<
Before (and people wondered why I NEVER smiled!)
After (just try and stop me now!)
When I went in this afternoon, the dentist started by removing all the old composite material. I was stunned to see how awful my teeth looked - even worse than the nicotine/coffee yellow, underneath that were two very grey, almost black teeth! Apparently once you get a root canal and the tooth dies, it's not at all uncommon for them to just go black. Add to that the broken front tooth, and I looked like a contestant for a jack o'lantern contest. I could laugh at it though, because I knew what I was going to go home with. Or at least, hoped I was going home with!
Then I had this charming sort of rubber sheet to wear over my tongue and lower teeth, because you can't get the composite stuff wet when you're applying it. It clamped to one of my back molars, then was attached to two stakes like a tent that stuck out of my mouth. Only my top teeth were uncovered. It's a bit difficult to explain, but suffice it to say I couldn't talk at all, and I spent a lot of time wiping drool off my chin! LOL! It looks something like this, though:
Then she'd put on these metal braces-like things to help push back my gums so the coating would come right to the top of my teeth. Then spacers to make sure that I didn't end up with one giant tooth. She then put on some kind of glue-like stuff, then the composite, which she shaped and formed and painted as she went. The tooth was then exposed to a blue light which made the composite harden.
Anyway, after finally getting the composite on all my teeth, she then went through and started making some adjustments to correct the bite, some shaping stuff, what have you. Then I looked at it and told her what I wanted changed, so there was some more grinding and sanding. Finally a protective sealant on it all, and voila! New smile!
I'm going to have to go back for some more minor stuff - now that the anesthetic has completely worn off and I can actually *feel* my face again, there is a rough spot right on the inside of my left incisor near the gumline that's annoying me. But other than that, I'm thrilled. Broke, but thrilled! >.<
Before (and people wondered why I NEVER smiled!)
After (just try and stop me now!)
