3 Ways to Improve Your Smile From Underdeveloped Teeth Ledbetter Family Dentistry dentures-immediate-denturesWhen you lose a tooth, the natural thing to happen next is for your permanent teeth to come in. However, sometimes the new permanent tooth fails to fully develop. When this happens, it can affect the overall appearance of your smile. So, what can we do to help you get the smile of your dreams?

 

First, if your permanent tooth or teeth do not come in, it can cause a gap and can make your smile look “off.” When this happens, we can perform what we call canine substitution. This procedure includes using braces to help fill the gap. Depending on the size of your teeth, they can be reshaped to make them appear more like a lateral incisor, and the gums possibly reshaped around them as well through cosmetic surgery.

 

Secondly, we can use a dental bridge. It is called a bridge because it bridges the gap between any number of missing teeth. A traditional bridge requires the teeth on either side of the gap to be reduced in size, which becomes a permanent alteration to accommodate these crowns. We can also use a “bonded bridge” which uses adhesives to attach pieces of dental material from either side of the prosthetic tooth to one or more supporting teeth.

 

Third, we can use dental implants. Dental implants are placed in your jawbone which fuses with your natural bone and becomes a sturdy base for supporting one or more artificial teeth, called crowns. They are without a doubt the strongest devices available to support replacement teeth, and they will look, feel, and function naturally. With a dental implant, you can replace your missing tooth with an artificial tooth, and no one will be the wiser. We can even get it to match the color of your teeth to make it blend in perfectly.

 

If you or your child has undeveloped teeth, call us for a consultation to see what option is best. Schedule a consultation today.