I have found over the years that less is more in dentistry. The primary motvation of most dentists is to save teeth, but they are also motivated to do more dentistry. It’s kind of built in. However, my experience is that the more times you work on a tooth the shorter the lifespan of that tooth. In other words if you work on a tooth too many times, it eventually fails and may need to be extracted.
A Tooth has 9 Lives Just Like a Cat
In my practice I use the phrase, ‘A cat has nine lives and so does a tooth,’ meaning by you work on a tooth 9 or 10 times you are reaching the end of the lifespan of that tooth and what dentistry can do to save it. Therefore, it behooves the patient and dentist to do what can be done to save tooth structure, because dentistry is not as good as your real teeth. We do our best, but Mother Nature had a better plan and materials to work with.
The Bottom Line About Root Canals and Veneers
The best 2 examples of this are avoiding root canals whenever possible, and being very conservative with cosmetic dentistry. Root canals greatly shorten the lifespan of a tooth, and veneers cut away healthy tooth structure in many cases in order to get veneers or crowns to cover the teeth. A general rule is don’t be too aggressive in removing tooth structure, because it cannot be replaced once gone. Also, keep in mind that all dental work will eventually need to be replaced and then more tooth structure will need to be removed everytime you do this.
An Example of Conservative Bonding
Here is an example of what can be done to improve cosmetics and the smile without removing new tooth structure.
Here is a patient suffering from a non-cosmetic smile due to old bonding, grinding and appliances that did not fit him. As you can see this was a situatlon that needed something to be done. It was almost a ‘have to’ rather than a ‘want to’.
Here is the same patient after bonding with composites and not porcelain veneers, which would have required more tooth structure to be removed. I only cleaned up the stained teeth and did not cut any more of the teeth for the thicker porcelain to be made. The composite layers were thinner and we were still able to acheive a very good cosmetic result. The patient was ecstatic, as he got exactly what he wanted.
As you can see there are often ways to improve your smile and your dental health without having to do aggressive and expensive dental treatment. Another common misconception is that root canals are required most of the time when crowns are done. This is not the case and most of the time it’s avoidable, especially if the tooth is kept cool during the work.
These are just some of the ways we, at Integrative Dentistry, avoid more aggressive dentistry, and thereby potentially shorted the lifespan of a tooth. This can also negatively affect your bite.
Feel free to reach out to us if you would like to discuss your individual situation or would like to set up an consultation/exam with either Dr Evans or Dr ORielly.
