Archive for the ‘Case Studies’ Category

Porcelain Crowns: Straighter Teeth

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

The Problem: The patient had overlapped, angled teeth that were unattractive. The patient did wish to straighten them with braces. Instead, the patient chose to come to Donaldson & Guenther for cosmetic dentistry.

After porcelain crowns:
After porcelain crowns (more…)

Porcelain Crowns: Straighter Front Teeth

Monday, June 30th, 2008

The Problem: The patient wanted straighter teeth that looked very natural and matched the color of her other teeth.

The Solution: We put porcelain crowns on her front four teeth which permitted a nicer alignment. We made them just a touch lighter so they would look nice and still blend in with her natural teeth.

Before porcelain crowns:

Before porcelain crowns

After porcelain crowns:

After porcelain crowns

Cosmetic Gum Surgery & Porcelain Crowns

Monday, June 9th, 2008

The Problem: The patient had short, worn teeth and too much gumline showing in the smile.

Before cosmetic gum surgery:

Before cosmetic gum surgery and porcelain crowns

The Solution: AT Donaldson & Guenther, we raised the patient’s gumline with cosmetic surgery and gave back beautiful, youthful proportions with porcelain crowns.

After cosmetic gum surgery:

After cosmetic gum surgery and porcelain crowns

Close up of patient after cosmetic gum surgery and porcelain crowns

Porcelain onlays for back teeth

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

The Problem: Old fillings can lead to a number of problems. They can make your teeth dark. Your teeth often develop fractures and become weak. However, simply replacing old fillings with new ones does little to strengthen a tooth weakened by stress fractures. I have seen too many of those teeth end up with large areas breaking away, in need of root canal treatment, or even split and be lost because the stress crack kept growing. Like a cracked windshield, the big fracture often occurs unexpectedly, suddenly, and at an inconvenient time. Those tragedies can almost always be avoided with appropriate and timely intervention.

After porcelain onlays:

After porcelain onlays

The Solution: Porcelain onlays have become a premier choice for restoring back teeth. They are the best in many situations for several reasons. They look amazingly real. More than 95% of our patients look in the mirror and say “WOW! That looks so real!” And they do. Porcelain onlays make the tooth stronger again and we leave a lot of the natural tooth. They offer beauty, strength, and preservation at the same time. Like most of today’s dentistry, onlays can be fantastic if your dentist pays attention to the details and has some artistic finesse. At Donaldson & Guenther we are guilty of trying. We work hard to exceed your expectations and consistently provide world class dentistry.

Before porcelain onlays:
Before porcelain onlays

Porcelain Veneers: improved length, proportion and smile line

Friday, May 16th, 2008

The Problem: The patient no longer liked the old bonding on her front teeth. It was yellowed and worn. Her center teeth were too short and the sizes were out of proportion. This made her smile look worn and slightly up-side-down.

Portrait of patient after porcelain veneers

The Solution: Donaldson & Guenther created a more youthful and healthier smile with porcelain cosmetic veneers. The patient’s center teeth are now larger and longer. Her side teeth are prettier by being a little smaller and delicate in shape. The patient is thrilled with the results.

Before porcelain veneers:

Before porcelain veneers

After porcelain veneers:

After porcelain veneers

Porcelain Veneers: Closing Spaces

Monday, May 5th, 2008

The Problem: This wonderful young lady and her family wanted a fuller, more beautiful smile. As a graduation present, her grandmother paid for her to come to Donaldson & Guenther to get it. When she came to us, she had spaces between her teeth; also, the center left tooth had been fractured and bonded previously.

Porecelain veneers patient
The Solution: It is very important to develop good proportions when closing spaces and not just fill the gaps. The two front teeth should be prominent and the side teeth smaller with a slight angle. Most “cosmetic” dentistry I (Dr. D) see looks too plump and without natural inclinations. The porcelain veneers we did here compliment the patient’s fresh youthful beauty. Click on the photo of her face to see her smile more closely.

Before porcelain veneers:
Before porcelain veneers

After porcelain veneers:
After porcelain veneers

Porcelain Veneers: Bright & Beautiful

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

The Problem:This patient was no longer happy with her old bonding. She wanted a bold bright look.

Before porcelain veneers

The Solution:Eight porcelain veneers on top and eight below rendered a beautiful result. Sorry, we can’t show you more, like her full smile. People just think her teeth are bleached. Only her husband and best friend know. Her teeth are truly bright and beautiful.. and very natural looking when you see her smile.

After porcelain veneers

Complex Restoration: Bone Grafting, Implants, Crowns

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

The Problem:This young man had a number of congenitally missing teeth and many poorly formed teeth. He and his parents wanted a great smile and better chewing with the back teeth. They also preferred implants to replace missing teeth instead of bridges.
Patient portrait after bone grafting, implants, and crowns

The Solution: We fulfilled the patient’s hopes by grafting in bone to permit several implants in the back areas and developed a beautiful smile and functional bite with comprehensive porcelain crowns and veneers. What a great gift before heading off to college!

Before restoration:

Before bone grafting, implants, and crowns

After restoration:
After bone grafting, implants, and crowns


Complex Restoration: Porcelain Crown & Bridge Prosthodontics

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

The Problem: This patient had heavily worn out teeth as well as many broken teeth and fillings. Gum disease was starting to undermine the stability of his teeth. Unfortunately. one of his front teeth was hopeless.

A healthy smile!After restoration - front


The Solution: At Donaldson and Guenther, we increased the patient’s tooth size and length by opening the bite dimension. He had gum treatment while in beautiful temporary restorations. Finally, we added full mouth crowns with a bridge replacing the top left front tooth. John and his wife are both thrilled with the results. John’s testimonial appears in our blog. The result is a wonderful and healthy smile!

Before Restoration:

Before - frontBefore - bottomBefore - top

After Restoration:
After - top After restoration- bottom