CDEN0210

42 I I industry report _ non-prep veneers _How many people would liketheirteethtolook more beautiful? And how many of them avoid dental treatment merely because they fear that they have to sacrifice healthy tooth structure to achieve an aesthetic improvement? These questions cannot be answered, of course. However, dentists who have found it difficult to con- vince their patients of the advantages of corrective dental treatment because they are scared of having their teeth cut can now offer a conservative alterna- tive in the form of minimally invasive restorations. Misaligned teeth and gaps between teeth are un- pleasant.Nobodylikestoseelargegapsbetweentheir teeth, particularly not in the anterior region. These were exactly the concerns of this 17-year-old female patient, who presented to our practice with a wish to improvetheaestheticsofheranteriorteeth(Fig.1).At the same time, she insisted on preserving the healthy toothstructureofheranteriorteeth,andrequiredrel- atively inexpensive treatment. Mandibular teeth #35 and 44 were congenitally absent. In addition, the pa- tientlosttooth#36duetoendodonticcomplications. First,thepatientunderwentlong-termorthodon- tic treatment to close the existing gaps. The missing teeth #35 and 36 were replaced with implants, onto whichtemporaryrestorationswereplaced.Inorderto increasetheirstability,bracketswerebondedtothese restorations and to the entire natural dentition. _Precise planning, accurate outcome The patient’s aesthetic appearance was also im- paired by an excessive display of gum tissue (gummy smile). When she smiled, the asymmetrical contours of her gingival tissues became visible. The high dy- namics and slanted contour of her lips could not be influenced therapeutically (Fig. 2). Moreover, the teeth appeared barrel-shaped. Correcting such a situation is unforgiving of mistakes. The treatment has to be planned and per- formedwithabsoluteaccuracy.Forthispurpose,gum contouring was carried out upon completion of the cosmeticdentistry 2_2010 Minimally invasive anterior restorations with non-prep veneers Authors_ Dr Harald Streit & Bernhard Hellmuth, Germany Fig. 1_The patient disliked the gaps in her dentition and wished for the appearance of her teeth to be improved. Fig. 2_The aesthetic situation was impaired by a gummy smile. The gingival contour was uneven and the teeth appeared barrel-shaped. Fig. 3_The gingival contour was corrected in the area between teeth #11 and 21 with a soft-tissue laser. Fig. 4_The mirror image shows the healed tissue one week after the treatment. Fig. 2 Fig. 1 Fig. 4Fig. 3