Bigger smile on a smaller budget

I was discussing smiles with a patient today who exclaimed that "Everyone wants a wider smile!" It is true that the world is crazy over big grins like Julia Robert's smile. It seems like the more teeth you show in your smile, the better the smile looks. When considering getting a smile makeover with porcelain veneers it is wise to go beyond the six front teeth. When smiling, everyone shows more than six teeth, some people show clear back to the last molar. So, when getting a consult for porcelain veneers there is the additional expense of not just 6 teeth, but back teeth too.

Traditionally, the way to make the smile bigger is to veneer 10 or 12 teeth making the cost too high for some people to get a smile makeover. Recently we have been advocating more of our consults to get porcelain veneers on the 6 front teeth, then use a less costly alternative to build out the smile with the back teeth called bonding. We can shape bonding material in the office to look like a porcelain veneer at a fraction of the cost of its lab fabricated counterpart. You can smile bigger on a slightly smaller budget!