Testimonials

If you are thinking about getting advanced cosmetic surgery done on your teeth, here’s an inside look at the dental make-over that Rob Campbell received from Dr. Natalie Archer D.D.S. This is a detailed account of his experience getting seven ceramic crowns across the top front of his mouth. The improvement is quite noticeable, and even a little spectacular.

You can see for yourself the permanent discolouration and uneven teeth of Rob’s original crooked smile in June 2010. Those stains are impact marks and they were caused by a heavy overbite in which his bottom teeth impact on the back of his front teeth, and over time this action more than anything else resulted in those unsightly marks.

What you can’t see is the decay inside the teeth, and large resin composites (fillings) that were leaking from all aspects of the margins. The stain and not having a bright smile bothered Rob. Because he knew his teeth were blemished, he was conscious not to smile in public, in front of girls or in the presence of cameras. And that’s a terrible way to go through life. Rob wanted the procedure done for aesthetic reasons, and Dr Archer saw the validity of the operation for dental health reasons – either way Rob’s front teeth were excellent candidates for permanent porcelain crowns.

Dr. Archer saved Rob’s smile, and now he has very attractive ceramic crowns on his front teeth. These man made teeth were hand crafted in a nearby dental lab. They were made from impressions taken in Dr. Archer’s office. Dr. Archer inserted these art pieces, one by one, right over top of Rob’s prepared teeth. These new teeth are white and beautiful. Now Rob Campbell is smiling again.

Let us reiterate however that this solution is not for everyone. Rob had three root canals in the region, and his teeth were uneven and stained and badly broken from wear and recurrent decay.

Seven anterior all ceramic crowns for Rob’s teeth 1-4 (upper right first premolar) to 2-3 (upper left canine) across top front of mouth cost $6800, before taxes.

If this is something you are considering, then please keep reading and hopefully this account of Rob’s dental procedure will show and tell you exactly what’s involved.

A dental make over is tricky business and the process involves a lot of work, with expensive tools. Have a look below to read about the entire operation, but be warned that some of the photos graphically illustrate some gory details. The patient feels no discomfort except in some isolated moments depending on the individual however; generally speaking there is no pain. Well there is of course the single isolated moments that are the tiny pin pricks of the anesthetic needles. Do you like getting needles at the dentist?

Before she did anything Dr Natalie Archer outlined the entire procedure in amazing comprehensive detail. This is complicated dentistry and requires at least two separate visits to the dental office, with minimum three hours of work on the first day, and two hours in the chair on the second visit.

Dr. Archer outlined a comprehensive treatment plan with costs and priorities for the patient to review and understand before proceeding with treatment.

Working from an accurate diagnostic wax-up, Dr Archer showed Rob what his teeth looked like now and what they would look like after the procedure.

Only after Rob agreed to everything did Dr Archer book time to do seven anterior all ceramic crowns for teeth 1-4 (upper right first premolar) to 2-3 (upper left canine). And a make-over story is what happened next.

Making Impressions for Dental Molds

Dr. Archer’s staff takes impressions of Rob’s teeth using strange cherry flavoured, quick-drying jello in a metal tray.

In the picture opposite, the assistant gently maneuvers a metal tray into Rob’s mouth. The bite sized vessel is filled with cherry flavoured gunk that’s a compound mixture from two different bottles – the quick drying foam hardens around Rob’s teeth in about two minutes. The foamy cherry flavoured mold will turn into a rock hard fossil in less than five minutes.

These are the dental molds by which the models of Rob’s bite were created and it is from those creations that his new teeth were fashioned. So it was important to get this first step right – new ceramic crowns would be fashioned from and in accordance with measurements made from these facsimiles.

As part of Rob’s smile whitening strategy, he requests and receives a NiteWhite teeth bleaching kit along with a custom mold for his lower teeth – that way his bottom teeth will colour match his new white crowns above!

Together Dr Archer and Rob Campbell discussed his desire to bleach his lower teeth and brighten them to match the seven new white crowns that would soon be created and cemented into place above.

Cosmetic dental surgery DAY ONE

Dr. Archer and Rob Campbell once again reviewed the entire process; there can be no misunderstandings or mistakes in this endeavour.

After Dr Archer obtained informed consent for a second time, she began to prepare for the actual surgery. She had explained that at the end of today’s procedure Rob would be wearing temporary crowns for approximately one week. These will feel funny, like a mouth guard and unnaturally smooth. These would be removed during the next appointment. Dr Archer informed Rob that in his next appointment they would spend one hour cementing in all seven crowns, after removing the temporary teeth.

The surgery begins with cinnamon flavoured topical anesthetic being applied to Rob’s gums. It is a topical gel. Dr Archer applies this topical freezing to anesthetize the area so Rob won’t feel the “mosquito bite” of the needles, seen in the next video below.

Then the real surgery begins as Dr Archer carefully reduces the front teeth to prepare them for the crowns. Dr Archer explains and shows how parallelism and fine detailed margins on each tooth is needed to acquire the best results.

Next, Dr Archer reduced the front teeth to prepare them for the crowns. She used a buzzing drill and a miniature grinder, backed up by constant suction to reshape the teeth into small points, upon which the new prefabricated porcelain crowns would be affixed, during next week’s appointment.

It’s worth mentioning that Dr Archer’s dental office is filled with music. The presence of calming, soothing music during the dental surgery makes the office more tranquil. While the patient experiences the sound and feels the friction sensation of machines in his mouth, he’s relaxed in the chair and can’t help but listen to, and be comforted by the music on the radio; classical piano, guitar music, and jazz melodies play out in odd harmony with the equipment. Dr Archer sometimes taps her foot to the beat as she works to the rhythm of the music in her office.

Temporary Teeth are Created To Last One Week!

It only takes another ten or fifteen minutes for Dr Archer to make the temporary teeth which hide the prepared teeth behind a respectable facade. The patient leaves the dental office with temporary crowns, which have to last one week. There is no seam between each individual tooth in the temporaries – its like a mouth guard, and it will drive you crazy if you let it. Rob actually liked the temporaries and believed that even this temporary smile colour and shape was a big improvement from before.

DAY TWO

Day two begins by admiring the new ceramic crowns.

Dr Archer begins removing the temporary teeth in Rob’s mouth – the strange teeth are sectioned and carefully removed with dental crown pliers.

The prepared teeth are cleaned and dried for the final cementation facilitating the addition of seven ceramic crowns. In her preparations for this surgical procedure, and regarding the creation of Rob’s new porcelain teeth, Dr Archer was very conservative. She instructed the lab to make two reduction copings so that the insertion of the final crowns would be perfect.

The gum area was cleaned carefully and Dr Archer tried in all of the crowns before she started cementing them into place. She checked the fit, colour, margins, esthetics, occlusion, diastema spaces, and curvature. She made sure they were excellent. Dr, Archer then flossed around the crowns checking for marginal integrity- which again was excellent. Dr Archer showed what the final cementation would look like for Rob’s thoughts and approval before final cementation. Rob thought it was a beautiful thing.

After Rob`s approval Dr Archer proceeded to put each crown into place like puzzle pieces with permanent cement.

The next appointment would be for a hygiene follow-up and to deliver the patient`s bleaching trays for the opposing dentition (lower teeth).

At the end of the cementation appointment on DAY TWO, Rob’s teeth were very sensitive and the appointment took twice as long as palnned. Dr. Archer indicated that there might be one tooth that needed to be adjusted however it was difficult to ascertain given the anesthetic effects. Dr Archer gave Rob a prescription to counteract any anti-inflammatory discomfort and told him to come back tomorrow.

Rob scheduled an appointment to see Dr. Archer for a slight adjustment to one of the crowns. Dr Archer adjusted the upper left lateral incisor slightly and to Rob’s satisfaction, immediately things felt much better.

Anaida and all of the staff at the Rosedale Family Dental Care office admired Rob’s new, natural lovely smile.

To complete the aesthetic improvements Anaida performed a very thorough scaling, hygiene appointment and then reviewed with Rob the proper care of his new crowns.

Anaida also polished all the stain from the bottom dentition and provided Rob with a fluoride treatment.

Dr Archer recommended 6 months for his next cleaning and also reviewed with him the lower left teeth areas with decay from the initial treatment plan. The bleaching tray was delivered to Rob and Dr Archer and team provided all of the instructions. Now look at his healthy white smile.