Solution for Enamel Hypoplasia

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I have enamel hypoplasia. I’ve been trying to decide how to get my smile to look better. Two different types of solutions I have come across are porcelain veneers and dental bonding. Is one better than the other?

Cathey

Dear Cathey,

For those who were unaware, enamel hypoplasia is a biological defect where the enamel on your teeth did not fully form. It can happen because of a genetic defect or because of a childhood disease when the teeth were still forming. Both procedures are an adequate solution. However, which one you use depends on the severity of your case.

For mild hypoplasia (pictured above), you could solve this with dental bonding. This uses a composite bonding that a dentist will apply to the affected areas of the teeth to make them uniform. If you want to change the color of your teeth, the time to do any teeth whitening is before the dental bonding. While the bonding can be made to match any color, it is permanent so you will not be able to whiten your teeth after it is placed.

For severe hypoplasia, as you see in this image directly above, dental bonding will not be ideal. Instead, I would suggest you use porcelain veneers in this situation.

Whichever process you end up with, the one consistent requirement is that you use an expert cosmetic dentist. This is not a recognized specialty, so you will want to do some research to see what type of skill and artistry they have. One way to do this is to look at their smile gallery. This is a sort of brag book of before and after images of cosmetic cases the dentist has done.

If the results on the gallery are not stunning, then you need to move on to a different dentist.

This blog is brought to you by Arnold, MD Dentist Dr. Esposito.