A Picture is Truly Worth a Thousand Words

Looking at the following three photos it is easy to say which smile looks the most esthetic.
Most people would say the top photo.  Why?

(First Picture)
This mouth looks good for a reason. The teeth are in line which means they not only look nice but function well.  By distribute the force of chewing across the mouth the teeth protect each instead of damaging each other during chewing.

(Second Picture)
In this mouth the teeth are crowded and because of the crowding the teeth function in a way that wears the teeth uneven. Also due to acid re flux her teeth have worn almost completely through the enamel.  So her teeth are going bad due to poor position and her acid re-flux despite her excellent brushing and flossing.

(Third Picture)

Now this is not uncommon to see.  Most of the time when I see a patient like this they say they had small chip on their tooth while playing sports when they were young.  However all there teeth have chips and over half of the tooth has been worn away.  This is mainly due to 2 things. First the position of the teeth biting on the edges and second teeth grinding.  

It is common for people to think that if they brush, floss and avoid candy all will go well.  While that definitely helps poor tooth position and anything acidic in mouth will still result in damage leading to early tooth loss. More information can be fond at leathamdental.com/occlusal-disease.

Dr. Paul Leatham DMD

P.S. I would like to thank the patients who allow us to use their photos so we can educate others.