Steven Hernandez Richard has been a patient of mine for the last eight years. He’s 32 years old, single, and an overall great guy. Earlier this year he made a consultation appointment for his front teeth to discuss veneers. When we finally sat down, I asked him what made him decide to move forward with this treatment. He mentioned that he was tired of being single and knew that he needed to do something about his smile if he wanted to feel confident enough to enter the dating scene and find a life-long partner.
We had a lengthy conversation about what he wanted to be sure I could meet his desire. His request was simple: make is teeth white. Overall, the position of the teeth was good; no ortho or soft-tissue treatment was required. As this was a straightforward case and the patient wished to begin treatment as soon as possible, I elected to begin without a wax-up. While this is not my normal protocol, I felt confident I could deliver and the patient would be happy. A pre-op putty was taken and his teeth prepared.
CEREC images were captured and the putty was used to fabricate the provisionals. Even though the temps were the same shape/position prior to preparation, he was quite happy at the fact that his teeth were no longer discolored. Without a wax-up to copy, I decided to send the case to Weston Hatcher and allow him to design it. Weston and I spoke about the case and I let him know what I was looking for regarding facial anatomy (minimal to none), embrasures, etc. The final design was emailed back to me a few days later and the restorations were milled in-office.
After the congratulations, handshakes, and hugs, I walked him to the front door. When he walked outside, he raised his hands in the air Rocky Balboa style and shouted, “I’m beautiful!” Cases like these make all the tough days hard to remember. I wish the young man well in his social life with his new-found confidence. These restorations are Emax BL4 and were hand polished only. I chose not to add any incisal or cervical characterization as the patient’s primary desire was to have teeth that were simply one color.
