Veneers · Reem J., 30s
Ten Veneers Nobody Noticed
Tetracycline banding under an asymmetric gum line. The ceramics were the easy half of this case.
- Treatment
- Veneers
- Duration
- 6 weeks
- Appointments
- 6 visits
- Clinician
- Dr. Adrian Vogel
Patient Goal
What they came in for.
She had been quoted for veneers three times over eight years and walked away each time, because every mock-up she was shown looked like someone else. She wanted her own teeth, in the colour they should have been.
Initial Condition
What we found.
Moderate tetracycline staining with distinct horizontal banding in the middle third, resistant to whitening as expected. Gum margins uneven across the upper six, with the right lateral sitting 1.6mm lower than the left. Mild incisal wear. The banding was the visible complaint; the gum asymmetry was what had made the previous mock-ups look wrong, and nobody had mentioned it to her.
Final Result
Where it finished.
Gingival margins level within 0.3mm across the upper six. Tetracycline banding fully masked at an average preparation depth of 0.4mm. Shade lifted three steps from the original while keeping the natural value gradient from cervical to incisal, so the teeth read as bright rather than white.
Patient Experience
In their words.
Her verdict, given at the two-week review: "They look like the teeth I had before university." Her sister, who had been told about the treatment, spent the first evening insisting nothing had been done.
The plan, before anything started.
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Phase 01
Soft tissue first
Crown lengthening on three teeth to level the gingival margins, then twelve weeks of healing before any ceramic work.
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Phase 02
Design
Digital design against her facial midline and lip dynamics, filmed while speaking rather than posed.
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Phase 03
Trial smile
Printed mock-up worn for a full week, including to a family gathering, which is where most of the useful feedback came from.
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Phase 04
Opaque management
Tetracycline banding required a layered opaquing strategy in the ceramic rather than simply a thicker veneer.
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Phase 05
Bonding
Ten feldspathic veneers bonded individually under rubber dam isolation across two appointments.
Treatment process
What actually happened, in order.
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Week 0
Records, video analysis, periodontal assessment. The gum asymmetry was measured and shown to her on screen — the first time anyone had explained why the earlier proposals had looked artificial.
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Week 1
Crown lengthening on the upper right lateral, canine and left lateral under local anaesthetic. Twenty minutes, three sutures.
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Weeks 2 — 13
Healing. The gum margins stabilised at week ten and were re-measured at twelve, level to within 0.3mm across the six.
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Week 14
Digital design and printed trial smile. She wore it seven days and asked for exactly one change: slightly more length on the canines.
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Week 16
Preparation at 0.4mm average — deliberately conservative, with the opaquing handled in the ceramic layering rather than by removing more tooth.
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Week 19
Try-in, approved in daylight at the window, then bonded across two appointments a week apart.
The same mouth.
Photographed under identical lighting, 6 weeks apart
- 0.4mm
- Average preparation
- 1.6mm
- Gum asymmetry corrected
- 10
- Veneers placed
Technology used
What it took.
- Video smile analysis
- Crown lengthening
- Printed trial smile
- Layered feldspathic porcelain
- Cross-polarised shade matching
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An examination, your own images on screen, and a written plan with a price. Whether you proceed is a separate decision, made later.
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