Inna was a former competitive dancer, now seeking a career as a nutritionist. When she came to see us for a consult,Inna explained that she had never had a regular dentist because her dance career required such extensive travel. She would live from a few months to a year in different locations throughout the world and then move on, so her dental visits were few and far between — and mostly for emergencies. Inna explained that she often had dental procedures started in one country and then completed in another. This on-again, off-again treatment, by different dentists with different philosophies and approaches was, and is, very dangerous for a number of reasons. And it may result in outcomes that require re-treatment earlier than anticipated, to repair the damage. Now that Inna was finally settled in New York, she wanted to completely reassess her dental condition and be seen on a consistent basis to plan for the future. Inna also made it clear that she wanted to improve her smile, but was intent on making sure that the improvements would provide an extremely natural look, and not be overly bright. She desired a refined and elegant smile that expressed her personality and character, but definitely did not want a makeover that would make her smile the primary focus of her face. In other words, a smile that was beautiful but not overbearing. One of the problems in improving Innas smile was that she was missing one tooth to the right of her front tooth (the lateral incisor), and the canine tooth next to it had drifted into that position.
Since a canine tooth is much wider than a lateral incisor and has a different angulation of the root, this poses a challenge, because it leaves the gum height leaning in the wrong direction. Our plan for Inna included gum repositioning to create balance and symmetry from the right side to the left side, followed by the placement of twelve crowns or veneers on her upper teeth. In her own words, when we completed her treatment, Inna said “I’m truly grateful to all of you for being so patient and understanding. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for impeccable work. We had taken her desire to have a smile that was natural, not overly bright, beautiful but not overbearing to heart, and given her exactly what she had hoped for.”
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