Cosmetic Tooth Recontouring

Are you unhappy with the shape and size of any of your teeth? Tooth recontouring aims to enhance the appearance of individual teeth by changing their shape. It involves making small adjustments to the tooth enamel in order to change the length or shape of individual teeth.

Why might tooth recontouring help me?

Your dentist may recommend recontouring to resolve minor problems such as chipped or worn teeth, a tooth with an irregular shape, or slightly overlapping teeth.

Tooth recontouring can improve the overall look and balance of your smile. Indeed it is often part of a broader programme of treatment which we call a “smile makeover”.

Before

After

It can have the added benefit of making it easier to keep your teeth clean by making it easier to floss.

What is involved?

Tooth recontouring is a very straightforward treatment and, in the majority of cases, can be done in a single visit to the dentist. Results are immediately apparent.

First your dentist may need to take x-rays to ensure that there is enough enamel on any tooth to be able to reshape it without damaging the nerve underneath. The procedure involves using sanding techniques or a diamond bur to gently smooth out imperfections and create neater, more aesthetic shapes to your teeth.

It is a painless treatment as your dentist will not touch the sensitive parts of your teeth; so an anaesthetic is not usually required.

Can anyone have their teeth recontoured?

Not everybody’s teeth are suitable for recontouring. Recontouring is only suitable for minor imperfections and small corrections; it is designed only to add a little harmony and balance to your teeth.

Also your dentist may recommend against a recontouring procedure if the enamel on your teeth is very thin. If the enamel is thin and the nerve is very close to the surface, recontouring may not be an option as the nerve could be irreparably damaged.

Is there an alternative?

If you have badly chipped, crooked or discoloured teeth, your dentist may instead choose to recommend porcelain veneers.

Alternatively, where more is required than simply recontouring, your dentist may be able to use bonding. Bonding involves adding a tooth-coloured resin to a tooth to fill in any worn edges so as to improve its appearance. Bonding can also be used to correct minor irregularities of alignment, or to close small gaps between front teeth, by adding resin to the front or sides of teeth.