THE JOURNEY TO MY NEW SMILE – BEFORE & AFTER VENEERS.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been complimented for my teeth.
I was lucky to’ve born with good, strong teeth – I get that after my mum. I never had to wear braces and I never had a cavity till I turned 19, and still to this day, I’ve only ever had 3 cavities and I’m about to turn 29. I also used to absolutely love going to the dentist.
If you would’ve asked me back then, I would’ve never thought that the older me would ever be thinking about braces and veneers at only 27 years old, but unfortunately, I suddenly found myself in this pickle.
From the age of 24(ish), my teeth started deteriorating. They quickly became week and started chipping off at the ends. My enamel was also weakened (what makes the teeth strong, ultimately), and with the rate it was going, it would only be a few years till my teeth would be even worse.
Every time I would eat, I’d be scared my teeth would chip further. I lived in constant fear and anxiety of my teeth breaking.
Another thing was obviously the look of my teeth. Every time I was looking in the mirror; smiling, brushing my teeth or see my big smile I’ve always had in photographs, I’d find myself a little overwhelmed with sadness of a past I so badly wanted to put behind me.
It was then and there I decided that I needed to do something about my teeth, my smile and, somewhat, finally healing myself and letting go of my past.
The wonderful world of teeth & dentistry can be pretty scary, but I pretty quickly came across Doctor Luke Cronin who owns Quality Dental in North Sydney. He was recommended to me by a few friends, and I’d also seen some of his (teeth)work and so I decided to consult him on my teeth and what was the best way forward.
Luke (Cronin) instantly made me feel in safe hands with his knowledge and professionalism, but also with his gentle and caring nature of knowing that teeth can be a touchy subject for many, and the journey can sometimes be long.
At the 2nd consultation, I had normal photos taken of my face and teeth, and then afterwards Dr. Luke sat down with me to, basically, design my teeth in a very fancy 3D programme. Luke asked me what shape I wanted (round, straight, feminine) and what colour I wanted my teeth to have. I was pretty adamant to get as natural-looking teeth as possible and actually brought him a photo of me from when I was 20, to get him to design teeth that looked like my own old teeth before they started deteriorating.
Luke then went away to design them, and I had another consultation the week after.
Basically, Luke designed my teeth and ‘put them on’ in my photo, so I could see exactly what I’d look like even before anything was done to my own teeth! I was absolutely blown away..
2 weeks later, I came in for the ‘grounding down’ of my own teeth – now, it’s a myth that people think you are left with stumps – you re not. They basically take off 0.2cm’s or so, the length – and then polishes the outer part of your teeth (where the veneers are going on).
After this, you have to wear a mould or the ‘fake teeth’ as I’d like to call them, until the real ones are coming back after 7 days – it’s not the easiest, and you do have to be a bit careful, but it’s totally manageable!
After the 7 days, finally, the big day had arrived – MY NEW TEETH was going on.
I got local anaesthetic around my teeth and gum – purely because my teeth was a bit sensitive, because now all the enamel had been polished away in order to prepare my teeth for the veneers – but in no way are any of these steps in the procedure painful – so don’t fret!
10 minutes later, and I was almost in tears. Tears over seeing my amazing, beautiful, natural smile that just changed my entire face (in a great way!), and my beaming self was back.
To let you know; I had my top 10 teeth veneered, and the bottom teeth I had Invisalign on for 7 weeks to straighten.
I don’t think there’s any chance I could’ve been happier with my smile, than what I actually am. Luke is so skilled, talented and doesn’t set a foot wrong – and for the entire time, not once was I nervous about the outcome. It’s one of the best things I ever did for myself.
*Please don’t simply judge on the photos.
You might think my teeth before were fine as they were, but you don’t see the damage on the photos and where they were heading to, if I continued without veneers.
BEFORE:
DURING
(after removal of ALL enamel)
AFTER
(My New Smile)
