Mrs W saw Kit Spears at Elmsleigh House as she had some tenderness, aching and sensitivity around her upper right central incisor.
Kit performed a thorough dental examination and associated x-rays, and determined that she had some existing crowns and veneers, and some gum pocketing (where the gums come away from the teeth) and inflammation (where the gums bleed on touching them). The immediate treatment plan was for several visits to the dental hygiene team.
Mrs W attended several dental hygiene appointments and a dental check-up over 10 months, but during her pregnancy her gum condition was found to worsen and she was referred to our Specialist in periodontics (gum health), Manoj Tank.
Manoj determined that Mrs W had pregnancy gingivitis, an inflammatory response of her gums exacerbated by the change in hormone levels in pregnancy. She also had lost supporting bone due to gum disease around some of her teeth. The plan was to continue with professional dental cleaning to help control her gum disease and to return to see Manoj after Mrs W had had her baby and her hormone levels normalised.
Several months later, Manoj performed an assessment and found that deep gum pockets remained around some of her teeth, requiring root surface debridement therapy. This involved the careful removal of hard deposits above and below the gum line (in the gum pockets) so as to thoroughly clean the root surfaces and allow healing.
With her gum health stabilised, Mrs W wanted to improve the appearance of her upper teeth as she felt she had a gummy smile. Kit used Digital Smile Design to show how her smile could be improved. As requested, Kit made up a wax model to show how her new crowns and veneers would look in her corrected gums, and Mrs W wanted to proceed with treatment.
Manoj first corrected her gum height by performing a gum lift to reshape and recontour the gums around her upper front teeth under local anaesthetic. This was a subtle reshape and her stitches were removed two weeks later.
As per the treatment plan, Kit placed temporary crowns and veneers on her front six upper teeth to allow healing time before fitting the definitive crowns and veneers in place a few months later.
Mrs W is delighted with the appearance of her gums, crowns and veneers and continues to see Kit for general dental check-ups and the dental hygiene team to maintain her gum health.
