Anterior Esthetics: Managing Difficult Challenges

As the case presented demonstrates, meeting the challenge of managing anterior esthetics starts with applying a proven approach to clarifying patients’ expectations, choosing a treatment that fits their esthetic and functional needs, then taking a “cookbook approach” to fine-tuning the planned treatment and executing it smoothly and efficiently.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Describe different approaches to determining patient expectations

• Know how to place and evaluate provisional restorations

• List information that should be gathered and sent to the laboratory for the preparation appointment

• Be aware of the difference in optical value between pressable and millable crowns

About the Author

Dr. Gregg Helvey attended Georgetown University School of Dentistry and maintains a private practice in Middleburg, VA, emphasizing restorative and esthetic dentistry. He received his Mastership in the Academy of General Dentistry in 1997. Dr. Helvey holds the position of adjunct associate professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry and teaches cosmetic dentistry with an emphasis on laminate veneers in the AEGD residency program. He is also a laboratory technician, which has aided in the development of his laminate veneer techniques. He serves on the editorial boards of Practical Procedures and Aesthetic Dentistry and Inside Dentistry and he has published peer-reviewed articles in the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, Practical Procedures and Aesthetic Dentistry, Compendium, Contemporary Esthetics and Restorative Practice, Dental Dialogue, and Dentistry Today relevant to clinical and laboratory techniques. He has lectured nationally and internationally to dentists and dental technicians.