Dentist won't give me veneers for short lateral incisors?

[micelvmur]

I am not talking about ''peg laterals'', just teeth that are noticeably shorter than my upper front teeth.

I would like a symmetrical smile and I feel uncomfortable showing my teeth when smiling.

The dentist only filled up the area between my front teeth and laterals with composite (bonding) to make it look more symmetrical, but it didn't make them longer of course.

My dentist says the chance of me biting them off is too big because when I put my upper teeth on my lower teeth, the laterals directly hit my lower teeth. So this means that there is likely a small jaw issue like an overbite or an underbite, right?

Or is this normal? Because most people have laterals generally maybe only a little shorter than their front teeth, mine are like half the size of my front teeth.

Are crowns maybe a better option?

 

[Dr M]

The ideal option would be to have an orthodontic evaluation in order to see if there is indeed an edge to edge bite, and have that corrected. Alternatively crowns would be a better option, with an occlusal night guard in order to protect the crowns. It might be possible to design the crowns in such a way, that there is minimal forces on the crown.

 

[micelvmur]

The ideal option would be to have an orthodontic evaluation in order to see if there is indeed an edge to edge bite, and have that corrected. Alternatively crowns would be a better option, with an occlusal night guard in order to protect the crowns. It might be possible to design the crowns in such a way, that there is minimal forces on the crown.

Thanks for your reply! My upper two front teeth certainly go over my lower teeth, so that's not an edge to edge, at least, not a whole lot, although my incisors do indeed look edge to edge, but also not, since like half of the teeth still go over, so it's maybe a mild case.

 

[MattKW]

If your teeth run across the incisal edges when you chew from side-to-side, then making them longer will give you uncomfortable chewing and breakage. If they break, it won't just be the veneers (or crowns), it could be the whole tooth. So, if your dentist is passing up the chance to make some money, then I'd heed the warning.

 

[micelvmur]

If your teeth run across the incisal edges when you chew from side-to-side, then making them longer will give you uncomfortable chewing and breakage. If they break, it won't just be the veneers (or crowns), it could be the whole tooth. So, if your dentist is passing up the chance to make some money, then I'd heed the warning.

Yeah, I see. Would the only option here then be to get them if I also get veneers/crowns on my lower teeth so that they align? Or is this a jaw thing which can only be fixed through jaw surgery or braces/Invisalign? Or, another option: is it possible that two lower teeth under are too long? Because most people's lower teeth are about all the same size. So would maybe putting a crown/veneer om those two do the trick so I can make my laterals longer?

Also: is there a difference when it comes to crowns vs. veneers for a thing like this?