How to fix deviated midline of upper front teeth?

[M. L. R.]

My upper front teeth are all in misalignment. They do not follow my dental midline (imaginary vertical line that passes through the center of my nose). Will my teeth still have a chance to be properly aligned? If yes, could it be done by using braces or retainers or anything? If no, (I hope so not) then i can't smile properly my whole life anymore.

In addition, my canine tooth #2 is longer than my canine tooth #7 as seen on my attached photo of my teeth. Can this also be solved? If yes, could it be done by grinding my longer canine tooth to shorten it or adding some veener (i'm not sure if this is the right term) to my shorter canine tooth to lengthen it?

Lastly, I have a suspicion that since my canine tooth #7 is longer, could it be possible that i have a receeding gum problem?

Please help me guys, i'll be going to my dentist soon! I'm just asking some opinions here on the web before going to the dentist.

 

[Busybee]

MLR you have nice healthy teeth. They look great to me. Your gums look pretty healthy. You could have veneers or composite to try to build up 6 and 7 but why put your teeth through this? It will weaken what you have and you won't achieve perfect symmetry. It's just not worth the maintenance issues and long term loss of function that a veneer causes. You no longer have the strong biting surface and they chip. I think you have a lovely smile. If you do anything just go for composite build up. This destroys the least tooth material. Do not try to move your mid line. It's not worth it. Do not go for orthodontics. It can lead to complications on your bite and something horrible called root resorption if you are very unlucky. You also have to wear a retainer at night for life.

Take it from me, this is not the reason for your problems in life and you should smile with confidence. I had a whole tooth missing because of a dentist and I had to have cosmetic work. If I could go back in time I'd never have had veneers or crowns. They moved my mid line, but that's not a big deal compared with losing the functionality of my teeth through unnecessary cosmetic procedures. Please consider what I write and leave your beautiful teeth as they are. They look great, they are strong and they don't need fixing.

 

[M. L. R.]

MLR you have nice healthy teeth. They look great to me. Your gums look pretty healthy. You could have veneers or composite to try to build up 6 and 7 but why put your teeth through this? It will weaken what you have and you won't achieve perfect symmetry. It's just not worth the maintenance issues and long term loss of function that a veneer causes. You no longer have the strong biting surface and they chip. I think you have a lovely smile. If you do anything just go for composite build up. This destroys the least tooth material. Do not try to move your mid line. It's not worth it. Do not go for orthodontics. It can lead to complications on your bite and something horrible called root resorption if you are very unlucky. You also have to wear a retainer at night for life.

Take it from me, this is not the reason for your problems in life and you should smile with confidence. I had a whole tooth missing because of a dentist and I had to have cosmetic work. If I could go back in time I'd never have had veneers or crowns. They moved my mid line, but that's not a big deal compared with losing the functionality of my teeth through unnecessary cosmetic procedures. Please consider what I write and leave your beautiful teeth as they are. They look great, they are strong and they don't need fixing.

Thanks for the fast reply and compliment Busybee. I too have problems with biting as well, i guess it's because of my midline misaligning that is why i'm trying to correct it. Also, what do you mean by composite build up? Is this chipping my longer tooth to make it level with others?

As you said, veeners are not as you recommended because it chips, but will putting up braces will solve my issues to align all my teeth? I also dont mind if i need to wear retainers my whole life. There may be consequences to this but i just dont feel confident with my smile that's why i'm giving efforts for them to be fixed.

 

[Busybee]

Hi, composite is just a sticky resin that they use for white fillings, but which can also be used like modelling clay to change the shape of front teeth to make them longer or wider.

I would not recommend letting anyone adjust your canine teeth. They are really important teeth and you will really notice the difference if you let anyone drill into them.

I'm just letting you know that there are risks and that things can go wrong with any dental procedure. Orthodontics can sometimes change the shape of your face and change your bite for the worse and some people are unhappy after treatment for that reason.

Whatever you decide to do don't rush into it, get a number of opinions from dentists and ask them about all the risks. Too many dentists rush into treatment and then cannot fix the problems they create. You have lovely healthy teeth which are precious and artificial dental work can never fully replace what nature creates.