What's the name of the dental procedure to close the gap between teeth?

There are many ways to close a gap... orthodontics, fillings, crowns, veneers. The best thing to do is to find a dentist who does a lot of cosmetic dentistry and go for a consult.

Well I think Veneers are the best procedure to be opted for gaps. Though there are many other also. Even I got a cosmetic dentistry treatment done with veneers from Gentle Dental - Family Dentists - Find a Dentist Near You and got gap treated the gap between my teeths :)

katherine1: I don't fully agree that there is a way to assess a "best" procedure not considering the OP's individual case. I think Flossie gave her the options and it will be up to an examining dentist to help her decide.

The OP will need to consider many factors before deciding on the "best" treatment: cost, general health of teeth, positioning of adjacent teeth, length of treatment term.

Also depending on the size of the space, veneers may not always give the most natural appearance. So yes, veneers are an option, but not necessarily always the best option.

Well here is what I do, really small diastema (gap) I use composite resin bonding, its quick, does not damage the teeth, reversible if the pt does not like it, and easy to redo if it breaks. Bigger diastema, you have to do ortho and sometimes a small surgical procedure called a frenectomy (never done one yet) to cut the tissue keeping the teeth apart. Veneers give the best cosmetic result but are VERY destructive to teeth and will EVENTUALLY leak, break, or discolor around the edges (esp when the gums recede to show them). It is very hard to redo a veneer (cutting it off is a pain) and usually the tooth will need a crown after (and maybe a root canal if you are unlucky). Bottom line is, its best to leave it but if it really bothers you go for bonding or ortho. Veneers destroy teeth.

I've never seen a veneer destroy a tooth. I've seen poorly done veneers that end up with staining around the margins that look like heck. If a veneer is done by someone who takes adequate time, good impressions and uses a lab that does quality work there should be not problem. Also the patient has to be instructed how to take care of them to prevent the gingival recession.

Recession and dentinal sclerosis always occur with age. So the A2 veneers stay shade A2 and the rest of the teeth go yellow. In addition, feldspathic porcelain will abrade opposing teeth and is inherently brittle and may break. In addition, resin bonding is temporary. I've seen tons of chipped veneers, and they are very hard to remove with a diamond bur Check out this study from the US air force dental research group (great, unbiased resource, they note only 64% success rate at 10 years) http://airforcemedicine.afms.mil/idc...ctb_108822.pdf

I'm sorry but I am not going to base any decision of mine done by the air force. Of course the has to be determined for the long term right from the get go. I always recommend that a client do whitening of their own teeth before veneers are placed and make them aware that it will be a maintenance issue keeping their own teeth the same shade as the veneers but I have seen it done very nicely.

Yes, resin bonding is temporary but sometimes that is all the client can afford. It can make them feel better about themselves and solve their concerns. Often they will return when they can afford to have a permanent solution.

As for recession, age does not always mean receding gums. I've seen many clients in their senior years with no to minimal recession.

Yes, veneers can chip. Sometimes it is because there is a bite or grinding issue that hadn't been addressed when the veneers were placed. Sometimes a client has bitten in to a bone or pit. Chips can often be repaired without having to replace the whole veneer using a porcelain kit from the lab.

Question: Do you work in a military practice or in a civilian practice?

Military full time, civilian part time. Yes I've used the porcelain repair kit many times, it's not a permanent solution. What you are talking about is called "anecdotal evidence" which is based on personal experience and is no substitute for well done clinical research. You should do some research on cyclic fatigue of bonding agents (enamel/dentin to porcelain) and get back to me.

This is a 2008 article from the journal of the american dental assocition

BACKGROUND: There is a clinical trend of using porcelain veneer restorations (PVRs) for the correction of malaligned anterior teeth. Use of PVRs for this purpose raises clinical and ethical dilemmas. TYPES OF STUDIES REVIEWED: A literature review of four different topics (PVR preparation, enamel thickness of anterior teeth, dentinal bonding adhesive effectiveness and PVR long-term success) was conducted to determine the optimal preparation for a successful PVR. The amount of tooth malalignment that may be corrected with a PVR without adversely affecting its success was calculated. RESULTS: The optimal preparation for a successful PVR may have dentin exposed in the body of the preparation. However, most of the preparation must be in enamel, and all the margins must end in enamel. The strength of a dentin bond varies greatly owing to a multistep, technique-sensitive cementation process and is weaker than an enamel bond. It is not possible to correct atypical gingival esthetics (uneven gingival margins, uneven papillae, short papillae and bulbous gingivae) resulting from malaligned teeth through use of PVRs. CONCLUSIONS: and CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Aligning a healthy tooth with a PVR is not a conservative procedure and more conservative treatment options (such as orthodontics, bleaching, direct bonding and enamelplasty) should be offered to the patient. In addition, the inability to restoratively improve gingival relationships with PVRs may result in achieving less-than-optimal esthetics. A clinician should present only treatment options that involve predictable, conservative restorations or that preserve healthy tooth structure. Aligning teeth with PVRs may create ethical dilemmas that can be resolved with the help of the American Dental Association Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct.

And by the way the US airforce dental research is considered top notch in the world, completely unbiased and unsponsered with a LARGE budget and a HUGE sample size. AFMS Public Site -

I am not here to argue with you but I do feel that experience can, at times, outweigh any research done. I have found that you really have to read the research articles that are available on a topic and still draw your own conclusions. I do read a lot of research articles and then I take a look at the Cochrane Library to see what they have found.

I have been fortunate to work with some dentists who are extremely good at what they do. They look at their dentistry as an art.

I've said nothing about using veneers to correct malaligned teeth.

You are really not impressing anyone with the dental terminology that you toss around in the AMH. Perhaps it's the military training you've had but your people skills might need some refining??