A gap in between my front teeth

[Troy]

My top front teeth have a gap in between which irritates me and I have been to see two dentists for consultations in the past month to see what can be done to close this gap. Its a gap of about half a normal front tooth width and I can remember it being very wide since those teeth first came through.

One of the dentists that i saw last week said that the gap is due to my teeth being too small and narrow and recommended that I have porcelain veneers fitted but said that I would need some tooth shaving down to be able to do this.

Another dentist recommended that I have braces and have my teeth brought closer together with braces. But he says the process could take 18 months to complete and will mean that I will have to have train tracks on my teeth for that period.

I rather have the quicker veneer solution but I dont know if thats the best thing for my teeth. Do you have any recommendations on which treatment will be best for closing this gap between my front teeth?

[PearlyWhites]

My sister had the same problem and she got standard braces. I think it wasn't a big deal for her to have them on for a couple years because she was just 16. It closed the gap completely though. I wonder if Invisalign would do the trick?

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

A gap between the upper front teeth can be treated by three different ways:

1. Composite bonding can be added to the two teeth on either side of the gap to make them a little wider and close the gap. However if the gap is very wide, it might be better to leave a smaller gap rather than close the gap as that would make those two teeth very wide. This option is the cheapest and quickest but not necessarily the best from a cosmetic point of view.

2. Orthodontics can be used such as braces or Invisalign to close the gap or at least reduce the gap. Once the gap is reduced, then composite bonding can be used to close it. This is probably the best treatment as it achieves the best cosmetic results and causes the least damage to the other teeth however it also takes a longer time to complete than the other options.

3. Porcelain veneers can also be used. With these its possible to reduce the other corners of the neighbouring teeth and add to them where the gap is. This means that usually six teeth will need preparation in order to create space and to have tooth proportionality. This option is fast but also destructive of tooth tissue.