cosmetic dentistry_ beauty & science International

26 I I industry report _ composite restorations _How often do we encounter heavily stained anterior teeth in dental practice? Nearly every clinician has come across this problem at least once. In such cases, an invasive approach is usually required, i.e. the teeth need to be pros- thetically restored with ceramic veneers or even crowns. However, since the concept of “minimal invasiveness” has attracted quite a following re- cently, it might be a good idea to start rethinking our ways of dealing with stained anterior teeth. Today’s state-of-the-art composites enable den- tal professionals to use minimally invasive treat- ment protocols and achieve outstanding re- storative results. Training courses held on the subject of aes- thetic dentistry usually focus on three basic aspects: shape, shade and surface texture. These are the three indispensable pillars without which the aesthetic restoration of anterior teeth would beimpossible.However,inmostcasesattentionis only paid to one of the aspects, namely shade. Why is this so? This article will show how all the three elements can be taken into account in order to achieve an aesthetic outcome. _Preoperative situation A female patient presented to our dental prac- tice with a stained central incisor (Figs. 1 & 2). She refused to have the tooth prosthetically restored with ceramic material and expressed her desire to receiveminimallyinvasivetreatment.Wedecided to apply a direct restorative technique using a cosmeticdentistry 3_2011 Fig. 1_Initial situation: severely stained tooth #11. Fig. 2_A close-up of the upper anterior teeth shows that the aesthetic appearance is poor. Fig. 3_Situation after minimally invasive preparation of the tooth. Fig. 4_The adhesive was brushed onto the tooth structure for 10 seconds. The three pillars of aesthetics Authors_ Dr Julio Reynafarje Reyna & Dr Gustavo Watanabe Oshiro, Peru Fig. 4Fig. 3 Fig. 2Fig. 1