✨Did you know that the most common missing tooth is a wisdom tooth? But laterals (the teeth next to the two front teeth), and premolars (the teeth right in front of the molars) are also commonly missing? Sadly, the options for replacing them are not great when you are young. Insurance often doesn’t cover longer term replacements for these teeth. The teeth are often in orthodontics, which is a good thing to maintain the space so the other teeth don’t shift into that space. But at the end of the day, no one wants other people to see their missing front tooth. And the option of a retainer or a flipper with a fake tooth on it for show isn’t always practical as you aren’t supposed to eat with them in. Implants aren’t an option until growth is complete. Luckily, long term provisionals are an option. This tooth was made using a lab fabricated long term provisional Maryland bridge. (It’s a tooth with wings that wrap around the back of neighboring teeth). There are a couple different ways to go about making them. But they all start the same, i look at bite and spacing. I took some photos to communicate color and shape. And I took an impression so I had models to work with. In this case, I had the tooth made by my lab. I could also have used Luxacrown long term provisional material. The best news is that I didn’t take away any natural tooth structure, and this was done without anesthesia. And I can custom stain this tooth as needed. It’s bonded to his neighboring teeth so it’s strong, and he doesn’t have to take it out while eating... Having lots of tricks in my toolkit is what makes dentistry exciting, and it offers my patients lots of options to get where they want to go with their smile. And if I can get this patient through their formative years without having a missing front tooth, I feel like that’s a win. 💯💯 #sandiegocosmeticdentist #dentistc #cosmeticdentistv #veneers #invisalign #porcelainveneers #aestheticdentists #smilemakeover #dentista #dentalhumors #smilee #estheticdentistry #lajollacosmeticdentist #topcosmeticdentist #bestcosmeticdentist #missingtooth