Zeis Dental

Hi, do you like teeth? I do.

Here we have some teeth post-ortho. The teeth are straight but the edges are uneven. Why? Because when the teeth were crowded, the patient’s upper and lower teeth rubbed against each other in a way that damaged the upper teeth.

Ten feldspathic veneers were placed to build out and even the smile. You can’t not love this!

Safe travels to everyone trying to get home this week. ❤️

A very special friend is coming to Minneapolis this spring! Orthodontist Dr. Christian Leonhardt will be discussing comprehensive treatment planning with aligners. As a Kois-trained graduate, he will be speaking to the functional occlusion, restorative, and airway problems that we are all trying to resolve and address with aligners.

May 12-13
Hotel Landing, Wayzata

DM me if you would like to attend.

When technology can make dentistry easier, more predictable, and fun, I am IN!

These trial veneers can be 3D printed in different shades or hand stained to match. They’re useful as guides for gum contouring, temporary restorations, and communication with the patient. Together, we can see what is possible and what isn’t.

Designed in Exocad and printed on the SprintRay Pro95.

Canine substitution. It’s something orthodontists will do when one or both lateral incisors are missing—the canines are moved forward into the missing spaces. They do it with the intention that a dentist will later veneer the teeth to look like a lateral incisor. Sounds easy but it is actually challenging to get it to blend in well.

Six porcelain veneers helped mask an undersized lateral incisor, a canine pretending to be a lateral incisor and a baby tooth wanting to be a big guy.

Patient’s smile looks fabulous now! I will share more pictures later this week. I call her Adele because she has the same gorgeous hair and eyes.

71 degrees today in Minneapolis. November 1st! It will be even warmer tomorrow…last call for shorts and sandals! ☀️

Remember that bike accident? After I pushed that tooth back into position and repaired it, we waited a few weeks to test pulp vitality. Interestingly, the patient returned and the other front tooth had died and changed color. After the root canals, we did some internal bleaching with great success.

For the internal bleaching, I left the endo access hole open and had the patient syringe regular whitening gel (10% carbamide peroxide) inside it 2x daily. She wore her clear retainer over it. “Call me when it’s done,” I said. Way easier than the superoxol pellet that you have to switch out multiple times in the office.

Next step: back to ortho

Not perfect but waaaay better. When it comes to the front teeth, patients ask me two things. First, how many should I do? Followed by…Can I just do the front 6? Also called the Social 6 by some dentists. Sometimes you can…but sometimes you cannot.

You cannot do it if the premolars are aligned with the front teeth. See how they look sunken in, dark and missing?

You cannot do it if you want your new front teeth to look whiter. The color difference will make your front teeth pop and look bucky.

For this patient, I replaced a failing bridge with a combination of implants and crowns. Four veneers were placed on the premolars to balance the smile.

The sweetest patient…she is an artist up north and has a really warm heart. She brought delicious pastries for us every appointment and appreciated everything we did for her…even if it meant the appointments were a little longer. 🫠

Me: “In 4 years, you’re going to graduate from Harvard Dental School and think you’re God’s gift to dentistry.”
Her: “Maybe I will be.” 💥

Saying goodbye to one of our front office all-star Franny (that’s her in the center). She moves to Boston next week to start her own path in dentistry. Dentistry is a unique profession populated by weirdly persistent, tough, and optimistic people. Franny, you are one of us!!!

Things I look forward to in life:

1. Spicy Bloody Marys
2. The next season of Ted Lasso
3. White teeth against this sweet blue background.

Here is another injection molding case with composite on six teeth. People wonder about this technique and wonder if they can use this for full composite veneers.

You can…but I find it works best when you just want to add to the lower incisal third and you don’t need to do any tinting or characterization.

Currently enjoying this fleeting season of joy called summer in Minnesota! ❤️ ✌🏼 ☀️

Sharpie Smile Design. Any SSD dentists out there?

I don’t shorten teeth much but when I do, I always mock it up for patients with a black Sharpie so they can see what it would look like.

“It’s going to get worse before it gets better.” Sound familiar?

I put these teeth in a better position so he wouldn’t continue wearing his teeth away and then did some composite bonding on the incisal edges.

Composite bonding is so flexible. In a couple weeks, the patient will return and we can tweak it any way we want…shorten, lengthen, round off edges, square up edges, add different tints or add/remove texture.

Patients generally need that long to get used to their new look and articulate the changes that they want. As for myself, I look at the pictures and think about the little tweaks I could make, too.

Miami tomorrow for an Exocad course. It was so good I’m going again!

My periodontist referred this patient to me. This woman spontaneously lost her two lateral incisors due to external resorption. It was a particularly tough case that involved bone grafts and tissue grafts. And it all happened during that COVID year! Restored with two eMax crowns and a little esthetic crown lengthening on 8-9. I was disappointed that I couldn’t do more for her in terms of gum symmetry without veneering her two front teeth but then I saw a historical photo of her smile. 😃

This patient has been so patient and sweet. She is a teacher, has young children of her own, AND fosters children. What an incredible heart. It is a great privilege to restore a person’s smile.

Thanks Bobby and Dr. Shahir Malek.

The annual meeting for the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry just concluded and what a week it has been!

There were a ton of workshops from the most talented dentists in America and so much to learn.

What I enjoyed most were the people. Although they live and practice all over the US, these are my colleagues, my mentors, and my friends. We joke that we actually see each other more than we see our real family.

Of particular pride for me is that there appeared to be so many Minnesota dentists in attendance. Other states probably had more but we just all happened to know each other.

Thank you to for being such a fabulous organization and hosting this great meeting.

✌🏼 ❤️ 🦷

Truly transformative. When you see a striking before and after, do you see two different people? I do. I see two different lives and two different worlds.

This patient had some occlusal dysfunction, which I had to sort out. I opened up her bite, did some gingival contouring for symmetry, and placed ten porcelain veneers.

The patient is so lovely and was so appreciative. She sent me some fresh roasted coffee from as a thank you. Her parents roast the beans in small town Benson, MN. It was so smooth and delicious. I drink coffee every day so I love a good cup!

One shade of composite is what most emergency fractured teeth get, but this characterization and coloring was like a siren call to me.

Only two shades of composite (A3 nano and Tokuyama’s Milky White microfill 😍) and some white tinting between it with a microbrush.

One of the biggest challenges when working with teeth with this type of characterization is that the adjacent teeth dehydrate during the appointment. The white areas become more prominent and more areas of characterization show up. This can really mess you up as the tooth you’re working on is hydrated and darker.

Some people take a pre-op picture and reference it throughout the appointment. I just put a layer of bond on the facials and linguals of adjacent teeth. This locks in the hydration temporarily. After the appointment, just flick off with the explorer.

If it matters to you, it matters to me.

I can’t tell you how much of a difference it makes when people fix their teeth, whether it’s one tooth or all their teeth. “I guess I never realized how much it bothered me,” is something I hear a lot. These people leave our office floating on cloud 9 and with the biggest smiles.

Do you know how powerful it can be to have confidence? Or how your smile can affect those around you? It’s pretty heavy stuff, actually. Try it out this weekend!!!

So many people are straightening their teeth today due to Invisalign. But many times, the end result is not quite what patients envisioned.
There may be uneven edges and gaps.

Composite veneers are a great conservative option to correct those asymmetries and volumize a smile. No modifications made to the original teeth!

Once again, I designed in Exocad, 3d printed my models and did injection molding.

This patient is a delight and has such a good heart. We had a great time bringing her from the before to the after after. She said that after we did the composite work, she won a contest on Instagram.
LESSON: Big smiles bring big luck!

beauty

❤️ Hello, sexy Valentine! My patient loves to get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and smile at the 8 little porcelain loves of her life. 💕 🥰 Totally natural and pretty smile for a fun and dynamic woman! 💃🏻

It’s just a millimeter here and there but it makes a discernible difference. A combination of composite bonding and veneers to volumize and round the edges. Completely natural look for a patient who didn’t want Hollywood white.

THINK PINK
Veneers and ortho aren’t the only ways to transform your smile! 😁 Many patients are surprised that their gums can be contoured to reveal larger teeth. They just thought their teeth were short and nothing could be done about it.

In the first case, all six teeth were treated. In the second case, only one tooth was treated.

Appointments are generally 1 hr or less with standard dental anesthetic. Treatment can be done by either a periodontist or general dentist. Sutures may be needed in some cases but in all cases, there is no pain in the healing process. The only annoyance, my patients report, is the fact that they cannot brush their teeth for two weeks post-surgery. And—this is different—ABSOLUTELY NO FLOSSING!

So…if you have a gummy smile or short teeth, let’s talk!

THE LITTLE THINGS

When patients tell me they don’t like their smile, I have to be very careful and not make any assumptions. What exactly bothers you? Is it one tooth or all the teeth?

Some of the most common complaints I hear from patients are:

1. Color
2. Spacing - gaps or crowding
3. Short teeth - smiles look gummy
4. Uneven edges

This young man said he did not like his two short lateral incisors.

Composite resin was applied to two teeth to create more ideally shaped lateral incisors. This was done without any drilling or removal of tooth enamel.

Composite resin or composite bonding can be used anywhere in the mouth to change the shape and color of your teeth. When the right formulations are used and the restorations polished correctly, the composite will meld seamlessly with the existing tooth enamel and be undetectable.

Not everyone can look this good in 5 degrees but looks like I’m crushing it today. 💅🏼

Did a little urban snowshoeing on the lake today with my dentist friend Anna Seime. For those who have not been to Minnesota in the winter before, you would be shocked by how many people are outside in these frigid temperatures. On a lake in the middle of the city, people were running, skiing, biking, snowshoeing, and fishing. Kids were building snow forts and babies were being towed around on sleds. It was seriously hard to find a parking spot!

We don’t get many visitors here in Minnesota, ESPECIALLY in ❄️ winter ❄️ , so you bet Dr. Errin DePalma is going to get a post and a spot on my Hall of Fame! 🏆

She played the Minnesota game with my husband Mike. They learned that two generations ago, both their families were in Holdingford, MN. “Polish side? German side? Which church? Which cemetery?” 😂 Even though she’s from the Polish side, I think we’re family now.

I met Errin at the Kois Center and we have done a lot of specialty education together—Kois, AACD, im.PRES, and next AES! Can’t tell you how much my dentistry has improved since I’ve known Errin!!! When you hang out with great people, you become better yourself.

See ya soon in Chicago, Errin!

It is a wreck outside between the subzero temps and omicron. That’s why I choose to cozy up to the 🔥 and flip through the thousands of 🦷 pics on my 📞 .

This patient started her clear aligners approximately this time last year and finished up in 9 months. Not only does it look better, it functions better and will prevent future problems.

Remember: investing in your health and education are both gifts that no one can take away from you.

Fact: People who smile with their teeth are more attractive…proof above. 😁 Next to me is my little brother, who refuses to smile with his teeth for pictures. Less attractive!!! My challenge for 2022 is to capture him in a picture with a big toothy smile! (Yes, I am an annoying sibling. 💯)

Happy New Year and I hope everyone has had lots of time to annoy their favorite family members!

If you had started 6 months ago, you’d be done by now….

Sometimes people get overwhelmed by the length of time things take. 😬 My personal view is, Who cares 💁🏻‍♀️—time passes anyway! The sooner you start, the sooner you finish. So what if it takes you 5 years to finish your MBA 📚 one evening class at a time—5 years is going to pass with or without you! 📆

If you want to straighten your teeth, do it now as we enter the second wretched winter of COVID misery. 🥶 🦠 😷 By the time it warms up again, you’ll look like this fine guy here. These teeth are swimsuit ready! 🌞 🛶 🩳 🎣 🍻