There are times when we all need to slow down and think. That’s what we had to do when Bonnie first came to see us. At first, Bonnie asked us to redo her existing veneers and crowns; they had been done by another dentist, and Bonnie was not happy with them. Of course, we could do as Bonnie asked but there were other problems: actually, Bonnie suffered from a deep overbite. So deep, in fact, that when she bit down fully her upper front teeth entirely covered her lower front teeth. So we couldn’t make a dramatic improvement in her smile by just redoing what had been done. With a severe bite collapse like Bonnie’s, all her the teeth were crunched down, in addition her jaw arches were extremely constricted. This can cause numerous symptoms such as headaches, neck pain, facial pain, earaches and pain behind the eyes. What happened in Bonnie’s case is that her facial muscles were tugging and pulling on the lower jaw in order for her to be able to close her mouth in this crunched and collapsed position. We began Bonnie’s treatment by relaxing her facial muscles in order to be able to record the new, ideal jaw position–one not determined by overworked and fatigued muscles. Once we were sure of the correct jaw position, we fitted Bonnie for a custom orthotic. Her orthotic would temporarily maintain the new position in physiological balance. Next, orthodontic and orthopedic tooth movement was initiated to reposition her teeth in the most optimal position. This process actually lengthens the lower third of a face which has been compressed from its bite collapse. Once this was achieved, we were able to replace all of her existing crowns and veneers. It was a big decision for Bonnie because she had already gone through one smile makeover recently (the one she had not been happy with). But being able to get to the root of the problem by repositioning her teeth before replacing her veneers and crowns made the difference she had been hoping for–it was a dramatic improvement. She summed up her feelings by saying “you are my hero” and giving us her beautiful new smile!