Doctor James Ross on the Snap On Smile
The Snap-On Smile® is a great procedure. It’s something that was initially made for someone that was getting implants and had a tooth missing, just to snap something on to get them through a four to six month period. Generally they’re good for two to three years. A person wears it all the time. They can eat with it. Some of the ideal candidates are people that have missing teeth, but still have some of their teeth present, because the Snap On has to snap onto those teeth. We also have to have some strong supports. So I have many patients that come in for the Snap On and we have to make sure those supports are strong. So if they haven’t been to the dentist for years we want to make sure they’re clean and healthy environment, so that Snap On will last for them.
An ideal candidate would have maybe some spaces or a missing tooth where we’re wanting to put something in. Sometimes it’s just a temporary basis to get a person through a period. I’ve had patients that were 12 years old, 13 years old, and they were born with their primary tooth, a baby tooth, without a permanent tooth underneath it. So when they loose their teeth like all their classmates, their classmates will get their permanent teeth in, nothing comes in. So they have a period from that time when they’re 12 or 13 to when they can actually get implants, where they don’t have any teeth in those spaces. So we have a patient where it’s been wonderful for her because she’s been able to have a nice smile for that.
I have other patients that had kind of given up on their smile. Their teeth were discolored. They were going through gum treatments, but they had no motivation because their teeth still looked horrible. I had one in particular that it was really amazing to see. I decided even though she had some of this gum disease, the Snap Ons had just come out, that we would try these with her. She was so excited about now her teeth looked good, that now she was motivated to really take care of her supports, because without those she wouldn’t have her Snap On. So she took care of those, and probably about six years later we went through a couple of the Snap Ons.
Six years later she said, ”I think I want to get some of the veneers and crowns to have it permanently where I don’t have to take it on and off.” So it was really a nice transformation for her, from someone that had given up and wasn’t going to do anything and said, ”I’ll just have dentures and remove my teeth.” To someone that was motivated by the Snap On, and then actually progressed into having a dazzling smile with the porcelain veneers.