What Are My Cosmetic Dentistry Options?
There are enough reasons someone could feel self-conscious about their appearance; your smile shouldn’t be one of them! If you suffer from dental cosmetic concerns such as extremely discolored teeth, cracked, broken, chipped teeth or more, a cosmetic dentist could help.
While it could seem daunting to read up on the many cosmetic dental procedures out there, it will help to clarify the issues with your teeth and the needed procedures that could help. Many patients could uplift the look of their smile simply with a professional teeth whitening procedure, while other’s may benefit from a full smile makeover that utilizes multiple methods at once.
Cosmetic dentistry is designed to grant patients many possibilities for adjusting their teeth and restoring them to their stunning smile ability. The best part? All cosmetic dentists will work with every single patient to develop a treatment plan that is designed and tailored to their specific needs. If you’re wondering what exactly counts as a cosmetic dentistry procedure, see below for a breakdown of the methods that could renew your smile!
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Teeth Whitening
Many patients have reported a total smile makeover with merely a professional teeth whitening session. This is one of the easiest forms of cosmetic dentistry as it is completely painless and has one of the lowest price tags for improving your smile. There are multiple ways to whiten your teeth professionally. Some dentists can whiten your teeth on the spot, in-office, utilizing their professional tools, gels, and lights to shed off stained layers of your teeth. This is one of the fastest ways of whitening your teeth.
Another option many patients prefer when whitening their smiles professionally is with custom take-home trays. Your dentist will create a mold of your teeth to ensure the fit of these trays are exact to your teeth and will not miss any corners.
Dental Veneers
This is a great way for patients to walk out of their dentist’s office with a brand new smile and with little to no pain. Dental veneers are extremely thin layers of porcelain created to cover each tooth from the outer layer. These are also sometimes called, tooth shells as they cover on one side. In order for this procedure to be fulfilled, the dentist will first remove the enamel of each tooth, which is considered the outer layer of the tooth. The removal of this layer is to ensure when the shield is placed, the teeth will not appear bulky, but instead, look extremely natural. This is a quick procedure that could cover badly stained teeth, cover cracks, chips and even make separated teeth appear closer together.
Dental Bonding
Dental bonding is a fast and great way to repair teeth that don’t require extreme procedures. This product is made from a putty-like resin that can be molded on the teeth according to the dentist's wishes, then hardened under a special light. Next, the resin can be polished and colored to mimic the look of your surrounding natural teeth. This process is typically performed on teeth that have minor cracks and chips. This resin can usually be used during a root canal procedure to fill in the natural tooth after the infected pulp has been removed. Bonding this resin to teeth usually takes less than an hour in your dental office and can be used for various repairs.
Dental Crowns
Dental crowns can be used to repair a tooth for various reasons. This procedure is also called the cap as it fits over the entire tooth and covers on four sides. This covers the tooth from all ends, however, does not go underneath the gum line. Dental crowns can keep a week tooth from breaking as well as covering a badly stained tooth and also keeping a cracked tooth together. This procedure essentially restores the appearance of the tooth if it is losing its strengths due to other reasons. The procedure is fairly similar to veneers, as it requires the dentist to remove the first layer of the tooth which is called the enamel. Again, this is to ensure the tooth does not seem bulky after adding the crown.
Inlays & Onlays
If the patient has decayed or damaged teeth there are many ways to restore and repair these teeth to ensure they do not need to be removed or replaced. One of the ways as mentioned above can be the use of a bonding agent. However, the use of inlays and onlays can also be used as indirect fillings. This product can be made from composite materials, porcelain, or various amounts of metals. These pieces are custom-made to fix the inside of the patient’s tooth in order to fill it to ensure it covers the needed area to stop the form of bacteria. These products can be easily bonded into place by your dentist and is a fairly painless procedure.
Dental Implants
The need for dental implants typically comes when your natural tooth cannot be restored. This means, the tooth is beyond repair and must be removed and replaced in order to restore your smile. Many patients utilize dental implants to replace teeth that have fallen out previously and also to replace tees that needed to be extracted due to dental health issues. A dental implant is the number one recommended option for replacing missing teeth according to dentists. The reason why dental implants are recommended among all other tooth replacement options is that not only does it replace the tooth above the gum line, but it also mimics the strength of a tooth root below the gum line.