Cosmetic dental procedures
Smiling is taken foregranted by many of us, but for those concerned because of their appearance of their teeth, a smile is often repressed. Cosmetic dentists have an array of services at their disposal to help improve the look of teeth and encouraging smiles.
Among the popular procedures are:
- Teeth whitening preparations are available as over-the-counter solutions but some more serious problems can better be handled by the professional. Cosmetic dentists may use a stronger concentraton of the peroxide used to whiten, as they have much better control of the administration of the cleaning agent.
- Bonding is a treatment for teeth needing restoration due to discoloration, spotting, chipping or cracking, as well as improvements for some minor misalignment, involves the application of a composite resin material to the front and back of one or more teeth. The bonding material available today is stronger, easier to color match, more polishable and more lifelike than treatments of the past.
- Porcelain veneers provide superior strength, resistance to staining, long-lasting luster and natural appearance and are therefore a good long-term investment.
- Caps and crowns may be required if the underlying tooth structure is weak due to decay, repeated fillings, grinding or clenching. The old style ceramic-fused-to-metal crowns have been replaced with crowns which are entirely ceramic thereby creating a more translucent and natural look when covering front teeth.
- Dental implants are a surgical procedure to insert a titanium screw in the jaw bone which serve as an anchor for a crown.
- Laser treatments can be used for tissue sculpting and avoid an appearance of different tooth lengths.
A visit to a cosmetic dentist should be made to review any of the above procedures to see if they can enhance your smile.
