A beautiful and bright smile can boost a person’s confidence. Many people are blessed with naturally strong and beautiful teeth; but there are others who suffer minor chips, breaks, stains, or wear on their teeth over time, which alters the overall appearance of their teeth and smile.
Skyline Dental Dentists can perform a variety of cosmetic dental procedures to help patients improve or correct their smiles. This newsletter briefly reviews those options. Please feel free to ask any of our Hygienists or Dentists for more information.
What is Cosmetic Dentistry?
- Cosmetic dentistry refers to any dental procedure that improves the appearance of a person’s teeth, gums or bite.
What are some common cosmetic procedures?
- The most common cosmetic procedures include bleaching, bonding, contouring and reshaping, veneers and crowns.
Bleaching – Bleaching is a chemical procedure used to whiten teeth which have become discolored over time as a result of coffee, tea, wine and other foods and beverages. The Dentist may recommend an over-the-counter, in-office or at-home bleaching option depending on your goals, time frame, gum recession, root exposure and particular situation.
Bonding – Bonding is the process of using a composite resin material to fill in gaps or to lengthen or repair worn or chipped edges on teeth. The bonding procedure is typically completed in a single office visit and the results often last for several years; although some restorations are more susceptible to staining or chipping over time.
Contouring and Reshaping – Often combined with bonding procedures, some contouring and reshaping procedures are used to correct crooked, chipped, irregularly shaped or overlapping teeth in patients who may only need subtle or minor changes to their smiles.
Veneers – Veneers are thin pieces of porcelain or plastic placed over the front of the teeth to change their color, size or shape. In addition to improving teeth with uneven surfaces, veneers can be used to correct chipped, discolored, oddly shaped, unevenly spaced or slightly crooked teeth. Placement of veneers often requires two visits, but has better color stability and a longer life expectancy than bonding procedures.
Crowns – Crowns (also known as caps) are used to restore fractured, misshapen, discolored, previously root canaled or teeth with significant structure loss. Crowns have longer life expectancy than other cosmetic procedures and are used when other procedures would not be as effective. With the recent advancements if all-ceramic and 3-D printed crowns, there is no longer a metal or dark margin visible near the gum line and the color and transparency has been optimized for maximum esthetic results.
Which procedure is right for me?
A consultation or exam appointment with any one of our Dentists will help answer your questions. Each patient and situation is unique and your Dentist can help you customize a plan that would address your individual needs or goals.
There are sometimes big benefits to Orthodontic/Invisalign or Periodontal (gum) consultations before initiating cosmetic procedures, if the alignment or position of the teeth or gums requires further modification than that which could be achieved with cosmetic dentistry alone.
The ultimate goal in cosmetic dentistry procedures should be to give you a healthy, conservative, long-lasting, stable and beautiful smile that allows you to chew and function comfortably.