Do you remember the last time you felt as beautiful as you are? Do you feel insecure when you smile, even when you are thrilled? Have you lost confidence in the smile you used to love due to recent tooth decay, injury, or accumulated stains? Do not worry. Thankfully, you can fall in love with your smile again. Modern cosmetic dentistry provides a wide range of procedures that can help you reclaim a confident smile.
The focus of cosmetic dentistry centers around enhancing and improving the appearance of your teeth. Most cosmetic dentistry procedures available today are elective rather than essential. However, some of these treatments provide restorative benefits.
However, not all the procedures will work for everyone. You should first consult your dentist before you make up your mind. It could even be a smile design.
Your cosmetic dentist can help you determine which dental procedure will work the best to enhance your smile by smile makeovers. Here we discuss some of the standard cosmetic procedures and how they work in improving your smile.
1 Cosmetic Dentistry – Teeth Whitening
Teeth whitening is one of the most popular chosen cosmetic procedures. It is performed at the dental clinic in a single visit. Your dentist will try removing tartar, plaque on teeth, and other debris from your tooth’s surface in the first step.
This would help restore its natural appearance. In the second step, your dentist will use a bleaching agent to whiten the teeth. The whitening procedure gives an even lighter shade than your original tooth color.
The tooth whitening procedure is commonly referred to as bleaching. It should be noted that not all cases of teeth staining can be fixed with bleaching.
Over the years, drinks, food, and medication stain and wear out your teeth. Personal habits like chewing tobacco and smoking contribute to staining.
2 Cosmetic Dentistry – Dental Veneers
Dental veneers are ultra-thin shells made out of composite resin or porcelain. They are custom-made and then cemented on the front surface of your tooth.
They look exceptionally realistic and can resolve many of your cosmetic problems. It can also treat various dental conditions such as discolored teeth, crooked teeth, and chipped teeth. Veneers can also close gaps between your teeth, referred to as a tooth gap.
Dental veneers can also reduce tooth sensitivity from enamel erosion that occurs over time due to acid reflux and GERD symptoms.
Every aspect of dental veneers is customized according to your treatment needs. Right from the shape, size, color, and even how many veneers you want. They are capable of blending very well with your natural teeth. So you can opt to get a single veneer to repair one tooth, or you can easily completely transform your entire smile. No one can make out that they are not your natural teeth.
Your dentist will apply the veneer on the front of each tooth using a dental adhesive. Dental veneers are often done for a few teeth at a time, and the procedure is customized for each individual. Therefore, the complete treatment plan may take multiple sessions.
Getting your veneer will usually take two appointments to your dental clinic over a few weeks. Hence, it is essential to realize that veneers are permanent. So, once you decide to get a veneer, you will always need a veneer on that tooth.
This is because your dentist will remove a small enamel layer from your tooth. The removal of the enamel layer helps the veneer adhere to the tooth surface.
The porcelain material used to make the porcelain veneers are incredibly durable and stain-resistant, so it can last more than 15 years with good oral hygiene.
3 Dental Implants
Tooth implant is a good solution for the replacement of your lost teeth. A dental implant is primarily a metal device designed to replace your missing teeth.
Made of titanium, it requires a surgical procedure to place it into the jawbone where your tooth is missing. This titanium implant is designed to act as a tooth root. Its function is to anchor artificial teeth such as a crown, tooth bridge, denture or metal braces. These implants cannot be easily distinguished from the surrounding natural teeth.
Once the bone and supporting tissue fuse to the implant, they will be permanently secured into place. You need to practice diligent oral hygiene before the implant placement period and post-completion to clean plaque and food debris from the area.
4 Cosmetic Dentistry – Dental Crowns
Dental crowns are caps fixed on your teeth. Your dentist will prepare a custom crown to fit over your whole tooth. They are normally made out of porcelain or acrylic, which has been fused to metal.
Crowns, a cosmetic dentistry procedure can treat poorly shaped, badly decayed, chipped, or broken teeth. Dental crowns are also used to fill gaps between teeth with large fillings, or cover spaces between teeth.
Crowns are coverings that have the shape of your tooth. They are used to protect and restore your teeth that have been damaged by dental injury or a severe decay. In addition, crowns will restore the functionality of your teeth and renew their appearance.
Crowns can also be used to renew the appearance of stained or crooked teeth. Crowns are custom-made for you to ensure that they give a natural feel and look.
It is important to design a crown that you will enjoy wearing, and that will fit properly. A crown that does not fit into your bite well might cause sensitivity as well as temporomandibular joint TMJ pain.
Your crown will look exactly like the tooth you lost. It takes only two to three sessions over several weeks to complete the crown placement process.
Although same-day crowns are also possible for some individuals in a single appointment. You can get a single visit crown or a laboratory prepared one. But the durable porcelain material ensures that it will last more than 15 years with proper oral hygiene.
5 Dental Fillings
Dental fillings are such common treatments that usually, you will not consider it a cosmetic procedure. But they are also a kind of cosmetic procedure as the tooth fillings also address issues related to appearance.
Dental fillings are made from a composite resin that matches the color of your natural teeth. This allows the dental filling to blend into your smile perfectly. On the contrary, metal fillings stand out and become noticeable. They are often visible even on the back molar teeth.
Tooth-colored dental fillings are usually not as durable as traditional metal fillings. They usually last about 7 to 15 years compared to metal fillings.
6 Tooth Bonding
If you have deeply stained or chipped teeth, dental bonding is a great cosmetic procedure for you. During bonding, tooth-colored materials are bonded or adhered to your tooth.
The bonding material used in the process of bonding is the same one used for white dental fillings. This material is moldable, meaning your dentist can conveniently shape the material to fit onto your teeth.
Tooth bonding is the ideal procedure that might be used to repair or improve the appearance of your smile. It can repair a tooth that has been badly stained or broken. The only drawback is that the lifespan of the enamel bonding is not as long as dental veneers.
7 Gum Contouring
Do you have a high proportion of your gums that are visible when you smile? You might not even be aware of a remedy for it. The problem is commonly known as Gummy smile.
When extra gum tissue covers up the full length of your teeth this condition arises. The dental procedure involves the removal of the extra gum tissue that covers up your teeth. This will even out the proportion between your gums and teeth.
Advances in dental treatment like dental lasers make this procedure absolutely painless. The lasers used today are incredibly precise and cause very little bleeding and swelling. The tool used during the treatment are very different from the traditional tools like scalpels used previously. This makes the healing process easier and faster, as the lasers actively promote quicker healing.
8 Cosmetic Dentistry – Teeth Shaping
Teeth shaping, also called enamel shaping is a very common treatment today. Your dentist might reshape your tooth by filling or removing some of the enamel.
The teeth shaping process is usually not painful and produces immediate effects. The metal fillings generally tend to contract and expand with changing temperatures. This at times, can loosen the filling or cause your tooth to crack over a long time. You will not notice these problems in the case of tooth-colored fillings.
Invest in a Cosmetic Dentistry Procedure Today!
Every smile is unique. But there may be aspects of your smile that you might not love. A cosmetic dentist can help you to remedy these problems. Even a root canal treatment can transform the unique, beautiful aspects of your smile again.
Simply smiling makes an individual more attractive. A smile does not have to be perfect to be beautiful. But sometimes, you might hide your smile because of minor cosmetic problems. Your dentists can transform your teeth, thereby giving you the smile you desire.
Cosmetic dental procedures have become popular as it provides numerous options when it comes to improving your smile. Schedule an appointment with your dentist today is the first step to understanding the cosmetic dental options that are currently available.
So, what are you waiting for? Consult your dentist and discuss what you would like to change, the end results, and which procedure best suits you. Cosmetic dentistry is not generally covered by dental insurance or might have a high out-of-pocket expense, and that might be a factor that may influence your decision.
Red more about neuromuscular dentistry, that is dedicated to realigning the jaw to relieve temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and other jaw related issues.
Dr. Amal Al Qedrah Medical Center
Royal European Specialist Polyclinic