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Cosmetic dentistry is the field of dentistry that focuses on improving the appearance of the mouth (teeth and gums), unlike traditional dentistry that focuses on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of oral diseases.
People seek cosmetic dentistry for a variety of reasons. The truth is most people would like their teeth to be straighter, whiter, and pleasing to the eye when they smile. Many people who feel that their smile is unattractive, will rarely smile or cover their mouth with their hand whenever they laugh. This could also influence negatively their self esteem which can impact both personal and professional relationships. Others just want to look younger, and they want to hide the signs of aging on their teeth (such as yellowish color and worn tooth edges).
Treatments
Today's common cosmetic dental treatment options include:
- Whitening, or "tooth bleaching", is the most common cosmetic dental procedure. While many whitening options are now available, dentist-supervised treatments remain the recommended procedures for lightening discolored teeth.
- Enamel shaping removes parts of the contouring enamel to improve the appearance of the tooth. It may be used to correct a very small chip. The removed enamel is irreplaceable, and may sometimes expose dentin. It is also known as enameloplasty, odontoplasty, recontouring, reshaping, slenderizing and stripping.
- Contouring also know as Tooth reshaping, is one of few instant treatments now available in cosmetic dentistry. Dental reshaping and contouring is a procedure to correct crooked teeth, chipped teeth, cracked teeth or even overlapping teeth in just one session. The dental contouring procedure can even be a substitute for braces under certain circumstances. It is also a procedure of subtle changes. A few millimeters of reduction and a few millimeters of tooth-colored laminate can create a beautiful smile when performed by a cosmetic dentist, with no discomfort to you. Tooth reshaping, or dental contouring, is commonly used to alter the length, shape or position of your teeth.
- Bonding is a process in which an enamel-like dental composite material is applied to a tooth's surface, sculpted into shape, hardened and then polished.
- Veneers are ultra-thin, custom-made laminates that are bonded directly to the teeth. They are an option for closing gaps or disguising discolored teeth that do not respond well to whitening procedures.
- Gum Lift is a cosmetic dental procedure that raises and sculpts the gum line. The procedure involves reshaping the tissue and/or underlying bones to create the appearance of longer or more symmetrical teeth.
Bleaching - Oral bleaching , also known as tooth whitening, is a common procedure in general dentistry but most especially in the field of cosmetic dentistry. Many people consider white teeth to be an attractive feature of a smile. A child's deciduous teeth are generally whiter than the adult teeth that follow. As a person ages the adult teeth often become darker due to changes in the mineral structure of the tooth, as the enamel becomes less porous. Teeth can also become stained by bacterial pigments, foodstuffs and tobacco.
Bonding
Laminating
Crowning
Gum-line contouring - Gum Treatments
All is not lost when you have gum disease, an infection of the gums that begins with the milder form, gingivitis, and can develop into the more severe stage, periodontitis.
Fortunately, these diseases can be treated by various means.
Non-Surgical Step -- Deep cleaning is the first step to treating gum disease without surgery. It involves a process called scaling and root planing, where dental plaque and dental tartar deposits on tooth and root surfaces are removed. This helps gum tissues to heal and gum pockets to shrink, with the help of medications prescribed by your dentist.
Periodontal Surgery -- This is an option utilized only when the gums are so infected that the non-surgical step can't treat the disease. With surgery, dentists can access areas under the gum and along the roots where dental tartar and dental plaque have accumulated that are hard to reach.
Bone Surgery or Bone Grafts -- When the disease has destroyed part of the bone too, dentists rebuild and reshape the bone with a bone graft procedure.
Gingival Grafting -- This simply means healthy tissues from another part of the mouth are stitched in place to help anchor the teeth. This treatment is done when the gums are too diseased to sew back together.
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