For most people, cosmetic dentistry isn’t about health but rather, about quality of life. It’s about improving their smile and appearance, which in turn, can have a positive influence on their confidence and self-esteem.
In essence, cosmetic dentistry is really elective aesthetic dentistry designed to improve the appearance of your teeth and smile, and help you to feel better about yourself. It may not be essential, although it can sometimes be restorative.
Aesthetic Dentistry Restorations – These may include tooth colour correction, orthodontics, or replacing missing or broken teeth with dental implants.
Elective Aesthetic Dentistry – This may include anything from veneers and dental bonding to crowns, inlays, onlays, and more.
Types of Cosmetic Dentistry
Confidence, self-esteem, and better smiles are the primary reasons most patients choose to have cosmetic dentistry.
Today’s dentists have a lot more resources and tools to work with. They can now offer patients simple, efficient, virtually pain-free options for fixing discoloured, chipped, or missing teeth, or teeth that are misshapen, mis-aligned, ill-sized, or have large gaps between them.
In this post, our Country Dental Clinics offer an overview of the different types of aesthetic dentistry services that are available for a smile makeover. Most are quick and pain-free procedures. Depending on your circumstances, these cosmetic dental services can be combined or administered individually.
Teeth Whitening
Ask your dentist about our leading-edge teeth whitening process to remove stains and discolouration so you can enjoy a whiter, healthier looking smile. In-office teeth whitening can be an inexpensive and easy way to immediately improve your smile in under an hour. Teeth whitening also adds a protective coating so be sure to have your teeth professionally cleaned first to remove any tartar and plaque buildup ahead of your whitening appointment.
Replacing Teeth with Dental Implants
For many people, missing teeth due to injury or tooth decay, can leave an unsightly gap that can negatively affect their self-esteem and confidence. A dental implant is generally a restorative cosmetic dentistry procedure, but it can also be more aesthetic for many patients. A titanium screw (root implant) is placed directly into the bone socket to provide a permanent solid foundation for the replacement tooth. Today’s dental implants are extremely realistic looking and blend easily to give you a beautiful natural smile, while maintaining the bone in your jaw and protecting the shape and integrity of your mouth as you age. Learn more on this topic on our dental implant FAQ blog post.
Dental Veneers
When a patient wants to improve their smile by changing the shape, size, or colour of their teeth, their dentist will often use custom made resin, ceramic, or porcelain dental veneers. These very thin, customized shells are bonded to the front surface of the teeth with adhesives and can be colour matched to blend perfectly with the patient’s other teeth. Dental veneers are very realistic and are often used to hide damaged, cracked, or crooked teeth.
Dental Crowns
Similar to veneers, dental crowns (caps) are a form of cosmetic dentistry used to improve your smile without having to replace or straighten your teeth. Crowns are applied above the gum line and used to strengthen, support, and protect weak, chipped, or cracked teeth and to restore the tooth’s size, colour, shape, and appearance.
Dental Bonding
After applying the dental bonding, which is like a tooth-coloured putty, your dentist can then trim and shape the bonding to match the rest of your teeth. An ultraviolet light is then used to harden and “bond” the tooth-coloured resin to your own tooth. Because composite dental bonding is relatively inexpensive, it is often used as an alternative for silver dental fillings or to repair misshapen, chipped, cracked, or decaying teeth.
Dental Inlays and Onlays
A dental inlay filling is used to bond to the center of your tooth. A dental filling onlay is bonded to the biting surface or points of the teeth. Both of these “indirect” fillings can be utilized when the decay is only minor and not enough to warrant a filling. In cosmetic dentistry, dental inlays and onlays are a good alternative to the cost of dental crowns since they are designed to preserve as much of the remaining healthy tooth as possible. Unlike dental fillings, which can be applied during your visit to the dentist, dental inlays (and onlays) must be made in the laboratory. Once they are ready, your dentist will bond your custom inlays and onlays to your teeth with adhesive dental cement.
Cosmetic Dentistry & the Power of Your Smile
At Country Dental, we provide elective aesthetic dentistry services to not only enhance your smile but also to complement your overall oral health. We want to help you smile more. A smile can boost your mood and have a positive influence on you and on others.
According to a study by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, of all those surveyed:
- 92% say a smile can brighten someone else’s day
- 88% say smiling makes them feel good
- 57% say that a smile from a stranger makes them want to smile
Did you know that smiling can also boost your immune system and add 7 years to your life?
Still Have Questions About Cosmetic Dentistry?
While preventative dental care is our major objective, we also want to help you improve your smile.
Call our Fergus dentists at 519-787-7878 if you still have questions about any of the cosmetic dentistry services we offer.
Ask us about our kids dental services and emergency dental services.
You can read more on this Wikipedia page about what is Cosmetic Dentistry.
