Cosmetic Dentistry – Discovering the Full Range of Services
When we talk of all inclusive oral care which combines art and science to provide dental health, aesthetics and function, we are in effect talking about cosmetic dentistry. It is one branch of dentistry and deals in the main with how teeth look and enhancing your smile by making teeth look good.This article covers the range of services you will receive from a cosmetic dentist and will be helpful should you require their services for dental bridges, bonding, whitening teeth, reshaping or any other kind of service related to the field of cosmetic dental work.The more common dental treatments that fall under the purview of cosmetic dentistry include:Teeth whitening: this is actually a form of teeth bleaching and probably rated as the most common cosmetic procedure. You can of course find several over the counter products to whiten your teeth; however dentist supervised treatments really are the best for whitening discolored teeth.Bonding: a thin coating of enamel like composite material is applied to the front of the teeth, sculpted into the tooth shape and then cured with a blue light. It is then polished and the final effect is the stains are masked; this is done when the staining is so bad it cannot be effectively removed.Enamel shaping: parts of the contouring enamel are removed to improve the way the teeth look. Dentists use this method to correct chips in the teeth and the method is also referred to as enameloplasty, recontouring or reshaping among others in cosmetic dentistry. You should bear in mind that enamel once removed can never be replaced; hence it may be better to live with a slightly chipped tooth rather than removing your natural enamel that is irreplaceable.Contouring: this is a form of dental reshaping of the tooth and is a sort of instant treatment. Crooked, cracked, chipped and overlapping teeth are all set right in just one sitting. There are times when the contouring process has negated the need for braces. The changes wrought by contouring are very subtle – a few millimeters only of reduction and tooth colored laminate are all that is needed.Reshaping: a process by which the length, shape or position of the teeth are altered.Dental bridges: referred to as pontics or false teeth, are fused between porcelain crowns to fill the gap left by a missing tooth. Two crowns will be needed to hold the false tooth in place and these crowns are attached to the teeth on either side of the gap. This is called a fixed bridge and cannot be removed from the mouth as one does with removable dentures. Bridges are used to correct overbite, reduce gum disease risks and even improve speech. A bridge can last for 10 years or more depending on the kind of dental hygiene you practice.Veneers: custom made porcelain laminates that are ultra thin and bonded directly onto teeth to close gaps or camouflage discolored teeth that have not responded well to teeth whitening procedures.There are other procedures as well that fall under the umbrella of cosmetic dentistry, which is a rather large field.