Cosmetic Dentistry

 

What is Cosmetic Dentistry?

Cosmetic dentistry is a field of dentistry that has become increasingly popular over the last decade. Cosmetic dentistry focuses on helping a person feel better about him or herself by improving the appearance of the mouth and smile. While traditional dentistry focuses on maintaining oral hygiene and preventing, diagnosing and treating oral disease, cosmetic dentistry focuses on improving the appearance of a person's smile and mouth while providing restorative care in some cases.

 

For example, dental fillings are a common procedure used to treat decayed teeth. In many cases, a dental filling can prevent a dental emergency. In the past, most dental fillings were primarily composed of gold, amalgam and other such materials that were easy to see inside a person's mouth. Today, dental fillings may fall into the category of cosmetic dentistry, because the patient and dentist can select fillings made of porcelain or composite materials that can be camouflaged to be indiscernible within the mouth; thus improving the appearance of the mouth and smile. There are a number of cosmetic dental procedures available for patients interested in enhancing the esthetic appearance of their mouth.

 

 

• Tooth whitening: is the most commonly prescribed cosmetic dental procedure. While many whitening options are now                 available, dentist-supervised treatments remain the recommended procedures for lightening discolored teeth.

• Bonding can improve the appearance of teeth that are chipped, broken, cracked, stained, or have spaces between them. With    bonding, tooth-colored materials are applied, or bonded, to the tooth surface.

• Enamel shaping involves modifying teeth by removing 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. It is also known as enameloplasty,                     odontoplasty, recontouring, reshaping, slenderizing, and stripping. The process, which often is combined with bonding, usually     is quick and comfortable and the results can be seen immediately.

• Veneers are thin custom-made shells designed to cover the front side of teeth. Made of tooth-colored materials, veneers are         used to treat spaces between teeth and teeth that are chipped or worn, permanently stained, poorly shaped or slightly crooked.

• Braces are not just for kids. The treatment is also meant for adults to correct the crowded teeth by using braces.