Cosmetic Teeth Procedures Range from the Simple to the Complex

The science of dentistry can be more than a medical practice. It can actually be a form of art. Restoring the beauty of the human smile is the essence of cosmetic dentistry. Dentists specializing in advanced aesthetic and restorative solutions use a number of cosmetic teeth procedures to accomplish this feat. Some cases are very easy to treat with simple solutions. Others are more complex and challenging, and require very complicated cosmetic teeth procedures to produce an outcome that looks identical too, or possibly even better, than the original smile of the patient. Fortunately, the science is just as sophisticated as the art these days, allowing cosmetic dental specialists to repair almost any flaw they encounter with any number of highly effective procedures that exceed patient expectations and bring lasting, if not lifelong, results.

Tooth Whitening
The most basic of cosmetic teeth procedures involves whitening the teeth with a special bleaching gel, a high intensity light, and bleaching gel treatments that the patient applies nightly at home between office visits. This is usually the first course of action cosmetic dentists will recommend for basic tooth discoloration that has occurred naturally over time, or as the result of drinking coffee, or taking certain forms of medication that can discolor teeth.

More severe cases of tooth discoloration, however, may require more complex or drastic cosmetic teeth procedures to restore a truly white, healthy-looking smile.

Cosmetic Dental Veneers
If staining is too deep for bleaching gel to remove, it is better to overlay the stain with a hard, non-permeable substance that is both cosmetically attractive and impervious to further damage. Porcelain is very hard, and has a strangely translucent appearance that is remarkably similar to the natural translucence of tooth enamel. Once applied; they will last for years, and never stain or discolor themselves.

Veneers are also used to cover chips and small pits in teeth surfaces, and they are sometimes even used as an alternative to braces for correcting teeth alignment problems. Veneers are thus one of the most multi-purpose cosmetic teeth procedures and one of the simplest and most painless as well.

Dental Bonding
Dental bonding is one of the most simple and painless cosmetic tooth procedures one can experience in a dental chair. The bonding agent itself is actually a colored, composite resin that the dentist custom makes to either match the color of natural teeth, or whiten their appearance. In order to help the substance better adhere to tooth surfaces, the dentist uses an extremely mild acidic solution to etch the surfaces of teeth. This creates microscopic, irregular lines in the tooth enamel that the bonding agent can readily attach itself to.

Dental Crowns
People not only suffer from damaged teeth, they often break portions of teeth completely off, or suffer severe tooth degradation due to cavity formation. Severe tooth decay, if left untreated for too long, can destroy more than 50 percent of a tooth to the point that it cannot be salvaged. This is particularly true if decay breaks into the nerve chamber and begins to kill the tooth pulp, surrounding nerves and tissue, and tooth root itself. Cosmetic dentists avoid the patchwork practice of trying to fill such teeth with silver amalgam fillings. Instead they often combine the traditional root canal with one of the more sophisticated cosmetic teeth procedures available today-the dental crown.

Dental crowns are made from porcelain, and, much like veneers, mimic the appearance of tooth enamel. The key difference between a crown and veneer is the crown is custom-molded to cover the entire tooth, and acts like a cap over its exterior surface. Provided all infection within the nerve chamber has been removed during the root canal procedure, the dental crown will make the damaged or dead tooth look and function like a natural, healthy, living tooth.

Dental Implants
Unfortunately, not every tooth can be saved. Sometimes people lose teeth in accidents, or through neglect, allow several teeth to decay to the point they must be extracted. Fortunately, there is a solution that can effectively restore the comfort, confidence, and beauty for these patients just as effectively as other cosmetic teeth procedures. This solution is the dental implant. Made from a titanium allow root that attaches to the bone, and covered with a porcelain crown that looks just like a natural tooth, a dental implant is the best tooth replacement option a person with gaps in his or her smile can obtain. Implants are so natural that many patients who have them often forget that they had them to begin with, because they feel as natural as they look.

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