7 Options for Improving Your Smile

When life itself brought teeth to show signs of aging with yellowed, chipped, cracked teeth or the front teeth have shifted slightly to bring slight spaces in-between the teeth, the only solution was to shrink away from the camera. Good News! – with new advancements made in cosmetic dentistry, there are seven options available for improving your smile, though it must be noted some cosmetic procedures are not always covered by dental insurance.

1. Regular Dental Check-Ups and Professional Cleanings. First and best way to improve your smile is with routine dental check-ups and professional cleanings that go deeper than the normal toothbrush reaches.

2. Teeth Whitening. Improving your smile with a professionally applied whitening procedure of peroxide gel, heat, and light can get teeth three to eight shades lighter. Teeth with intrinsic difficulties, such as fillings or crowns, will not benefit from teeth whitening. It should be noted that whitened teeth may become sensitive to hot and cold food and drink and teeth whitening may need to be done again, particularly if one continues to eat and drink those foods that stain the teeth. Teeth whitening is best done by a professional dentist, who will evaluate the teeth, fill any cavities first, and professionally clean teeth before using whitening solution.

3. Veneers. Dental veneers are ultra-thin porcelain shells bonded to natural teeth to cover light stains, chips, or cracks in teeth and a great way of improving your smile! The process involves the shaving off of ½ mm of enamel from teeth, about same thickness as veneer material, and the veneer then fitted, trimmed, shaped and checked for correct color of tooth or teeth underneath veneer. Once veneer is permanently bonded, it cannot be removed.

4. Bonding. Dental bonding is quite cost effective to improving your smile using a resin material close to the color of natural tooth. (Resin is a plastic type material) The resin is applied to affected tooth, molded, and shaped to fit natural tooth. A blue light or laser light is then applied to harden the bond material and after it is hard, further trimming, shaping and polishing will be performed.

5. Braces. Due to a condition called Malocclusion, where teeth grow in crooked due to misaligned teeth or differing size of the upper and lower jaw, corrective orthodontic braces may set those teeth straight. Such orthodontic braces come in the traditional wire type but now include a type of braces that are ‘invisible’ on teeth and give patient more control in removing braces as needed for eating, brushing and flossing.

6. Dental Implants. Dental implants consist of a titanium post surgically placed within jawbone where gap from loss of tooth occurs. A ‘cap’ called a crown is then placed atop this new artificial titanium root. No gaps surely will improve your smile!

7. Teeth Contouring. This procedure can alter the shape and length of a tooth by shaving off small amounts of enamel and re-shaping tooth to match the length of other teeth.

For more information or to schedule an appointment with Smile by Design Dental Group, request an appointment in our Irvine dental office here: https://www.implantdentistirvine.com. Or call us at (949) 786-2820.

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