A smile can be the most eye-catching feature
of your face. Even a subtle change can make
a big difference in the way you look and feel.
New techniques like whitening,
bonding, veneers,
and white fillings
allow us to create a beautiful smile with, at
times, only minimal changes to existing teeth.
Teeth Whitening
is a very popular procedure in cosmetic dentistry.
It is a relatively easy and effective technique
for obtaining a dazzling, whiter smile, at home,
in a matter of days.
Bonding is a procedure
where tooth-colored composite resin material is placed
to "fill in the blanks." One of the most
frequent uses of the bonding technique is to fill
in a gap between front teeth.
Veneers are
laboratory fabricated, porcelain facings that
are bonded to the front surfaces of teeth to
whiten teeth, close spaces, straighten teeth,
or repair chipped or worn teeth. The veneers
are only about 1 mm thick (the thickness of
a fingernail). That same thickness is "shaved"
off the natural tooth surface so when the veneer
is bonded to the tooth, the tooth doesn't feel
or look "thicker".
Caps (Crowns)
are rarely used for cosmetic correction any
more, since the advent of veneers, but in some
cases a crown may be necessary for a particular
tooth. A tooth with a bad fracture
or a large filling
that is breaking down, or has decay around it,
may be a candidate for a crown instead of a
veneer. This patient has veneers on top, but
one of the front teeth had a large filling and
had to be crowned.
White
fillings replace silver or gold fillings
with a more natural looking tooth-colored
material. Since teeth are translucent, dark
fillings cause the whole tooth to appear darker
when viewed from the side. Replacing older
dark fillings with white fillings will keep
your smile glowing!
