Wishing for the Perfect Smile
First impressions count and your smile is
very important. Wishing for the perfect smile in time for
your date, job interview, wedding, social reunion or business
meeting? The appearance of your teeth determine a lot about you in
terms of your outlook on life, how you smile, how friendly you seem,
and how clean you appear. Having a beautiful smile with white,
straight teeth is what cosmetic dentistry is all about.
Invest in your smile, feel great about yourself, be happier and look
fantastic!
What is a Cosmetic Dentist?
Cosmetic dentistry is dental art to a dentist. A cosmetic
dentist is an artist wishing to aesthetically improve your teeth to
make you feel and look attractive, boost your confidence to smile
and get the most out of life. Most if not all dentists provide cosmetic dental treatments so the Hollywood
Smile is now available to everyone not just celebrities.
What is a Smile Makeover?
A smile makeover is when a cosmetic dentist offers a range
of cosmetic dental options such as using veneers, crowns, white
fillings and teeth whitening to ensure that your entire smile is
perfect and that you're happy with every single tooth.
Further information
From Floss: Cosmetic Dental Makeover Self-Test
From
Animated Teeth: Smile Makeovers
What is a Veneer?
A veneer is a thin layer of porcelain made to fit over the
front surface of a tooth, like a false fingernail fits over a nail.
Sometimes a natural colour 'composite' material is used instead of porcelain.
Veneers can improve the colour,
shape and position of your teeth. A precise shade of
porcelain can be chosen to give the right colour to improve a single
discoloured or stained tooth or to lighten front teeth (usually the
upper ones) generally.
A veneer can make a chipped
tooth look intact again. The porcelain covers the whole of
the front of the tooth with a thicker section replacing the broken
part.
Veneers can also be used to
close small gaps, when orthodontics (braces) are not
suitable. If one tooth is slightly out of position, a veneer
can sometimes be fitted to bring it into line with the
others.
Veneers make teeth look natural and healthy. Because they are very thin and are held in place by a
special strong bond (rather like super-glue) very little
preparation of the tooth is
needed.
Further
information
From the BDHF: Dental veneer
From Animated Teeth: Dentist veneer
From About Cosmetic Dentistry: Teeth Veneers
What is a Crown?
A crown is an artificial restoration that fits over the
remaining part of a prepared tooth, making it strong and giving it
the shape of a natural tooth. A crown is sometimes known as a
'cap'.
Crowns are an ideal restoration for teeth that have been
broken, or have been weakened by decay or a very large
filling. A crown could be used for a number of other reasons,
for instance:
- you may have discoloured fillings and would like to improve
the appearance of the tooth
- you may have had a root filling which will need a crown to
protect it
- it may help hold a bridge or denture firmly in place.
Further information
From the BDHF: Dental crown
From Animated Teeth: Dentist crown
From About Cosmetic Dentistry: Teeth crowns
What is a White Filling?
A composite white filling is used to restore a small
cavity (decay) in the tooth. The filling is called a white
filling because of the natural, tooth colour of the
material.
White fillings are considered a more
healthier as well as aesthetically pleasing option than silver
(amalgam) fillings. Composite white filling can be placed
during just one visit to the dentist.
Further information
From the BDHF: Dental white fillings
From Animated Teeth: Dentist white filling
From My New Smile: Teeth white fillings
What is Teeth Whitening, Tooth
Whitening or Bleaching?
Teeth whitening, tooth whitening and power bleaching teeth are all the same. Teeth become stained because of food and drinks
such as tea, coffee and red wine. There are many other reasons for
tooth discolouration and smoking tobacco is one of the main
causes.
The main ingredient in
teeth whitening is Hydrogen Peroxide. As the Hydrogen
Peroxide gel is broken down, oxygen enters the enamel and
dentin, bleaching colored substances while the structure of
the tooth is unchanged.
A laser light activates
the whitening gel and helps speed up the chemical
reaction of the whitening product. The result is a brighter,
whiter smile and no more stained teeth. A cosmetic dentist should be able to whiten your teeth within 1 hour.
Teeth whitening home kits are available to complement the 1 hour chair-side power bleaching. A custom built mouth tray
is created by the cosmetic dentist to ensure a perfect fit
and effective home bleaching process.
Further information
From the
BDHF: Dental teeth whitening
From Animated Teeth: Dentist teeth whitening
From ADA: Tooth whitening
Mouth Cancer
Awareness
All dentists should screen for mouth cancer as part of a regular checkup. For more information on mouth, tongue, throat and other
head and neck cancers, visit the Mouth
Cancer Foundation website.
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