Last Updated on 3 months
Beauty is power, a smile is its sword”
A beautiful smile is an incredible asset. At any age, a wonderful smile radiates health, happiness, personality, and warmth. A magnetic smile has the aura of attracting individuals. How you feel depends largely on how you look. Are you happy with your smile? If not, you’re not the only one.
A recent poll conducted by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) stated that about 70% of the people surveyed were not satisfied with their current smile. They displayed interest in improving their smile with the help of Cosmetic Dentistry.
What is Cosmetic Dentistry?
Cosmetic dentistry is the art of aesthetically enhancing the oral health, smile, and appearance of teeth of an individual. This is done by altering the tooth form, gums, or bite. It involves not only restoring the proper function of the tooth but also providing the most ideal and appealing smile line according to the patient’s demand. A high level of expertise is required to produce results down to the finest details such as how a tooth should be placed in a specific smile.
The best cosmetic dentist is one who has a thorough understanding of tooth anatomy, has mastery over concepts of smile designing, and has extensive knowledge of various dental materials to achieve the most outstanding smile for his patient. Besides, the cosmetic dentist should communicate excellently with the dental technician to produce the best aesthetic results.
Smile Assessment: Unveiling Your Smile’s Potential
The first step to enhancing your smile is “Smile Analysis” by an experienced cosmetic dentist. The cosmetic dentist will examine the alignment of your oral cavity, teeth, and gums, as well as your smile line, facial structure, and previous photographs, in order to inform you if you require any treatment.
Tooth chipping, gaps, fractures, discolorations, and cracks if any are analyzed. He will take a few X-rays and photographs. You can then communicate openly with the dentist regarding your expectations and desires and how you want to look in the future.
After a thorough discussion, the dentist will provide you with treatment options, approximate cost, and treatment time duration. Modern software allows you to preview your final smile before the cosmetic procedure to help you get a better idea. A comprehensive smile analysis is the inception point of a pristine dazzling smile.
Cosmetic Dentistry Treatment Options
There are multiple cosmetic treatment options to choose from with the advancements in dental technologies and techniques:
1. Teeth Whitening
The safest, easy, most popular, inexpensive, and fastest way to brighten dull/discolored teeth. Teeth whitening can be carried out at home by using over-the-counter teeth whitening products such as
- Whitening strips
- Whitening lozenges
- Paint on whitening solutions
- Whitening gums
These techniques contain bleaching agents at low concentrations.
A professionally supervised tooth whitening is generally recommended. For home treatments, the dentist will provide you customized plastic trays in which you have to place whitening gels and wear them in your mouth approx. 30 minutes twice a day.
It takes about 6 weeks to attain desired light shade. For in-office treatments, the dentist will use high-concentration bleaching agents with lasers for high efficacy. This is a single-visit treatment.
2. Dental Veneers
Dental Veneers are customized thin hard tooth-colored laminates that are bonded to the tooth with the help of dental adhesive. They are composed of medical-grade porcelain. They are used to mask discolored teeth, crooked teeth, broken teeth and to close gaps between teeth. Some level of tooth reduction is needed for the placement of veneers. They bond to the front and sides of the existing tooth.
Lumineers are the latest ultra-thin form of veneers that require no tooth reduction for placement.
3. Tooth bonding (Composite)
Minor tooth abruptions like minor cracks, emergency dental fractures, discolorations, chipping, worn down edges, and decay, where extensive coverage like crowns or veneers is not required, can be treated by bonding tooth-colored material called composite resin. This technique is less invasive and cost-effective compared to crowns/veneers. The composite resin is sculpted into the defect to simulate a natural tooth and cured by a high-intensity LED light.
4. Orthodontics
Orthodontics is a specialized branch of dentistry that deals with teeth misalignment. It induces the movement of teeth into proper and functional positions with the use of braces, elastics, aligners, and headgear.
Invisalign and Lingual braces are new advances in the field of orthodontics. Not only tooth position but the facial appearance is also enhanced by such treatment.
5. Dental Implants
Emergency dental injury cases where tooth loss has occurred can be treated by inserting dental implants. The oral surgeon and cosmetic dentist play a vital role here.
A dental implant is a titanium stud that is placed in the jawbone. It stimulates the natural tooth root upon which a crown is placed. It is the ultimate realistic prosthetic replacement for missing teeth.
6. Dental Crowns & Bridges
Teeth that are heavily damaged by trauma or extensive decay require dental crown placement. A dental crown is a cover that is made of metal/porcelain/zirconia that surrounds the damaged crown and supports the damaged tooth functionally as well as aesthetically.
Bridges are a unit of 2 or more fused dental crowns used to replace missing teeth. A root canal dentist commonly places a dental crown on root canal-treated teeth.
7. Dental restorations / Inlays/ Onlays
A dental restoration is a filling done to replace mild to moderate missing/damaged tooth structure. Nowadays tooth-colored filling material like composite resin has replaced conventional metal-colored fillings.
Inlays and Onlays are customized tooth-colored restorations fabricated in the dental laboratory that is bonded to the deficient tooth structure using dental adhesive. They are usually made from porcelain.
8. Tooth contouring/ reshaping
This technique involves the removal of a small part of the enamel to improve tooth appearance. Discrepancies in tooth size are resolved by tooth contouring. E.g. Excessive long tooth. This procedure is commonly known as enameloplasty/ stripping/ odontoplasty.
9. Laser treatments
Lasers are highly focused beams of light that can be used in dental treatments to provide precise and effective results. They offer several benefits over traditional dental techniques, including reduced pain, minimized bleeding, and faster healing times. Some of the common laser treatments in cosmetic dentistry are:
- Teeth whitening: Laser teeth whitening, also known as laser bleaching, is a popular cosmetic procedure that helps lighten the color of stained or discolored teeth.
- Gum contouring: Also known as gum reshaping or gum lift, this procedure involves using lasers to remove excess gum tissue and reshape the gum line. It is performed to correct a “gummy smile” where the gums are prominently displayed, making the teeth appear shorter.
- Dental fillings: Lasers can be used to remove decayed portions of a tooth and prepare it for a filling. Laser-assisted dental fillings are precise and often result in less discomfort compared to traditional methods.
- Soft tissue procedures: Lasers are commonly used for various soft tissue procedures, such as removing oral lesions, reshaping gum tissue, treating gum disease (periodontitis), and reducing gum inflammation
- Gum depigmentation: It is also known as gum bleaching or gum lightening, is a cosmetic dental procedure that involves using laser technology to remove or reduce dark or black pigmentation on the gums.
How to choose the right cosmetic dentist in Modesto?
The cosmetic dentist in Modesto you choose has to have excellent credentials, skills, and expertise. He should be well-versed and experienced to meet your cosmetic expectations. He should be able to provide before and after photos of cosmetic cases of his patients for your referral. Always ask for a smile analysis prior to selecting a cosmetic treatment.
We at ProSmile Family Dental offer you a personalized approach to overcoming all your cosmetic trials with ease. Now is the time and era for much-needed cosmetic enhancement. Book an appointment with us today and breathe confidence into your smile!
Dr. Pushpinder Sethi, a well-known DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) in Modesto, CA, offers extensive dental expertise with a focus on comprehensive care. With degrees from India and the University of the Pacific plus over a decade of experience, her excellence is affirmed by awards and memberships in prestigious associations like ADA and AAID. Specializing in dental implants, Invisalign, and cosmetic dentistry, Dr. Sethi ensures personalized, top-tier dental solutions for her patients. For more details, visit her biography page.