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| Cosmetic
Dentistry |
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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, enamel
shaping, veneers, and white
fillings allow us to create a beautiful smile with,
at times, only minimal changes to existing teeth. |
| Tooth Whitening is
a very popular procedure in cosmetic dentistry. It is
a relatively easy and effective technique for obtaining
a dazzling, whiter smile, either in-office or at home,
in a matter of days. |
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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. |
| Enamel Shaping (Contouring)
is the process of shaping natural teeth to improve their
appearance. Shaping can be used to correct minor cases
of crowded or overlapping teeth, smooth rough edges, or
make small adjustments to the shape of a tooth. |
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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". Today,
more modern types of veneers (Lumineers) can be made as
thin as a contact lens and often require no tooth reduction. |
| 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. |
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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!
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