Options in Cosmetic Dentistry – Part 1

If you’re like many people, a lifetime of excess sugar and caffeine has altered the shade of your teeth. Thankfully, these kinds of issues can be resolved with cosmetic dentistry. A healthy and beautiful smile can give us self-confidence and improve our self-esteem, which is why dental practitioners perform cosmetic procedures.

Doctors Egbert, Reineck, Powers, and Naylor have the experience and training needed to perform cosmetic procedures that can help deliver the smile you’ve always wanted. Over the course of the next three blogs, we’ll discuss several of the possible options, the situations where they are most appropriate, and what they involve.

Crowns 

Crowns cover the entire surface of a tooth, enhancing the tooth’s appearance, stability, and shape. They can be made from one of the several different sorts of materials, and there are several reasons why a patient might necessitate one. They include:

▪ Reconstructing a chipped tooth
▪ Topping a dental implant
▪ Protecting a fragile tooth from tooth decay
▪ Protecting a cracked tooth

You may be wondering how a crown is installed. To start, your dentist will perform an X-ray on a tooth he or she thinks is at risk for decay or disease. Your dentist will then prepare the tooth so that it better fits the crown. Next, a mold of the tooth (which will act as a model for the crown) will be created and shipped to a dental lab, where the permanent crown will be made. The patient will then receive a provisional crown while waiting for the permanent one.

Using the right attention and care, a crown can last for many years.

Implants

Historic evidence shows that dental implants have been around since 600 AD. It is been discovered that the ancient Mayans implanted fake teeth by driving tooth-shaped seashells into the jaw. Lucky for us, technology has advanced considerably since then, and modern-day dental implants, produced from titanium, are implanted with modern methods. These titanium implants fuse with the bone through a process known as osseointegration. Bone-loss usually occurs when a tooth is missing, but the dental implant stops this from occurring.

Implants are an optimal solution for a patient who’s missing one or many teeth. The process requires some time to finish, as the implants—which serve as new tooth roots—are surgically placed into the jawbone and necessitate some time to heal before a crown is fixed over top. Once completed, the implant/crown combo flawlessly mimic the look of a natural tooth.

Keep an eye out for the continuation of our blogs on the topic of cosmetic dentistry. Until then, be sure to follow us on social media, and click here if you need to schedule an appointment with Dr. Egbert, Dr. Reineck or Dr. Powers.