Cosmetic Dentistry

Cosmetic Dentistry Services

Cosmetic Dentistry is the science and art of improving your smile. Having a great looking smile can be your most powerful asset, opening up many doors and possibly changing your life. Cosmetic dentistry has changed more in the last five years than in the last 20 years. Now it’s easier than ever before to create a happy, natural beautiful smile. Our patients arrive with problems they’ve lived with for years. Now cosmetic dentistry has all the answers. We have the technology to correct discolored, gapped or crooked teeth—with astonishing success.

Cosmetic Dentistry or the Art of Smile Design is the integration of knowledge, experience, and technical expertise to harmoniously create a balance between form, function, and esthetics. Various factors come into play when evaluating a smile.

Occlusion/Bite: This is paramount. How will the new teeth improve or maintain normal function.

Gums: Healthy, well contoured, gum (gingival) tissue is as important to an attractive smile as a quality frame is to a painting. The gums frame the teeth.

Teeth: What is the structural integrity of the teeth? Are there numerous fillings? Are the fillings large? When you look at the teeth are they discolored, poorly shaped, rotated, spaced, or worn? Do the biting edges of the front top teeth form an upward arc and follow the curve of the lower lip or are the two front teeth shorter than the canines forming a downward arc (frown)?

These are some of the things one must consider in a smile evaluation. If the bite and the gum tissue are good, then the next step would be to look at the cosmetic restorative options. In other words, what type of restorations can we use to accomplish our goal and what are our limitations.

Let’s Examine Some Options

Teeth Whitening: This is the simplest and least expensive cosmetic procedure you can do to enhance your smile. Whitening can be done in the dental office in a one and half hour visit or you can choose the “at home” method. Either method is effective and will make a noticeable difference.

Porcelain Veneers: This is the Rolls-Royce restoration of choice. It is a porcelain shell (like a fake fingernail) that when bonded to your tooth is extremely strong. It doesn’t discolor, and has natural beauty and depth of color (opalescence).

Porcelain/Ceramic Crowns: Similar to porcelain veneers, but encompasses the entire tooth.

Porcelain Onlays and Inlays: When restorations are needed on back (posterior) teeth we sometimes use these restorations. An onlay covers either one or all the cusps (points) of a tooth while an inlay would be more like a filling.

Composite Resins: This material is used as a filling material for either posterior or anterior teeth. It is a tooth-colored, bonded material, which can structurally reinforce a tooth, as compared to silver fillings, which weaken teeth.

If you want to improve your smile, Dr. Raymond and Dr. Sarah Gove and their specialists create smile makeovers every day. No case is too difficult. Our Cosmetic Dentistry team is caring and compassionate. You will find your cosmetic transformation to be unbelievably fast and often in just two visits. The newest techniques combined with talent and the abundant experience you need, will ensure that your treatment is painless and most of all done right.