Cosmetic Dentistry
Cosmetic Dentistry brightens a smile by enhancing its natural freshness and beauty or by removing imperfections. Just as important, it can restore capabilities that have been lost in accidents or other events.
So while Cosmetic Dentistry can improve how you look and feel about yourself, it can also help your teeth do their work. Still, not all insurance policies cover all Cosmetic Dentistry procedures.
Over time, teeth can discolour. Aging can play a role in this. So can medications, and the use of coffee, tea or tobacco. A root canal treatment can also change a tooth’s colour.
To remove a stain or lighten the shade of one or more of your teeth, you can request a painless procedure known as whitening or bleaching.
To whiten only one or a few teeth, your Dentist may suggest using a bleach activated by heat, or by heat and light. To whiten all your teeth, a bleach-containing toothpaste may be suggested—or you might receive a mouthpiece that fits over your teeth.
The mouthpiece is made to hold a tooth-whitening solution. You can wear it at home for set periods of time over a few weeks—more weeks for a whiter smile. Or you can wear it during visits to our Clinic. Treatment usually involves two to six visits of less than an hour.
Note that whitening won’t remove all stains and may need to be redone once or more every year. It’s a fact that whitened teeth can stain, too.
To restore the attractiveness of a tooth that has a small chip or other flaw, we might suggest contouring. Contouring is the simple filing down of a tooth. It is less invasive than most procedures and quite effective.
When you have a chipped or cracked tooth, or one that is broken, we might suggest bonding. We might also suggest it to fill gaps between teeth or to make the colour of a tooth match that of its neighbours.
Bonding is a technique in which a durable, tooth-coloured material is used for small repairs. The bonding process is painless. It involves preparing the tooth to stick to the bonding material and then applying the bonding material.
The bonding material goes on in layers. Each layer must be hardened under a bright light. When the final layer has been hardened, your Dentist will shape and polish it. This will make it look and feel natural.
Bonding doesn’t last as long as crowns, which are a more involved alternative. It is not unusual to have to touch up bonding every five years or so. On the other hand, because bonding can be replaced it can be used on the growing teeth of children.
If you have stained or chipped teeth, or if your teeth are unevenly spaced or not the right shape, we may suggest the use of veneers.
Veneers are thin porcelain shells attached by a composite resin cement to the front sides of teeth.
Getting a veneer takes a couple of visits. On the first visit, your Dentist will give you some freezing, if needed, before preparing the tooth for its veneer. The Dentist will then make an impression of your tooth to be used to custom-make the veneer. On the second visit, your dentist will prepare your tooth to accept the custom-made veneer and will bond it in place.
Porcelain veneers are stronger than bonding—and less likely to stain. Veneers can create an attractive smile with a high degree of durability.
Tooth-coloured fillings are an attractive alternative to silver or gold fillings.
Made of a type of glass, porcelain or a composite resin that can be matched to the colour and texture of your teeth, tooth-coloured fillings have a natural look that can be a source of new confidence.
While tooth-coloured fillings are not the always the right option, in the right situation they can be extremely appealing and functional. The attractiveness of tooth-coloured fillings is the key consideration for many people.
A crown protects a tooth that is seriously damaged or has a root canal treatment, a severe stain or shape issues. A crown is a porcelain, porcelain-and-metal or metal cap cemented over a tooth, to strengthen it and can return its natural attractiveness.
To make a crown, your Dentist will make an impression of the tooth to be crowned. Next, the Dentist will prepare the tooth for its crown. This will involve steps such as freezing, removing any decay, and filling and building up the tooth. The Dentist will then make a second impression, this time of the prepared tooth. The prepared tooth will usually be covered with a temporary crown while your permanent crown is being made in a dental lab.
When the lab returns the permanent crown, you‘re ready for your second visit to the Dentist. On this visit, the Dentist will replace the temporary crown with the permanent one and make sure that the new crown will look and work as expected.
Each type of crown has its advantages, from the natural look of porcelain through the reasonably attractive porcelain-and-metal to the full gold crown. With proper care, a crown can last 10 years or more.
When you have a large filling or cavity in the centre of the chewing surface of a back tooth that needs repair, your Dentist may recommend an inlay. An inlay is a piece of porcelain or metal made to fit into your tooth and to be cemented there in place.
To prepare a tooth for an inlay, your Dentist may freeze it and then clean out the old filling or cavity. Next, an impression will be made of the prepared tooth. This impression will be used to create an inlay that fits properly. Before you leave the Clinic, the Dentist will then give the tooth a temporary filling, to protect it.
On the second visit, your Dentist will remove the temporary filling, bond the newly created inlay to your tooth and ensure that the inlay looks and works with your other teeth as it should.
Inlays can last many years and can be a good alternative to a crown. As with porcelain or porcelain-and-metal crowns, inlays can have an entirely natural look.
An onlay differs from an inlay (See Inlays on this page.) in that it is made to replace a large filling or cavity that involves the centre of a tooth plus one or more of the points on its chewing surface. Onlay treatment involves the same steps as inlay treatment.
Crooked, crowded or missing teeth, an overbite, an underbite, teeth that have shifted or that are separated by wide gaps or that do not meet—these are all reasons people seek Orthodontic treatment.
Orthodontics addresses problems that arise when teeth and jaws don’t work properly together. It aims to correct how teeth align. Many people turn to orthodontics for cosmetic reasons, to improve appearance. But there is often also a functional side to orthodontic treatment. This treatment can improve a person’s abilities to bite and chew. It can also make cleaning teeth easier, which can improve overall oral health.
Orthodontic treatment usually involves the use of specially made braces, although particular problems may call for the use of appliances, such as headgear, or even oral surgery.
Braces employ a light, steady force to slowly move teeth to new positions. While today’s braces are smaller, stronger and less noticeable than those of the past, choosing braces, as a child or an adult, takes commitment.
Six months to a year of treatment may be needed to deal with a new, emerging problem. To address an older, established problem, one to three years of treatment is common. After the braces are removed, you will probably use a retainer.
When you wear braces, you need to take extra care brushing and flossing your teeth. Frequent cleaning with a Dental Hygienist will help. You also have to avoid foods that are hard or sticky. Damaging your braces can lengthen treatment.
And as good as you look the day your Dentist removes your braces, you cannot count on your teeth remaining in their new positions. With age and use, teeth can shift. Adjustment may be needed later on.
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