Cosmetic Dentistry – Beyond the Basics

Part 2 of a 3-Part Series

This is part 2 of a 3 part series that discusses the numerous options for cosmetic dentistry. Today we’ll focus on what is traditionally referred to as cosmetic dentistry: bonding, veneers, and crowns.

Beyond Basic — Cosmetic Dentist to the Rescue

Let’s Bond: Changing the teeth themselves is literally in the hands of your dentist. Minor changes can be accomplished by bonding “composite” resin to chipped or discolored front teeth.

Tooth Colored Metal Free Restorations for Back Teeth: Today’s modern techniques and materials allow replacement of missing tooth structure, which bonds directly to tooth substance, not only matching tooth color exactly but actually strengthening the teeth.

Porcelain Veneers: Simply stated a veneer in dentistry is a thin layer of dental porcelain restorative material, that replaces tooth enamel. Provided your teeth are basically in the right position within the jaw structure, these remarkable life-like restorations can truly change a smile — cosmetic dentistry that really makes a difference.

Porcelain Crowns: A variation on the porcelain veneer, but basically used when more tooth structure has been damaged by decay or trauma, porcelain crowns replace the visible “crown” of the tooth in the most cosmetic way.

What Is a Cosmetic Dentist, What Is Cosmetic Dentistry?

Arguably Cosmetic Dentistry has been around since dentists started restoring and replacing teeth, in effect changing smiles. In essence any dentist is a cosmetic dentist. All dentists during their formative years in dental school are educated and trained to do treatment procedures cosmetically, for after all form follows function and function follows form.

But today Cosmetic Dentistry has almost become a specialty within dentistry. What has driven the change is a “Chicken and Egg” story. Nevertheless, we are living in an exciting era in dentistry, an era focused on facial beauty. And the demand for change is not only high but is, for the most part, now technically achievable. Today more than ever before, the healing arts are able to provide cosmetic change to meet the public’s ever increasing expectations.

Many general dentists and dental specialists and their medical counterparts have taken many continuing education courses and studied cosmetic change in detail. There are academies, associations and study clubs devoted to this particular endeavor.