What Is Cosmetic Dentistry?
Traditional and cosmetic dentistry have two different focuses, procedures, and objectives. Both are very important and can accomplish a beautiful smile as well as healthy oral hygiene. Traditional dentistry focuses more on dental hygiene, and cosmetic dentistry focuses on the aesthetic appearance of one’s teeth and smile. Cosmetic dentistry is a choice to improve one’s mouth or smile.
While traditional dentistry focuses on oral hygiene and preventing, diagnosing and treating oral disease, cosmetic dentistry focuses on improving the appearance of a person’s teeth, mouth and smile. In other words restorative, general and/or family dental practices address dental problems that require necessary treatment, whereas cosmetic dentistry provides elective – or desired – treatments or services.
Cosmetic dentistry may also provide restorative benefits. For example, dental fillings are a common procedure used to treat decayed teeth. Previously, most dental fillings were composed primarily of gold, amalgam and other materials that left visible dark spots on the teeth.
Today, dental fillings may fall into the category of cosmetic dentistry, because you can select fillings made of porcelain or composite materials that closely match the color of your teeth, thus maintaining the natural appearance of your teeth and smile. Many people may choose to have their older fillings replaced with newer, tooth-colored fillings to enhance their oral appearance.
People choose cosmetic dental procedures for various reasons – to repair a defect such as a malformed bite or crooked teeth, treat an injury, or just improve their overall appearance. For these and many other reasons, cosmetic dentistry has become a vital and important part of the dental profession and one of the fastest growing areas of dentistry. For example, tooth-whitening procedures have tripled over the past five years.
Common cosmetic dental procedures can be performed to correct misshaped, discolored, chipped or missing teeth. It also can be used to change the overall shape of teeth – from teeth that are too long or short, have gaps, or simply need to be reshaped.
Cosmetic dentistry has become so popular that restorative treatments are now adopting cosmetic elements into their procedures. For instance, a tooth filling or crown can be designed to match the natural shape and color of your tooth, hiding the fact that you’ve had any “work done.”
Cosmetic dentistry procedures include:
Who wouldn’t want a perfect smile? Cosmetic dentistry offers many options for people who are unhappy with their smile. If you are one of these people, we encourage you to discuss all of your options with us. We can answer any questions you have about the techniques used to improve your smile.