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Cosmetic Dentistry ProceduresWe've become accustomed to near-perfect teeth and smiles everywhere we look, especially those faces that are in the spotlight - actors, models, star -- they all have perfect teeth. But if you went back in time just a century, you'd find mouths filled with crooked, rotting teeth. Orthodontics, preventive dentistry, oral hygiene, and cosmetic dentistry are all recent inventions, but they've brought with them the possibility of great teeth to most of the masses. While oral hygiene and proper brushing and flossing are needed for healthy teeth and gums, you can still have healthy teeth that look ugly - that is where cosmetic dentistry comes in. Cosmetic dentistry is aimed at fixing the "appearance" of your teeth, and this can be done by several methods. Tooth whitening and bleaching is a procedure that has become more and more popular each year, removing decades of stains and discolorations from teeth. Bonding involves attaching tooth-like pieces to teeth to fix chips and gaps. Veneers are like little shells that are glued onto the front of existing teeth, giving you teeth that look perfectly shaped and white on the exterior. Enamel shaping and contouring is often combined with bonding to fix imperfect teeth. And of course braces and orthodontics can be used to align crooked teeth through the use of pulling or pushing pressure applied through wire, rubber bands, and other materials. In this guide we will take a look at some of the most popular cosmetic dentistry procedures and find out what they are, what they entail, and what you can expect in terms of results and costs.
Porcelain Veneers - Tooth Veneer - Dental Veneers - Porcelain LaminatesVeneers, which are thin shells that are slipped over the front of existing teeth and glued into place, are a cosmetic dentistry procedure used to correct teeth that are discolored or misshapen. Veneers can also be used to cover up fillings that are showing through the tooth edges. Veneers are commonly made of porcelain or some other composite material that is designed to look like natural tooth enamel (porcelain veneers are translucent like real teeth, so you don't get the artificial look that prior technologies offered, and they stand up better to stains and discoloration). Like most cosmetic procedures, veneers are normally not covered by dental insurance which leads to this question -- How much do dental veneers cost? Porcelain veneers are usually the most expensive, usually costing about $1000 per tooth, so prices can go as low as $750 and as high as $2000 in some places. Veneers are traditional done on the front 6 teeth, top and bottom as needed. Ideally, all the teeth are done together to create a uniform, consistent look, though it is possible to do veneers on a tooth by tooth basis. Getting veneers means a few trips to the dentist office - first the existing teeth are filed down slightly through a buffing process, making them a little smaller so that the new veneer will bring your tooth back up to its normal size. Impressions are made of your tooth, and then the veneers are fabricated to fit that mold, and thus fit your tooth exactly when put into place. When ready, on a return visit, the new veneers are bonded into place over your existing teeth. How long do veneers last? Expect porcelain veneers to hold up for 10-15 years or more. A special kind of veneer called Lumineers is also available. Lumineers is a brand name product from Den-Mat Corp, and they are designed to be super thin and in some cases can be applied directly to teeth with no drilling, buffing, or anesthesia required -- perfect for many people who fear the dentist. Lumineers tend to cost almost the same as normal porcelain veneers, and can have a similar lifespan. Ask your dentist about this option if you are concerned about the normal veneer procedure. For before and after pictures of dental veneers, visit this website or here.Tooth Bonding - Dental BondingBonding is another cosmetic dentistry procedure used to improve the appearance of gaps, cracks, chips and stains on teeth. Simply put, bonding means sticking a glob of tooth-looking material onto your tooth and shaping it so it looks like a normal tooth surface. For example, if you had a small gap between your front teeth, your dentist can bond one or both of your teeth along the edge with a dental bond, making the tooth a little wider and making the gap disappear. How much does tooth bonding cost? Expect to pay from $200-$800 per tooth, depending on the complexity of the work. The good news is that for cracked or damaged teeth, bonding is often covered by dental insurance as a necessary procedure, unlike other cosmetic procedures. Bonding is especially common and popular on chipped teeth, allowing you to build up a full, normal size tooth that can stand up both to the daily rigors of eating and chewing, while looking good at the same time. Matching tooth colors is one of the challenges of all cosmetic dentistry work, but especially so for bonds since the bond and natural tooth surface will be touching and sitting side by side on display. There is often a slight discoloration or demarcation line visible if you look closely enough at a bonded tooth, but a good dentist should make that all but invisible. Bonds are usually performed in a single office visit. First, your dentist will probably grind away a small portion of the surface of the tooth, leaving a rough area that will bond well with the bonding paterial. An adhesive material is applied, then the bonding composite is laid on top of that, normally in a number of layers to get the colors just right. Once the bonding material is securely in place, the dentist can shape and polish it to get the perfect finished look. A special light (or other chemicals) is often used to cure and harden the bond, making it "permanent", though nothing lasts forever in your mouth! You can get local anesthesia if you have a low tolerance for pain, but the minimal amount of grinding and roughing of the enamel usually is not painful since only the very outer surface of the tooth is affected. You can see some before and after photos of bonded teeth here and here.Teeth Bleaching - Teeth Whitening - How to Get Whiter TeethIn recent years, one of the most popular cosmetic dentistry procedures has been teeth whitening or bleaching. Just like bleaching agents that can remove stains and color from clothing, special bleaching agents can also be used that remove surface stains and discoloration from tooth enamel. And whatever you do, don't mess around with household bleach, that stuff is dangerous -- teeth bleaching is totally different. There are a number of commercial products marketed as teeth whiteners, from tooth pastes to special bleaching strips to be applied to your teeth -- you can buy these at any drugstore counter, but they are usually not super effective. For real teeth whitening, most people opt for either visiting their dentist for a $500-$800 tooth bleaching and whitening session that involves chemicals and fancy lights to activate them, or they go for a home kit that involves wearing a mouthpiece with the bleaching agent for a few hours per day. The truth is, most dentists that offer teeth whitening buy the same kinds of kits and materials that you can buy and use at home, except for the ultraviolet light that some bleaching agents use for activation. But your dentist is out to make a profit from you (balloon payment coming up on his beach house!), so while he might buy these kits for $75, he will charge you $500 for his expertise and professional care. Personally, we've known people who were happy with the results they got from Crest Whitestrips, which are advertised to give you white teeth in seven days. They've been around since 2001, but their latest Whitestrips Renewal product is supposed to be their best ever, with a 10 day kit having enough strips to be worn twice a day for 30 minutes. It costs about $40 and is supposed to keep your teeth whiter for 18 months. The Whitestrips Classic sells for about $25.We've tried these but were not satisfied with the results and wanted something stronger. Scared away by dentist high prices, we opted to buy a tooth whitening package online - TeethWhiteningExpress.com. There are many others you will find online if you search for "teeth whitening kits" or "tooth bleaching kits", but they are the ones we tried and were happy with. One thing they offer that others don't is a custom fitted mouthpiece, which is required if you want to really keep the gel in direct contact with your tooth surfaces, something that is tough to do with a generic plastice mouth piece or whitening adhesive strips. How can they offer a custom fit mouthpiece that fits your teeth exactly? You make it yourself with the materials they supply - or I should say you mix up a goopy tray full of molding material, bite into it and let it take an impression of your teeth, then it hardens and you mail it to their lab, and a week or two later you get back perfectly sized, trimmed, perfect-fitting gel trays that fit right onto your teeth. So onto the teeth whitening. Included in their kits is whitening gels in little syringe like holders - you squeeze the plunger gently to squirt out just a drop or two of the gel into each tooth indention in the mouthpiece, then pop the trays into your mouth, fitting snuggly to your teeth, and wiping away any excess gel the gets pushed out onto your gumline. You wear these things for 1-4 hours, then remove and rinse. They say you should expect 20-40 hours of total use to get the best results, though teeth will often look whiter after just one or two sessions. The actual bleaching agent used by this company and most teeth whitening companies is carbamide peroxide, with concentrations ranging from 10% up to 35% - the higher the concentration, the more powerful the bleaching agent - but be careful, you don't want to damage the enamel on your teeth or hurt your gums. We had only two complaints using these products - first, the little part of our gum between the teeth did get a little burnt, turning a whitish colors for a few days before returning to normal. We found that by using less gel and running your finger along the edge of the mouthpiece once in place to remove any excess helped out. Second, we had one or two teeth that were sensitive to the bleaching action, and got a few nasty shock-like feelings shooting up our tooth, so ended up leaving the bleaching gel out of those indentions in the mouthpiece on future applications. We recommend trying the weaker gel first before moving onto the more powerful gel. Anyways, end result was truly whiter teeth - noticably whiter, no long lasting problems with gums or tooth sensitivity, just whiter teeth. We used the kit every day for about the first 5 days, then just once a month or so for the next few months. If you store your extra gel syringes in the refrigerator, they should last a pretty long time. We recommend getting just the Standard Whitening System for about $100 - if you decide you want or need more gel, buy it later. We bought extra gel at checkout but have never needed that much, so it sits unused. We recommend you at least talk to your dentist first about teeth whitening options - ask him about the systems they use, what kind of bleaching gel they use, what concentration etc, and find out if it is more of less the same offered by these online companies. Ask your dentist about how safe teeth whitening is, and follow any tips he offers if you decide to do it on your own. And be sure to follow any safety and use instructions with your whitening solution - you do not want to damage your teeth or gums by using too strong of chemicals in your mouth.
Do you have a quality site or product that belongs in this guide? We are always happy to evaluate or review new products and websites. Feel free to contact us at the email address below and let us know about you. If you have a demo product you'd like us to look at, please contact us before sending anything. Thank you.
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