Bring Your Smile Back

For many years in the past when people would talk about dentistry, it would refer to extractions, filling and standard dental procedures. Gone are those days of seeing dentists only for such needs. Today, dentists are much sought after for cosmetic dentistry, a way of 'beautifying' one's teeth and gums, giving you all the reason to put that smile back on.

Cosmetic dentistry involves many treatment options that cater to various needs of patients in today's demanding world. Most common treatments are teeth whitening, crowns, bridges, veneers and braces.

Teeth Whitening

This procedure is traditionally performed by filling a personalized mouthpiece with professional bleaching product, usually hydrogen peroxide, and applied your teeth. The oxygen component of the bleaching product causes teeth to lighten as soon as it gets into the tooth's enamel layer. Usually, more than one visit is required to complete the treatment depending on how light you want your teeth to be. Following sessions will either be done in the dentist's office or at home with the take-home tools that the dentist will provide you with.

A modern way of teeth whitening is using the laser procedure wherein laser is used to speed up chemical reaction of the whitening product applied, hence, treatment can be performed in just an hour.

Crowns

For various reasons, including, when a tooth is broken, misshapen or discolored, dentists recommend crown treatments wherein a tooth is completely with caps or what is popularly known as crowns to re-create the tooth's shape and appearance. Crowns are also used to protect weak tooth or cover a tooth that has a large filling, root canal or dental implant.

Crowns are very durable and may even last a lifetime if taken cared of properly. It can be made of porcelain, metal or ceramics and cost quite a sum that's why dentists only recommend it when all other procedures are not possible.

Bridges

Bridges are made from porcelain, gold or a combination of both and primarily placed to replace gaps with artificial teeth. The false tooth is permanently drilled or bonded with an adhesive to the teeth beside it. Bridges are best for people who only have few teeth missing and don't like dentures.

Veneers

Veneers are placed to cover teeth that are stained, broken, have spaces between or unsightly teeth. They, basically, do the same function as crowns but are less expensive.

Braces

Braces are treatments that apply pressure to crooked or misaligned teeth. It is a long process that involves regular dentist visits for tightening, cleaning, and stage by stage adjustments usually covering a period of one up to 3 years. After wearing braces, patients need to wear retainers to hold already aligned teeth until it is fixed in place.

Cosmetic treatments are performed to improve the appearance of teeth, but, would still require consistent practice of oral hygiene to preserve treatments longer and allow you to keep that smile longer.

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