Replacing Teeth - In Your Local Area

Cosmetic Dentistry for a Perfect Smile

In most cosmetic dentistry practices, good health and sound oral function are their primary goals. But these days, both can be achieved with a third factor in mind, good looks.

Good looks are all around us. In consumer magazines, TV, media, politics, and business. Both men and women are flashing bright, near perfect smiles. It's a pleasure to see. We're not all born that way, and they probably weren't either. Dental makeovers have contributed to a large part of the self-esteem of models, movie stars, and recently, the grocery clerk or the grandmother next door, who seek cosmetic dental care.

Surprisingly, most tooth restoration procedures are fairly conservative. That is, removal of healthy enamel is kept to a minimum, or dispensed with altogether. Teeth bleaching, tooth bonding and contouring are quick, easy, and fairly inexpensive. Porcelain veneers lend new form and youthfulness to front teeth. Tooth-colored fillings can replace discolored amalgams. A new denture can restore a more youthful appearance. The choices are yours.

Notice the people you know who are proud of their teeth. They smile more often. Great teeth build self-confidence. Most people respond more readily to an attractive smile in a very positive way. The psychology is simple, the impact great.

We are lucky to have new materials and techniques that make a beautiful smile within everyone's reach. Take advantage of cosmetic dentistry, for yourself and the people around you.

Give your cosmetic dentist a call today to find out how your smile can benefit from today's technical innovations.

+Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet search expert helping individuals and families connect with the right dentist in their area. Visit his author page.

The Artistry Of Tooth Bonding and Dental Crowns

Throughout history, dentists have tried to recreate the function and beauty of natural teeth when tooth structure has been lost. Restoring function used to be the main goal of a dentist because prior to the 1970's, dentistry lacked the proper technology to achieve fine esthetics as well as function. Dentists could only predictably offer patients a restoration that would simply "fill" the empty space. Today, dentistry has more advanced dental materials and newly developed techniques that allow dentists to offer artistically-recreated, natural-looking crowns and modern tooth bonding that would fool even the most critical eye.

Before you can understand how crowns and tooth bonding can mimic teeth you must understand why natural teeth appear as they do.

What Color Are Your Teeth?

It is a common mistake for patients to think that their teeth are all one color. Your teeth are never just one color. They are a series of superimposed translucent layers of varying shades. Teeth also have different surface textures that reflect light in ways that affect the color of your teeth.

Your teeth are made up of three layers: pulp, dentin, and enamel. Each layer has a specific thickness, composition and structure. Additionally, the way light reflects off of or transluces through the layers gives you the color of your teeth. Using knowledge about the three layers of teeth allow dentists and dental technicians to recreate natural-looking dental crowns and tooth bonding.

Who Makes the Crowns?

Dental crown technicians are the true artisans in dentistry. Dentists begin the crown-making process by reducing the size of the tooth, making an impression of the reduced tooth, and selecting the proper shades of the tooth. This information is then transferred to the dental technician so a crown can be made.

Dental technicians blend science with artistic knowledge to recreate natural-looking teeth. Artistically, they use frame and reference, proportion and idealism, perspective and illusion as well as symmetry to mimic nature. Understanding the language of colors and using new dental materials and techniques has allowed the dentist to not only "fill" missing spaces but create cosmetic dentistry artwork from crowns and tooth bonding as well.

By Benjamin O. Watkins, III, DDS

+Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet search expert helping individuals and families connect with the right dentist in their area. Visit his author page.