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Cosmetic Dentistry
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A smile can be the most eye-catching feature of
your face. Even a subtle change can make a big difference
in the way you look and feel. New techniques like
whitening, bonding,
enamel shaping, veneers,
and white fillings allow
us to create a beautiful smile with, at times, only
minimal changes to existing teeth. |
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Tooth
Colored (White) Fillings replace silver
or gold fillings with a more natural looking tooth-colored
material. Since teeth are translucent, dark fillings
cause the whole tooth to appear darker when viewed
from the side. Replacing older dark fillings with
tooth colored fillings will keep your smile glowing!
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| Teeth Whitening (Bleaching)
is a very popular procedure in cosmetic dentistry.
There are many new advanced techniques and products
available. It is a relatively easy and effective technique
for obtaining a dazzling, whiter smile, only taking
as little as an hour or at most a few days, depending
on the technique selected for you. |
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Bonding is a procedure
where tooth-colored composite resin material is placed
to "fill in the blanks." One of the most
frequent uses of the bonding technique is to fill
in a gap between front teeth. |
| Crowns (Caps) are
sometimes used for cosmetic correction. In some cases,
a crown may be the best treatment to restore a particular
tooth to optimal health. A tooth with a bad fracture
or a large filling that
is breaking down, or has decay around it, may be a
candidate for a crown instead of a veneer. This patient
has veneers on top, but one of the front teeth had
a large filling and had to be crowned. |
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Veneers are laboratory
fabricated, porcelain facings that are bonded to the
front surfaces of teeth to whiten teeth, close spaces,
straighten teeth, or repair chipped or worn teeth.
The veneers are only about 1 mm thick (the thickness
of a fingernail). That same thickness is "shaved"
off the natural tooth surface so when the veneer is
bonded to the tooth, the tooth doesn't feel or look
"thicker". |
| Enamel Shaping (Contouring)
is the process of shaping natural teeth to improve
their appearance. Shaping can be used to correct minor
cases of crowded or overlapping teeth, smooth rough
edges, or make small adjustments to the shape of a
tooth. |
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Crowns
| A crown fits over the entire top of the tooth above
the gum line. Crowns cover, protect, seal and
strengthen a tooth. A crown is needed when a filling
just will not work. A crown may be made of gold, white
porcelain, or porcelain fused to gold. There are many
situations that may call for a crown: |
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