The branch of dentistry that specializes in enhancing your smile while ensuring your dental health is called cosmetic dentistry. It is a field that incorporates a number of procedures to improve overall dental health as well as appearance to make your smile shine brighter. Cosmetic dental procedures are generally optional as they are more focused on smile enhancement, which makes it a subjective rather than a compulsory procedure. However, there are cases where cosmetic dental procedures are used to provide restorative benefits to the person undergoing the procedure.
While the focus of general dentistry is to treat and prevent oral complications, cosmetic dentistry is primarily focused towards improvement in a person’s smile and teeth formation. Some cosmetic procedures are simpler like teeth whitening or scaling which most dentists can easily perform, however, some other complicated procedures require an expert’s touch in order to achieve the desired results. The technological advancements in the field of dentistry have paved way for making a lot of complicated procedures possible.
The article focuses on educating you on the most common top 5 types of cosmetic procedures that patients undergo in order to enhance their smile:
Teeth Whitening
Teeth whitening is one of the simplest and most common cosmetic dental procedures. The procedure includes a thorough cleaning of your teeth and gums to free them of any plaque or tartar that might be causing damage to your teeth. A whitening or bleaching solution is then applied in order to enhance the shade of your teeth. Some dentists also apply a polishing material in order to protect the teeth’s enamel after the completion of the cleaning process. Generally, people opt for the same shade across all teeth.
Composite Dental Bonding
One of the most cost-effective techniques used in order to cure minor tooth decay and chipping issues is called composite dental bonding. More commonly known as “bonding”, the procedure requires the dentist to get rid of decayed or damaged areas in a tooth before any bonding agent is applied for restructuring and reshaping the tooth. After the bonding agent is applied, the dentist will shape the tooth’s surface using composite to match it to your natural teeth.
Dental Implants
One of the most common teeth replacement procedures is known as dental implants. During the implant procedure, the dentist performs surgery in order to add a screw in your jawbone. The implant’s crown is then supported through the inserted screw which serves as permanent support for the crown. After the screw has properly fixed and surrounded by the nearing tissue, the dentist will fix the crown on the screw. Most dental implants cannot be distinguished from the natural teeth using the shading technique to make them look similar.
Onlays & Inlays
More commonly known as an indirect filling, onlays and inlays are prepared in a lab in order to match the shape of your teeth perfectly. In case of moderate tooth decays, indirect fillings are generally used when the remaining part of the tooth is not able to support a traditional filling.
When the tooth’s cusps are intact, the inlays can be directly placed on the tooth’s surface. On the other hand, when the cusp or a large portion of the tooth is damaged, dentists use onlays to restore the tooth to its original shape.
Dental Veneers
The dental veneers are customized and personalized as per the patient’s requirements in order to resemble a patient’s natural tooth. They are typically made out of a strong medical-grade ceramic material which makes them look like patient’s real teeth.