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What Can Cosmetic Dentistry Fix?

April 20, 2022

Don’t suffer from a lost tooth, chipped tooth, or discolored teeth. Cosmetic Dentistry is available to resolve these issues and restore and improve your smile!

Many people don’t understand the goal of cosmetic dentistry and why they may need it. In two simple words, cosmetic dentistry fixes the functionality and the appearance of your smile. Knowing that you can ask your general dentist about how to improve the size, shape and appearance of your teeth is a great place to start.

What are the top reasons to seek out cosmetic dentistry?

  1. Missing Teeth
  2. Chipped teeth
  3. Discolored or stained teeth
  4. Misaligned or crooked teeth

How can cosmetic dentistry help with missing teeth?

When a tooth or teeth go missing, there are options to address the issue. It is important to note that once you lose a tooth, this will lead to changes in your bite, and can have much more long-term serious effects to the jawbone. It is best to seek out cosmetic dentistry immediately upon the loss of a tooth. Your general dentist will likely offer you one of three options, dental implants, dentures, or a bridge. Let’s discuss each option separately.

Dental Implants

Dental implants are permanent and cannot be removed. A dental implant acts to replace everything from your root to the new crown that will appear as the tooth that previously went missing. In cases when a tooth is damaged and cannot be repaired, dental implants serve as a good remedy to restore the structure of the mouth where the tooth is extracted.

Dentures and Replacement Teeth

Dentures differ from dental implants in that they are removable. Dentures can replace one or more missing teeth, known as a partial denture, or it can be a complete denture used to replace all of the teeth.

Bridge

A bridge is a fixed partial denture that allows the dentist to use the natural teeth that exist alongside a gap in your teeth from a missing tooth. The bridge is affixed to the natural teeth and then a crown (the new tooth to fill the gap) is attached to the bridge to appear as a permanent part of your smile.


In cases less severe as a missing or extracted tooth, a chipped or cracked tooth can cause concern for longer term damage to the tooth and mouth. A chipped tooth can be addressed through cosmetic dentistry in one of three ways: bonding, veneers or a crown. Let’s look at the variations between these options:

Bonding

Bonding is a dental procedure that uses a laser light to bond material, a tooth-colored resin matched to your tooth coloring, to the tooth. The resin is hardened through the light treatment and then dentist can both shape and polish the bonded area to correct the chip or cracked tooth. This is a very common procedure and is an attractive form of cosmetic dentistry in that it may only require one visit to the dentist and is relatively inexpensive as compared to other cosmetic dentistry options.

Veneers

When the tooth that requires some dental attention is still healthy, a dental veneer may be used to correct the issue. Veneers are simply a shell for the tooth that are custom-shaped to the tooth with a porcelain or resin composite. 


The procedure does require more than one visit to the dentist because the initial visit will enable the dentist to get the impression needed for the veneer to be created and formed. The second visit is required to then place the permanent veneer over the tooth.

Crown

Crowns are very common and used in cases of a cracked tooth or a tooth showing some weakening. In many dental offices, a crown requires more than one visit to the dentist with the initial visit used to prepare the tooth and to get the required impression, so the crown can be formed. However, at Hoertdoerfer Dentistry, the use of CEREC® technology enables patients receiving a crown to have the entire procedure completed in one visit. Crowns are not inexpensive, but they are a good permanent solution to stabilizing your teeth.

Brighten your smile with in office teeth whitening

Another major source of cosmetic dentistry comes from people who notice the color of their teeth changing over time. Tooth enamel can stain from things such as coffee, wine, and smoking. Teeth whitening is a cosmetic dentistry procedure during which whitening agents are carefully applied to each tooth to help bring back the color and vibrancy of your smile. Hoertdoerfer Dentistry used Philips Zoom WhiteSpeed for clinically proven results and whitening up to 8 shades brighter in one visit.

Finally, misaligned and crooked teeth can be fixed and should not be seen as something that you have to live with. Depending upon the severity of your bite and the manner in which your teeth are aligned, orthodontic care may be required. It is best to discuss options for misaligned, crooked teeth and even questions about your bite with your general dentist.


The functionality and appearance of your mouth and smile are everything! Don’t wait for your smile makeover, look into cosmetic dentistry and learn more about how it can help you!

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