In every dental procedure, cosmetic dentistry is involved. All procedures whether cleaning teeth, rebuilding, restoring, or replacing teeth are cosmetic in nature. Each tooth, each case becomes individual in nature and so all the possibilities should be explored.
Cosmetic dentistry is anything that will improve or maintain the appearance of the patient’s teeth. This can be something as simple as re-shaping a tooth and bleaching a tooth, which can improve the appearance dramatically by being very, very simple, or, if need be, you can get very aggressive with cosmetic dentistry.
Thankfully in today’s dental world, there are materials that are simply outstanding allowing the dentists at Ventura Total Dentistry to get life-like results for our patients. Porcelain veneers, for example, will simply cover the outer surface of the tooth with a very thin layer of porcelain, approximately half a millimeter and create a beautiful result.
At Ventura Total Dentistry, we provide the following cosmetic dental procedures:
Conservative Cosmetic Dentistry Can Go A Long Way
Cosmetic dentistry can range anywhere from doing the very, very simple, such as re-shaping a tooth, to the very aggressive where you crown a tooth, and everything in between. For instance, instead of crowning a tooth to close spaces between a patient’s teeth, we may be able to do this job very conservatively, if the overall shape of the tooth is nice, by simply bonding some composite material to the tooth and changing the shape subtly. This doesn’t seem like much, but in the long run, this type of procedure can have a very dramatic effect on the patient’s smile.
This is a situation where you’ve got to be very, very aware of what you’re trying to accomplish, and the techniques and also, your artistic ability at this point, and this is where your dentist can get a little creative, in terms of colors, shapes and contours.
Cosmetic dentistry does not always mean a mouth full of veneers. It could be something as simple as re-shaping and bleaching teeth, and in some cases, it could be as simple as cleaning a patient’s teeth and getting into spots where they haven’t been able to get to in a long time and have accumulated stains and deposits on their teeth. Cleaning out these trouble areas could provide a great cosmetic result for the patient.
If you do something conservatively, you can always take more away. But, if you do it aggressively, you can never put it back.
Every once in a while, more aggressive dental procedures may not be avoidable simply because the situation calls for it. A good example of a situation like this may be, for instance, if there happens to be a fractured tooth and that tooth needs to get some support in order to prolong its life. This is one of those times where you must get more aggressive with the situation.