Cosmetic Dentistry

Cosmetic dentistry can be a variety of things. We can see crowns, veneers, bonding. You could even lump Invisalign into cosmetic dentistry, things that you're looking to improve the overall appearance of your smile.There are times cosmetic dentistry is, I would say, more optional than others. Sometimes it is simply a patient wants their smile to be brighter, and they've tried whitening treatments, it's not getting the the result they want, and then we might look into doing veneers. So veneers would be just sort of a covering over the teeth, and we can give them that bright white smile that they're looking for.There's other times patients have worn their teeth, they notice their teeth are looking shorter or thinner, and that would be something where we do need to look at the overall bite of a patient. We might need to treat every single tooth, and so while it is a cosmetic result, it really is a functional treatment that we're providing as well. We do offer Invisalign at Bell Dental Group, and it can be a really great option for patients who their bite is misaligned.We're able to bring the bite into a better position while also providing maybe a more aesthetic result. Maybe they have some crowding in the front teeth, and while that might not be their top concern, we can also provide a better result with the cosmetic treatment. We get them a better bite.Sometimes also with Invisalign, we're getting teeth into a better position so we can place veneers or we can finish up with some tooth colored bonding to fill in spaces that they don't like. I don't think it ever hurts to come in for a consultation and see what opportunity they might have. It really depends what their end goal is.I would say almost every patient could be a good candidate, but they also need to know the limitations. I think you might find out that there's different options than you even knew existed. We have patients coming in because they've of course looked online and they sort of have an idea of what they think they should get done when they didn't even realize maybe there's a better option for them.So we can always go over. We take photos. Maybe we take impressions.We can do a wax up. We can give them an idea of what this result could look like, and I do think it really is a good idea just to come in, give it a look, see what we can do for them. Some patients will come in and they've maybe broken some teeth.They want to get that addressed, but we really do need to look at the functional root cause of this. So it's not always as simple as fixing the obvious broken teeth. Sometimes there's more things going on.The TMJ, our joint, our muscles, our teeth, they all need to work in harmony, and so we really need to get that in place first before we can just jump in and start fixing the obviously broken teeth. We need the whole system to work together and make sure that we're setting you up for success with your treatment. A lot of patients come in asking about veneers.I would say that that's what we typically see on media. We just kind of see a lot of people that have had veneers, and it is a great option for a lot of patients, but I would say more commonly we are talking about even just whitening. A lot of patients have great shape of their tooth.They're happy with that, and whitening is a great benefit for that. We also do have some cosmetic bonding. Sometimes patients aren't ready to take that dive into something maybe as permanent or frankly as expensive as veneers can be, and cosmetic bonding is always a wonderful starting position to kind of set them up for what potential they could have.So I would say that we commonly do a lot of cosmetic bonding on those patients that are maybe on the fence of how far they want to go into treatment. After we've sat down with the patient and we've assessed their needs, we can typically get either a photographic mock-up of what the result could look like. We have a lot of improvements with technology and what we can show patients.Invisalign alone has a smile simulator, so we take a photograph of the patient and we're able to show them on their own face what their end treatment could look like. We also do this with veneers, crowns, we can show the patient the kind of mock-up of their teeth and it really makes a big difference. If you can see it on your smile, you're seeing it on yourself, that can make the decision a lot easier for the patient.If you're just showing them on a piece of paper or on a computer screen without it being on their face, that's a world of a difference to see it that way. We've definitely seen patients come in with a bigger smile after they've had cosmetic dentistry procedures done. It can improve confidence.I think for a lot of patients anymore, we see ourselves more in photographs. Maybe you're working in front of a computer on meetings all day and you're seeing yourself all day and I think it can make a huge difference. If you're happy with your smile, others notice it too.Not just in how your teeth look, but your smile is bigger. You look happier. I think patients that have gone through cosmetic treatment already would say it is absolutely worth it.They definitely have increased confidence. They feel really happy. I hear a lot of patients say, I wish I had done this sooner.We have patients who maybe they've waited until their kids are through college. They feel like there's all these other bills coming on and so they put themselves last and they're like, oh why didn't why didn't I do this sooner? So hearing it from the patients who've gone through it, I would say they would support that as well. They would say absolutely it's worth it.