COSMETIC DENTISTRY
Create the smile of your dreams
Once upon a time, the teeth you were born with were the teeth you were stuck with. Today, thanks to modern technology and advances in dentistry, we’re able to restore your appearance and your confidence. If you’re not 100% happy with the look of your smile, we can help. Here are some common blemishes cosmetic dentistry can correct:
Chipped tooth: We can fix it with a bond, hide it with a veneer or cover it with a crown.
Discolored tooth: We can mask it a number of ways, or we can whiten it.
Crooked teeth: There are a number of options at our fingertips to straighten your smile ranging from orthodontics to topical solutions like veneers and bonds to surgical procedures like implants.
The Cost of Cosmetic Dentistry
While you can’t really put a price on a full, confident smile, we have to put a price on creating it for you. For an estimate, please contact us to schedule an initial consultation in which we would be happy to discuss payment options.
DENTAL BONDING
Bonding is a painless way to fix a chipped tooth, close any gaps between teeth, or hide a discolored tooth. Bonding, when used on the front teeth, can be a non-invasive, affordable treatment modality to solve many simple esthetic issues. Often, bonding does not involve local anesthetic and is done in only one appointment.
The preparation is very conservative and only involves lightly abrading the tooth surface involved in order to get the bonding to adhere.
To bond a tooth is to apply a thin layer of composite resin over its surface to hide what’s beneath it, or on top of it to restore a chipped tooth to its original shape.
We’ll prepare the tooth surface to work well with the composite resin. We’ll then choose a resin color to match the color of your natural teeth and layer it on to either fully cover or rebuild the tooth. The last step is to shape and polish the resin to make it feel like a smooth, natural tooth
The Durability of Dental Bonding
Bonds are not meant to last a lifetime. The material does have a lifespan of about 5-10 years and it can discolor or chip over time. You’ll most likely have to come in for a touch-up once in awhile, but luckily they’re very easy. Replacing the filling material is simple, especially since the tooth preparation is minimal. The best way to ensure a long-lasting bonded tooth is to take care of it like you would any other tooth in your mouth. Please do not hesitate to ask us more about bonding and to see if you may be a candidate for this simple procedure to improve your smile.
- Avoid habits like fingernail biting and pen-cap chewing
- Practice good oral hygiene
- Keep having regular check-ups
PORCELAIN VENEERS
Veneers are a great way to change front teeth that are chipped, worn, stained, unevenly spaced or slightly crooked. Veneers are thin, porcelain facings that are bonded to teeth allowing us to change the color and the shape of the teeth. This results in a completely new and more attractive smile.
The most important step in changing your smile with veneers is to evaluate your desires and to help you visualize the end result. We do this by having the lab create your new smile in wax on a stone model of your teeth. At this point, we can discuss and begin to customize your smile.
After that, it takes only two appointments to complete the treatment. At the first visit the teeth are prepared to receive the veneers and a mould is taken for the lab. The lab will use this mould to make your veneers. At this appointment, we also will make you a provisional set of veneers to try out for a few weeks so you can have an idea of what your new smile will feel like.
At the second appointment, we bond the veneers to the teeth and adjust your bite so that it is in harmony with your new smile. Teeth with dental veneers are taken care of just like natural teeth. You need to brush and floss and sometimes we will recommend a night-guard to prevent any damage to the veneers from excessive grinding.
TOOTH COLOURED FILLINGS
The fillings that we place at Langley Family Dental are usually tooth-colored. This is not because we believe that traditional silver fillings (amalgam) are unhealthy. It is because white fillings have several advantages. White fillings are actually bonded to tooth structure. This makes the tooth stronger than if we were to place an unbonded silver filling. White fillings are easier to repair if they chip or break. Often, we can repair the filling without having to remove all of the previous filling that was placed. For new cavities (teeth that have never had fillings in them before) we do not need to remove any healthy tooth structure in order to place a white filling. This means that only the part of the tooth that is affected by the cavity is removed. With amalgam(silver fillings), we sometimes have to remove healthy tooth structure in order to get the filling to stay in the tooth because the filling is not bonded to the tooth. Of course, an obvious advantage is that the filling will look natural and pleasing instead of the dark grey color associated with amalgam fillings.
Tooth colored fillings require careful attention to detail if they are to be comfortable and last for a long period of time. The technique is exacting and the choice of materials used to bond and then fill the tooth is very important. Langley Family Dental has been placing tooth colored fillings successfully for many years and is very critical about the choice of materials so that you can be assured your fillings will be comfortable and last as long as possible.