Sunday, May 10, 2009

Cosmetic Teeth Procedures

There are many cosmetic teeth procedures that we can perform for you here at the Houston Medical Center Dental Group. Some are simple, requiring only one or two office visits. Some are more complex, requiring reconstructive dental work to repair or replace damaged or broken teeth.

Cosmetic Dental Bonding
One of our newer, more advanced cosmetic teeth procedures is cosmetic dental bonding. This procedure has basically replaced silver-mercury fillings. A special bio-friendly resin that looks like tooth enamel is used in dental bonding. It fills cavities much better than older amalgams, smoothes out cracks, and whitens tooth surfaces. Because it lasts longer as well, there is little risk that it will fall out.

Cosmetic Dental Bleaching
Another one of our more popular cosmetic teeth procedure is cosmetic dental bleaching. This is done with a bleaching gel. During your initial office visit, the dentist whitens your teeth. You then use another bleaching agent every night, at home, for two weeks. During your second and final office visit, another treatment of bleach is applied.

Cosmetic Dental Veneers
Dental veneers are made of porcelain. They are very hard and very difficult to break. Their color looks like that of natural tooth enamel. Porcelain is resistant to staining, so once veneers are applied, they will retain their color for years.

Veneers are one of the most versatile cosmetic teeth procedures. They can be used to treat a number of conditions. They can cover small chips and pits in tooth surfaces. They can whiten badly discolored teeth which bleach will not work on. They have even been used to correct minor tooth alignment problems.

Cosmetic Dental Porcelain Crowns
Prior to the development of more sophisticated cosmetic teeth procedures, dentists had few choices in treating severely decayed or fractured teeth. When a cavity destroyed more than 40 percent of a tooth, or when a tooth was cracked down to the dentin, the tooth had to be pulled. Prior to the development of dental implants, people no real tooth replacement options beyond traditional bridges or partial dentures. .

Porcelain crowns have introduced a whole new realm of options. While the life of a tooth cannot always be saved, crowns now make it possible to salvage physical structure and function of the tooth. Severely infected or damaged teeth can be cleaned with a standard root canal. Then, they can be capped with a porcelain crown that looks identical to surrounding teeth. Porcelain crowns are much more resilient than natural teeth, so they can restore both aesthetics to the smile and allow you to eat virtually anything.

Cosmetic Dental Implants
For people who have lost teeth, implant dentistry offers the best tooth replacement options. Made from a bio-friendly alloy known as Tivolloy, dental implants screw into the jawbone and act like artificial tooth roots. When the jaw has accepted this implant, the dentist then caps the base with a porcelain crown, effectively creating a whole new tooth where none has existed for years.

Labels: , , , , , , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home