Cosmetic Dentistry: The Ultimate Guide
According to research done by Forbes, over 30% of all people smile more than 20 times every day. With your teeth being put on display so often for the world to see, doesn’t it make sense that you’d want to take special care of them?
Just like you might wear makeup or iron your clothes to improve your appearance, cosmetic dentistry can help you put your best foot forward.
While general dentistry emphasizes oral hygiene and disease prevention, cosmetic dentistry involves improving the appearance of your teeth and smile. This line of dentistry can also offer restorative benefits, such as tooth fillings that are aesthetically appealing for fixing cavities.
To learn all about cosmetic dentistry and the many ways it can improve your life, keep reading.
What is Cosmetic Dentistry?
Simply put, cosmetic dentistry is the practice of making positive changes to your teeth and smile in order to achieve a more attractive appearance. Cosmetic dental work used to refer solely to replacing and restoring teeth, but nowadays it also involves a wide range of cosmetic procedures.
Perhaps most interesting is that cosmetic dentistry doesn’t just involve the appearance of one’s teeth. By adjusting and enhancing the teeth in certain ways, other aspects of the face are enhanced too. This makes cosmetic dentistry a plausible alternative to more risky and expensive procedures like facelifts.
Cosmetic dental procedures can include teeth whitening, crowns, veneers, bridges, and implants. And while the individual treatment methods are important, the vision, skill, and creativity of the dental team performing the procedures matters even more. Contrary to what certain TV commercials may imply, even the best technology in the world can’t replace a talented team of cosmetic dentists, surgeons, or ceramists. This is because cosmetic dentists are more like artists than physicians, while conventional dentists play a role more similar to that of a family doctor.
Besides having a skilled touch and extensive training, a great cosmetic dentist needs to have a firm sense of what constitutes the “perfect smile.”
What is a Perfect Smile?
The troublesome thing about acquiring a perfect smile is that it’s slightly different for every individual face. If engineering the perfect smile could be an identical process for every patient that comes in, a cosmetic dentist’s job would be a lot easier.
That isn’t to say there isn’t some degree of science behind it. Much research has been done in the last few years to discover what makes a smile “perfect,” in line with the shape of the face it’s on.
The perfect smile possesses harmony between itself, the facial form around it, and the psycho-social aspects of the patient. Not surprisingly, symmetry plays a crucial role in this harmonious appearance. But what may be a surprise is that having perfectly symmetrical teeth isn’t the cure-all: your teeth can be symmetrical in your mouth while still clashing with the symmetry of your face. To find the perfect place between symmetry and alignment with other facial features, skilled cosmetic dentists have to strike an aesthetically-pleasing balance as they craft the perfect smile for each face.
Much analysis has been conducted to decipher what makes a smile (and the face around it) aesthetically pleasing. The size and shape of the gums, teeth, and even lips all come into play. What a cosmetic dentist looks for when reworking a smile are attractive ratios in the face. For example, the width of a smile should be around half the width of the face, since anything narrower wouldn’t strike the right balance. The lower and upper lips should be roughly symmetrical on both sides of the face. The upper teeth should be dominant, with only a little of the lower teeth visible above the bottom lip -- and they should all, of course, be straight. Gums should be pink, and the teeth themselves should be white (but not too white, as you don’t want to take teeth whitening too far).
If all of that sounds like too much to expect from one face, think again. If makeup is all about making you feel great in your own skin, cosmetic dentistry is all about making you feel great in your own smile.
Roadblocks to Achieving the Perfect Smile
It’s interesting how a seemingly insignificant problem can have a dramatic impact on a smile’s appearance. Even the slightest imperfection, depending on where it’s located, can throw off the symmetry and balance of an entire face. As a result, people look to cosmetic dentistry for a large number of reasons.
The following “minor” issues may be coming between you and your perfect smile:
Unevenness: If some of your teeth are longer or shorter than the others, your smile will be less than perfect. An anomaly like this is visually distracting, sometimes causing people to miss what you’re saying because they can’t help but notice your uneven teeth.
Chips, cracks, and damage: Cracked, chipped, or otherwise damaged teeth are just as distracting as teeth that are uneven, even when quite small. The good news is, porcelain veneers offer a simple solution by instantly wiping away these imperfections.
Spacing problems: In a perfect smile, all teeth are evenly spaced. They shouldn’t be too far apart, which would cause noticeable gaps, nor should they be too close together, which could cause them to overlap. Veneers can be used to close up uneven gaps, and some straightening solutions may be able to help with unsightly overcrowding.
Discoloration: Even if your face is symmetrical and your teeth are straight, stained and discolored teeth will wreak havoc on an otherwise nice smile. If discoloration is your only real issue, then teeth whitening treatments may be what you need. However, veneers can provide a two-in-one solution by correcting other issues, such as spacing problems, while coating your teeth in a natural white finish.
Surprisingly enough, the condition of your teeth aren’t all that contribute to a perfect smile. For example, if your lips tend to droop inwards, the appearance of your smile can be affected negatively. But with the right cosmetic dental methods, your teeth could be made to press the lips outwards, causing them to appear fuller and more youthful. This is just one of the many ways that your teeth impact the rest of your face.
Trends in Cosmetic Dentistry
Thanks to recent technological advancements, natural-looking, tooth-colored dental materials result in cosmetic dental treatments that are more durable and predictable than ever before. Not only that, but dentists nowadays tend to use more conservative dentistry techniques, preserving as much of your natural tooth structure as they can, depending on your condition.
Your cosmetic dentist may use lasers and other advanced technologies to perform procedures right in their office, without needing to refer you to a separate specialist. Not only does this make procedures more convenient and comfortable, but it also helps reduce your recovery time.
Of course, there is no “one size fits all” method to cosmetic dental practices. Your dentist will take several factors into consideration, including your existing oral health, before choosing the best approach to use. If you show any signs of gum disease or tooth decay, you will need to have them treated before getting cosmetic dental work done.
Even if you’re pretty sure already what kind of treatment you need, a thorough examination by an orthodontist or dentist can help you pinpoint the exact procedure that’s right for you. New dental treatments are developed all the time, so the options you thought you had a month ago may have widened already.
As you can see, the world of cosmetic dentistry is large and exciting, growing bigger every year with new treatments and opportunities. Whether you want to completely rework your smile or think a simple teeth whitening treatment will suffice, you may be only one dentist appointment away from your perfect smile