San Diego Cosmetic Dentist & Smile Design

San Diego Dental Crowns San Diego dentistry From a mere cleaning to a complete smile design," a trip to the dentist can now be a pleasant cosmetic experience.

If you're interested in a makeover, there are many beauty specialists who can help you. You might turn to a hair stylist, cosmetic surgeon, or dermatologist. You may not think of going to the San Diego Cosmetic Dentist, yet dentists can do things for your appearance that no one else can!

It goes far beyond removing plaque from your teeth during a biannual checkup. There are procedures that can change the shape, size, and color of the teeth.

Cosmetic dentistry isn't only a dental specialty. Cosmetic Dentists in the San Diego area do cleanings and restore cavities, too. They're just particularly interested in aesthetics, and they have extra training to do cosmetic procedures.

Smile Design & Teeth Whitening provided by San Diego Cosmetic Dentist

The simplest and most common thing they do to give you a beautiful smile is teeth whitening. This is nothing new, but it is easier and more affordable today than it used to be.

Getting a new smile with teeth whitening is a process of lightening the color of teeth. It's used to remove stains that come from coffee, tea, red wine, cigarette smoke and chewing tobacco. It will lighten teeth that have darkened because of age or are naturally dark or yellow. The effects generally last up to five years depending on personal habits.

There are four whitening methods to choose from, each providing varying degrees of effectiveness: Dentist In-Office power bleaching, Dentist supervised home bleaching, Laser bleaching, and over-the-counter bleaching systems. Bleaching should be done under a dentist's supervision.

Today, nearly 85 percent of U.S. dentists offer bleaching services. Teeth bleaching has been proven successful for 90 percent of patients. But for very sensitive teeth, periodontal disease, or teeth with worn enamel, your dentist may discourage bleaching.

Smile designs started over 30 years ago, but the very strong solution of hydrogen peroxide could cause injury. This process did work but the cost of the procedure was also very high.

Power bleaching is still available, but there's a cheaper alternative. Some new smile design tooth-whitening technique uses lower-strength peroxides that are left on the teeth longer. Nevertheless, you don't pay for so much of the dentist's time.

After the dentist makes sure your teeth are healthy enough for the treatment (fillings, bridges, cavities, or a gum infection may rule it out), you have an impression of your teeth taken, which is used to make a custom fitted tray that holds a peroxide gel on the teeth. You wear this tray at home for a few hours every day, over the course of one to five weeks.

Teeth whitening can be just the beginning. If you have other issues, you can have your teeth and gums rejuvenated completely. 'Smile design' is what most cosmetic dentists call it.

Smile design is looking at the position of your teeth, and how the teeth are framed by the lips.

For example, if your gums show too much when you smile, that can be fixed with a gum lift. The technical term for this procedure is called crown lengthening. What a great way to improve your overall smile.

This is a surgery that can be done in the San Diego Cosmetic Dentist office, whereby the gums are pushed up so that more of the teeth show. Surprisingly, there isn't much pain involved with this procedure since it is a fairly minor surgery.

You can also have your teeth shaped any way you want them to be. Lengthening and rounding the edges of your front teeth can actually make you look younger. A lifetime of chewing (and especially of nail biting) wears down your teeth. Even after a facelift, worn teeth can add years to your appearance and take away from your overall appearance.

To shape a tooth, a San Diego Cosmetic Dentist may bond a resin or porcelain veneer or crown to it. Resin bonding is an effective procedure and used a lot today, but it doesn't last as long as porcelain, the newer material used to create a better smile design.

Resin may, in time, wear out or become discolored, whereas porcelain won't. The other difference is that resin bonding is done in the dentist's chair. For a porcelain veneer, an impression of your teeth is sent to a dental lab, which creates a porcelain veneer that will be bonded on later.

Dr David Hornbrook - Providing services in cosmetic dentistry to the areas of San Diego, California.

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