A newly renovated smile will, undoubtedly, add more confidence and create a more harmonious and youthful appearance. Even a subtle and more moderate smile makeover can have a profound impact and help to improve one's quality of life. Many people have created the illusion of a “perfect smile” by transforming their smiles with porcelain veneers, but for many people that can be too pricey to afford. And some of those who can afford to do this may just want to improve their smile with procedures that are more biological and less invasive, when compared to a full smile makeover involving veneers.
Did you know…
The most minimally invasive smile makeovers usually involve some form of Biomimetic dentistry, which utilizes techniques, protocols and materials that seek to mimic the natural properties, esthetics and function of a balanced, healthy dentition. Ways to conservatively enhance your smile include: reshaping the irregular areas of the enamel, recontouring irregular area of gum tissue, teeth whitening, enamel microabrasion, tooth bonding and minor orthodontic procedures. These are all ways to create a smile makeover that won’t break the bank.
Conservative smile design, using enamel reshaping, is a relatively quick, comfortable, conservative process that does not require any anesthesia, and rarely causes any sensitivity. With enamel reshaping, even the smallest detail can have a huge impact, and each individual has their own perception on what is beautiful or right for them. For some, having pointier canine teeth can feel more youthful and playful, for others, they may feel those points are too sharp and vampire-like. One option is to alleviate the source of their self-consciousness, and reshape the areas that bother them. Some people may go through years of their life with very pointy canine teeth not realizing that in less than 2 minutes of minor enamel reshaping, and at very little cost, they can have the look they desire.
Many people have chipped, rough, sharp and irregular edges as a result of teeth grinding. This grinding often happens at night when you are not aware. Other times these irregular edges may be the result of grinding and chewing with teeth that are a bit crowded or in a less than ideal position. If your teeth are crowded and worn down, one option you have is to undergo some form of orthodontics or Invisalign to more predictably correct the malposition and then prevent further wear. After they are properly aligned, there will be many irregular, sharp corners and angles, since the teeth had been ground down in that malposition, that could be softened and addressed with
enamel reshaping. enamel reshaping to create the illusion of less crowding by softening up the rough edges and overlap should you chose not to correct your teeth in a more definitive way. We can also modify the texture of the surface of the tooth to reflect light differently and to create the illusion of the tooth appearing wider or narrower. Many times, it is not just the edges of the teeth that appear uneven, but also the margins of the gums at the neck of the teeth. If your gums are uneven, either from recession or overgrown gum tissue, a soft tissue laser can easily, painlessly, and inexpensively be used to reshape those areas where the gums are uneven.
Having “whiter teeth” is the most popular esthetic request from dental patients all around the world, and tooth whitening is a non-invasive approach to achieving this goal that is very well tolerated. A simple, inexpensive smile makeover can be performed just by doing some in-office teeth whitening, incorporating some selective reshaping of the teeth’s sharper points and edges, and then adding bonding in certain places in order to restore chipped or broken areas and fill in any gaps or spaces that may be present. Bonding can also be used to help fill in those exposed root areas but the gums and make the teeth appear more even in size, shape and color. Bonding can also be added to the outside surface of the teeth in the posterior of your mouth to create the appearance of a broader smile and to fill in some of that empty dark space between the teeth and the cheeks.
We often see patients with beautiful smiles, but they have these white spots, or whitish demineralized areas on their enamel. These spots can be inherent in their tooth structure, or they may have been caused as a result of poor home care during the time when they were a kid with braces. Usually, you can see the whitish areas showing the outline of where the brackets used to be. So how can this be corrected? Many dentists may push to have you do a more involved smile makeover involving porcelain veneers to make the surfaces of your teeth bright and uniform in shade. A more affordable way to do this can be by utilizing a combination of teeth whitening and enamel micro abrasion to help brighten and blend these areas. If there are any real stubborn or deeper spots of demineralization, this can easily be conservatively troughed out and replaced by tooth colored resin bonding to make everything appear blended.
If I have spiked your curiosity and you would like to learn more about Conservative Smile Makeovers and Biomimetic dentistry, I am always available to you in my office for a consultation (332-334-8290) or you can also feel free to take a look at the other articles I have published about these topics. They can be found on my website at https://www.drmarclazare.com.
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