Find Out How To Get The Smile of Your Dreams With a Smile Makeover

Far too many people feel like they have to hide their smiles from others. It may be that a small flaw in the alignment makes a person feel far less confident, or it could be that some serious trauma has damaged several teeth and left some large gaps in the mouth.

Many dental specialties can treat several of these dental issues, including orthodontics, restorative dentistry, and cosmetic dentistry. When you bring all of these elements together, you can get a complete smile makeover that restores or re-invigorates your smile, so you'll always have the confidence to show it off.

The First Step Toward a Brighter, Healthier Smile

The first step in getting the smile of your dreams is to call and schedule a consultation or cleaning with your dentist. At this appointment, the dental team will help answer all of your questions and get your journey off to a great start.

The general recommendation is for everyone to get a regular checkup every 6 months. This is a critical step to keeping a great smile, even before diving into a full smile makeover. Clean, healthy teeth are the foundation on which additional procedures can be built.

For example, some procedures, such as implants and bridges, require healthy teeth, gums, and jawbones in order to be successful.

This is also the time when x-rays are taken and oral cancer screenings can be performed. These procedures help the dentist (and you) become aware of potentially severe dental problems that may arise or have already begun to develop.

These oral health issues can contribute to a less-than-perfect smile. Even if they don't cause aesthetic problems, it's important to treat any serious oral health issue before continuing with the various cosmetic improvements.

Your Smile Makeover Plan

When you visit your dentist for your routine cleaning, you can discuss your options and start to make a plan for your smile makeover.

A smile makeover will be different for everyone, based on individual needs. Your personal plan might involve replacing teeth or closing large gaps. It could be a whitening treatment or a full restoration involving veneers and crowns. Your plan may involve taking care of several procedures at once or spreading them out over time.

In the end, though, pulling together the right combination of treatments will lead to that beautiful smile you've always wanted.

The Benefits of a Smile Makeover

Smiling people tend to look more confident and approachable. They seem more sociable and friendly, and others are drawn towards that perceived openness.

A great smile is about more than making others like you, though. There are actual psychological benefits to smiling. It's not just in your head. A simple smile activates some neuropeptides in your brain that say it's time to release some dopamine and serotonin and help you feel better.

The same studies that showed those psychological benefits also suggest that a smile is contagious. When someone sees you grinning at them, they can't help but want to smile back.

So, with all these benefits to a great smile, it's truly unfortunate when someone feels they need to hide their smile behind their lips.

A complete smile makeover can boost your self-confidence and self-esteem. It can also improve your overall dental health, so you'll require fewer additional dental procedures in the long run.

Finding the Best Solution for Your Smile

If you're like most people, you've found some flaws with your smile. Maybe the years of coffee drinking or smoking have given your teeth a yellow hue that is more noticeable than you would like. Maybe you have an embarrassing gap between your two front teeth or have a few teeth whose size is disproportionate to the others.

Flaws in your smile can affect your self-esteem and overall well-being.

It has been studied and shown that smiling makes you feel happier and more confident. Smiling at a friend or a passerby can lift their mood and make their day.

Maybe you've been kept from experiencing and sharing these positive benefits of smiling because the flaw in your smile is so significant.

Fortunately, there are numerous dental options to treat various dental imperfections.

Below are the common dental treatments and what they can best treat:

Crowns

Dental crowns are coverings that encase either a weakened or damaged tooth or a dental implant. They are made of porcelain or ceramic and look like the rest of the patient's teeth.

Crowns are best for patients who have broken, cracked, severely discolored teeth, and teeth with large, unsightly fillings. Dental crowns are used to restore the strength and proper shape of teeth.

Besides their use of dental implants, crowns are also used to hold dental bridges in place.

Veneers

veneers are thin layers of tooth-colored materials, customized to cover the surface of teeth. The veneers or shells are securely bonded to the teeth.

Veneers are an effective dental treatment for misshapen or irregularly-shaped teeth. Veneers can treat teeth that are under or over-sized and either worn down or too long. These dental solutions also work well for chipped and broken teeth.

Implants

Do you have missing teeth? Whether they got knocked out from trauma or were too decayed and needed to be extracted, gaps between teeth not only look bad but can lead to more serious dental issues such as crooked, misaligned teeth, weakened jawbones, and facial sagging.

Implants are titanium screws that are inserted into the jaw and topped with a dental crown.

Dental implants are the perfect option for patients who have one or two missing teeth.

The crowns on top of the implants are made to match the rest of the patient's teeth.

As the implants are inserted into the patient's jaw, they are durable and stable and behave and feel like the patient's natural teeth.

Dentures

Dentures are often synonymous with the elderly. As we age, our bones and teeth weaken.

Dentures allow patients with multiple missing teeth to eat, speak, and have a good-looking smile.

There complete, or full dentures and partial dentures. Full dentures are for patients who are missing all their teeth while partial dentures are for patients with a couple of missing teeth.

In some cases, dental implants can be used as an alternative to partial dentures.

Dental Bleaching

Dental bleaching, also known as whitening can restore patients' teeth to their natural, white beauty. There are multiple whitening products out there, each with their pros and cons.

Professional dental bleaching by a dentist is more effective in lifting out stubborn stains on teeth, provides more comfort to the patient, gives near-immediate results, and lasts longer than most at-home whitening kits.

Achieving the perfect smile you've always wanted has never been easier due to the various dental procedures available today. Crowns, veneers, implants, dentures, and teeth whitening are services most dentists offer.

Why Fluoride Is Good for Your Teeth

Fluoride is found in your toothpaste and often in your tap water. Why is fluoride included in these important elements?

Fluoride is a natural mineral that occurs in a variety of foods and water. Fluoride protects teeth by reversing early tooth decay and making teeth more resistant to plaque, bacteria, and sugars in the mouth. These are common causes of cavities. Sugars, bacteria, and plaque on the teeth emit enamel destroying acid.

Is Fluoride Safe?

Some dentists and patients are skeptical of fluoride, thinking that it is dangerous to your health. Fluoride is completely safe to use and plays an essential part in good dental hygiene.

Fluoride is only dangerous when used in large quantities. Small children are more prone to the negative effects of fluorosis than adults. Fluorosis is the discoloration (usually white specks or brown streaks) of the teeth. This happens more in children because it is associated with teeth growth.

Many foods, water, and dental hygiene products have low dosages of fluoride. In fact, these levels are so low that they pose no health risk.

Fluoride is especially important for your patients between the ages of 6 and 16.

During this time, baby teeth are falling out and getting replaced with permanent teeth. Fluoride speeds up the remineralization of children's' permanent teeth and it blocks the distribution of acids on the teeth.

Why is Fluoride Important?

Your teeth are considered to be one of the strongest parts of your body. Your teeth, however, are not bone. The hard, white, shiny outside of the teeth is composed of calcified tissue called dentin. Like bone, dentin needs minerals to be strong, healthy, and prevent disease.

Every day your teeth lose and gain minerals. Fluoride is one of the minerals (calcium and phosphate are the other two) that remineralizes (deposits additional minerals to the teeth.)

Your jaws and teeth are either made of bone (jaw) and calcified tissue (teeth). Both of these require minerals to build them up, and keep them strong and resilient to breaking, cracking, and weakening.

Tooth decay and cavities occur when more minerals are lost during demineralization than the addition of minerals to the teeth (remineralization). naturally in many foods and water.

What is the remineralization and demineralization processes? Essential minerals, including fluoride, are added to the teeth to strengthen them. Demineralization occurs when the teeth are exposed to harmful, enamel destroying acid, which also depletes the essential minerals of teeth.

Fluoride, therefore, is essential to halting and preventing cavities from forming by adding more minerals to teeth as are being depleted by plaque and bacteria.

Where is Fluoride Found?

While you may think fluoride is found only in water, toothpaste, and mouthwash, you'd be surprised what other foods contain low levels of fluoride.

Below is a sampling of where you likely inadvertently consume fluoride on a regular day:

Foods

· Fruits

· Vegetables

· Meat

· Grains

· Milk

· Eggs

· Dried fruit

· Tea leaves

· Cocoa powder

· Walnuts

· Dried beans

Fluoride is found in many of the foods we eat. It is an essential mineral that your teeth need to replenish depleted much-needed minerals. Minerals help your teeth grow and get strong to avoid fracturing and being susceptible to the devastating effects of acids and cavities.

If you still have concerns about fluoride, you should talk to your dentist.

Why You Should Not Be Afraid of Dental Lasers

The use of lasers in the dental industry has been increasing in the past couple of years. There are many advantages of lasers including less pain for patients, minimizing swelling and bleeding during dental procedures, and better preservation of the patient's teeth.

While lasers take away the anxiety of some dental patients, they can still be unnerving for others. Both dental patients have a negative, skeptical view of lasers.

This fear of lasers most likely comes from the misconception that all lasers contain dangerous x-ray light and radiation that destroys the tissue and can cause possible health issues such as birth defects and cancer.

Lasers are used in many industries including medical and optical. Lasers have been used in dentistry since the early 1990s.

While the lasers used in these fields are powerful and risky, when they are operated and handled by a trained doctor or specialist, they are completely safe.

In fact, the benefits they provide far outweigh their risks.

Reasons to Not Fear Lasers

They Provide Better, More Comfortable Treatment

Lasers can correct and treat a variety of dental conditions ranging from cavity fillings to teeth whitening to root canals. The accuracy and power of lasers allow dentists to quickly and effectively treat their patients while providing less pain and discomfort to the patient.

Invasive dental procedures, such as crowns and root canal therapy that traditionally have scared people away from the dentist are now able to be done faster, have less recovery time and causes less pain and discomfort to the patient.

The dreaded drilling, scraping, pain, discomfort, and time some dental procedures gave to dental patients in the past are all but eliminated by the pinpoint power of lasers. Lasers are so powerful they can effectively, and quickly reshape teeth and gums in a way that is less painful and have less swelling and bleeding.

They Are Preferred by Patients With the Fear of the Dentist

The effectiveness of lasers in dentistry has calmed the fears of many dental patients who have been afraid of visiting the dentist.

Patients who are afraid of the dentist fear the sounds, smells, and possible pain and discomfort from dental procedures.

More dentists are treating their patients with lasers because many patients who would otherwise shy away from getting their teeth treated are willing to venture into the dentist's office when lasers are used.

If patients who are afraid of the dentist are attracted to getting treated with lasers, then there should be little reason to fear them.

High Laser Safety and Regulations

The radiation and burn dangers of lasers are minimized through proper use and handling. Like doctors and eye care specialists, dentists must take extensive training and get certified to be able to use lasers in their practices.

The FDA has regulations on laser dental equipment that maximizes safety by limiting accidents. Safety controls, air ventilation systems, and non-reflective coverings of equipment keep lasers from accidental use from someone who isn't proficient in their use, from inhalation of fumes from evaporated tissue and from the accidental reflection of laser light.

All dental offices that offer laser treatments have protective aprons, breathing masks, and eyewear for both the patient and dentist that provide further protection from inadvertent laser accidents.

If you have any doubts, don't be afraid to ask your dentist about their laser dental education, experience, and credentials.

Lasers in your dental office are nothing to fear. They offer many advantages over traditional dental treatments. The strict safety precautions and their preferences among anxious dental patients make them be embraced, not feared.

The Benefits of Dental Implants and How They Can Change Your Life

Dental implants have become a popular alternative to dentures in the last few years.

Nevertheless, they seem scary and painful. Inserting a titanium screw into your gums seems like it would result in a long recovery and you'll be more prone to infections.

They are also permanent so once they're in, there's no turning back.

What are the benefits? How do you know whether they are right for you?

The Benefits

Improved appearance. If you have missing teeth or dental bridges that hold multiple crowns for missing teeth together, dental implants are great for enhancing your natural smile. The crown(s) that go over the implant are sized and colored to best match the rest of your teeth. This means that your implants are customized to you. You don't have to worry about fake-looking teeth that don't match the rest.

Improved speech. If you're tempted to try dentures because they seem less painful and are removable, you must take into account how they can impact your basic mouth activities such as speaking or eating. With dentures, your teeth can slip, making clear speaking difficult. They feel and fit like your natural teeth. As they are securely screwed into your jaw, you don't have to worry about them slipping, allowing you to speak clearly.

Improved comfort. Dentures may not fit right, causing irritation and slipping. With implants, they become a permanent part of you. Their secured fit and customized crown ensure the best fit for you, allowing the maximum amount of comfort.

Easier eating. As with speaking, eating is easier and less embarrassing with implants than with dentures. With many dentures, you must take them out whenever you eat. This can be embarrassing for the wearing. With dental implants, your teeth will function like your natural teeth, allowing you to eat with confidence and with less pain and discomfort.

Improved self-esteem. They look, feel, and function like your natural teeth which give you a natural smile that will boost your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Improved oral health. With normal crowns and bridges, part of your natural tooth (or teeth) needs to be reduced for the crown or bridge to properly fit. With dental implants, there are usually no teeth in which to file down in order to place a crown. This means more of your original teeth are intact which is good in terms of maintaining stronger dental health and hygiene.

Durability. With proper care, dental implants can last a lifetime. This is significantly longer than dentures that must be constantly removed and cleaned.

Convenience. Dentures are removable, requiring you to take them out when you eat and go to bed. There are fewer more embarrassing things than taking out your dentures at a dinner with friends or family. With dental implants, you don't have to worry about removing your dentures to eat or risk your dentures coming out when you eat. Implants are considered permanent, meaning you can do regular daily activities like eating without needing to remove them.

Despite what you may believe, the dental implant procedure involves little pain. Your dentist will administer proper local anesthesia to the site so the patient experiences very little pain during the procedure. There is some pain after the procedure, but it can be treated with Tylenol, Advil, or Aspirin.

Dental implants have many benefits that are worth the possible pain and discomfort. If you're concerned about dental implants, contact your dentist today.