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.