Cosmetic Dentistry
Everyone wants a healthy smile with teeth free of decay and gum disease. But everyone also wants a beautiful smile. Dr. Tong and Dr. Rasmussen use their general dentistry background to keep your mouths healthy, combining their extra training in cosmetic dentistry to give their patients beautiful, perfect smiles.
Cosmetic Dentistry Services:
What is cosmetic dentistry, and how is it different from general dentistry?
When you think of the dentist, you usually think of having decay removed and a filling placed, or maybe having a tooth replaced with a dental implant. These are functional issues with your oral health, and those procedures fall under “general dentistry.” The idea of general dentistry is to keep your oral health in good shape.
Cosmetic dentistry is a sideline or specialty within general dentistry that focuses on the aesthetic aspects of the patient’s smile rather than the functional aspects. Cosmetic dentistry and general dentistry can have the same goal, for instance, when a dental implant is used to replace a damaged tooth. But cosmetic dentistry usually has the goal of giving you a dazzling smile without addressing issues such as gum disease, decay, or other functional problems. Drs. Tong and Rasmussen use cosmetic dentistry to improve patients’ tooth shape, position, whiteness, alignment, and overall appearance.
Why would a person be interested in cosmetic dentistry?
You can have a healthy smile that isn’t necessarily a perfectly beautiful smile. Maybe you have some stained teeth from a reaction to tetracycline when you were a kid. Perhaps you have a tooth that is healthy but misshapen. Maybe you have a gap between two teeth.
Whatever the flaws with your smile, Dr. Tong and Dr. Rasmussen can use their cosmetic dentistry treatments to fix them aesthetically. These are common cosmetic issues that they address:
- Closing gaps between teeth
- Whitening badly stained teeth
- Straightening poorly aligned teeth
- Replacing missing teeth
- Fixing chipped teeth
- Covering badly pitted teeth
- Correcting misshapen teeth
- Lengthening overly short teeth
Who is a good candidate for cosmetic dentistry treatments?
As mentioned above, these procedures are only cosmetic, not functional. Suitable candidates need to have healthy teeth and gums before Drs. Tong or Rasmussen can make any cosmetic improvements.
If you have teeth with decay or deep cracks, those problems would need to be addressed prior to having any cosmetic work done.
Of course, this isn’t a rigid definition. For instance, a porcelain crown can save a tooth with a deep crack. At the same time, that crown can change the shape of that same tooth to make it more aesthetically pleasing.
What are the different tools used for cosmetic dentistry?
At Gentle Dentistry, Dr. Tong and Dr. Rasmussen use a variety of different procedures to give our patients the whitest, most beautiful smiles.
Veneers – Ultra-thin porcelain shells are placed over the front sides of the teeth. Veneers can change the color or shape of the teeth. They can correct unevenly spaced, crooked, chipped, oddly shaped, or badly discolored teeth.
Composite Fillings – We place only composite resin fillings, which are the color of your natural teeth and invisible once in your tooth.
Bonding – Composite resin can be used to fix a flaw on a tooth, such as a chip, or to change the shape of a single tooth. Bonding is less expensive than a porcelain veneer, but it doesn’t last as long.
Whitening – We offer the Boost™ in-office teeth whitening system that whitens teeth up to eight shades. We also offer at-home teeth whitening custom-fit trays and professional gel.
Invisalign – Although technically functional, moving improperly positioned teeth with the Invisalign system of clear aligners creates a beautiful result with far less irritation and pain, without the patient having a “metal mouth.”
Is cosmetic dentistry work expensive?
As you would expect, the cost of these procedures varies depending entirely upon what you have done. For instance, teeth whitening and dental bonding are not expensive. An Invisalign orthodontic treatment costs far more, but it needs to move all your teeth. When Dr. Tong or Dr. Rasmussen gets an idea of what you’d like to change or fix with your smile, we can give you an estimate of the cost.
