These days, you don’t have to settle for a dull or unattractive smile. If you just aren’t sure what’s out there, here are the top six dental procedures that can help you get the teeth you’ve always wanted:
- Repairs and fillings require dentists to use restorative materials to repair teeth which have been damaged by trauma or decay. Your dentist can detect cavities using dye, laser fluorescence and x-rays during check-ups. Trauma often comes from accidents, nail biting or tooth grinding. Once the problem has been detected, your dentist repairs it using either a tooth colored resin or a metallic alloy depending on the location of the damage.
- Root canals remove the thread-like tissue in the center of the tooth, or pulp, when it becomes diseased or dead. The pulp contains arteries, veins, nerves and lymph tissue, and if tooth decay reaches it, it may put teeth at a very high risk for infection and even dangerous abscesses. Pulp damage can be caused by cracked teeth or deep cavities.
- Dental crowns are porcelain caps that sit over cracked, damaged, stained or broken teeth to protect them from further damage. They strengthen teeth and enhance your appearance. Measurements or impressions are taken by your dentist and sent to dental cosmetics labs for crown creation.
- Bridges and implants are cosmetic dental procedures that replace missing teeth. Bridges are used to fill gaps left behind by one or more missing teeth, and can be supported by natural teeth or implants. Dental implants are titanium posts inserted into the sockets of missing teeth to act as roots, and they come the closest of any cosmetic dental treatment to mimicking the look and feel of real teeth. Dental cosmetics labs are also usually involved in creating implants and bridges.
- Extractions consist of removing teeth from their socket in the jaw. Dentists perform these procedures as a last resort when a tooth is too broken or decayed to be replaced through other methods. This procedure can also be performed to make room for other teeth to come in or to keep wisdom teeth from becoming a problem.
- Teeth whitening erases the staining created over time by diet habits or smoking. A peroxide-based bleaching material is used to whiten teeth, often in combination with lasers to speed up the process. The cost of professional teeth whitening can be fairly high, however, so some people opt for slower-acting at-home products.
Now that you know about common practices in dental cosmetics, contact your dentist and ask about the procedure you think could help your smile!