Cosmetic Dentistry Treatments to Give Your Smile a Makeover

Our smiles can fall out of style for a wide variety of reasons. Fortunately, when we want to rejuvenate the look of our teeth there are many cosmetic and restorative dental treatments available to us to get them looking great again.

As we go about our daily lives, we are often not aware of the multitude of factors that can slowly start to affect the look of our smiles and the health of our teeth. While some things can cause a rapid change in the look of our smile, such as an accidental impact to the jaw that results in lost or damaged teeth, many others gradually build up over time. Of course, that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing you can do about it. There are plenty of cosmetic dental procedures and restorative dental treatments that can reverse these effects and keep our smiles looking great and our teeth strong and healthy.

What Kinds of Things Can Negatively Affect Our Smiles?

Aside from the obvious physical reasons like accidents or impacts, there are several not-so-obvious things that can cause our teeth to change over time, and not for the better. For example, certain types of foods and drinks, such as coffee, tea, and wine, have a staining effect on tooth enamel that becomes gradually worse the more frequent these substances come into contact with the teeth.

Irregular oral care habits are another common cause of undesirable changes to the look of our smiles and the general health of our mouths. Poor brushing habits can cause plaque to build up and develop into hard tartar, bacteria can flourish and result in bad breath and gum infections, and the rate of tooth decay can accelerate causing cavities to appear and grow much more rapidly.

Tobacco use is also a major cause of declining oral health, and it can noticeably yellow the look of the teeth even over just a short period of time. Frequent use of tobacco can result in increasingly dark staining of the teeth, as well as lead to serious dental health problems such as gum recession, periodontitis, gum disease, and even oral cancer.

Other potential causes of visible dental problems include things like grinding or clenching of the teeth, particularly at night. This exertion of pressure can result in teeth shifting position over time, misaligning the bite pattern. Grinding can also wear down the enamel of the teeth, changing their shape and creating sharp edges and rough surfaces.

While there are so many ways that our smiles may end up falling out of style, there are just as many ways to counteract those negative effects, prevent them from occurring in the first place, and restore the look of our teeth.

Start with Positive Lifestyle Changes to Benefit Your Dental Health

Fixing and restoring the appearance of your smile is important, but you should also take steps to prevent these types of issues from arising in the first place. Making the necessary positive lifestyle changes helps to minimize the risk of tooth staining and unnecessary damage, as well as contribute to a better overall state of health and well-being.

Take action to reduce the quantity and frequency of the consumption of foods and drinks that are known to stain the teeth. Cut back on coffee, wine, and other staining liquids in favour of more water and other healthier options. Follow a regular regimen of proper oral care habits including brushing, flossing, and anti-bacterial oral rinses to prevent the build-up of plaque and tartar, and remove surface stains.

We urge all people to cease tobacco use entirely, as its negative effects are well-known to extend far beyond just the mouth. In addition, it’s important to be more cognitive of your mood and take steps to lower your general stress and anxiety, as these are some of the leading causes of tooth grinding and clenching. You’d be amazed at the noticeable difference that these types of positive changes in your day to day activities can have in your life.

Cleaning, Polishing & Descaling Treatments

It should come as no surprise that one of the best ways to keep your teeth looking their best is to maintain a regular schedule of dental clinic visits for checkups and thorough cleaning, polishing and descaling treatments. The removal of plaque and tartar early on helps to dramatically reduce the discoloring effects that they can have on your tooth enamel, as well as minimizes the risks of developing inflamed gum tissue.

Professional polishing and descaling further helps to remove stains and unsightly build-up from the teeth, and keeps your teeth as strong and resilient as possible. In short, giving your teeth more attention and dealing with potential problems early on will ensure that your smile continues to look great and stay healthy and strong.

Clinical Tooth Whitening Treatments

While many people choose to perform at-home tooth whitening treatments with off-the-shelf strips, pastes, and gels, these often fall short of expectations. It’s common for these products to provide dissatisfactory results as they are not nearly as effective as clinical whitening treatments. A single whitening treatment at your dentist office can easily surpass multiple treatments of at-home products, both in terms of how dramatic the transformation is and how long the results will last.

A professional tooth whitening treatment will provide much more uniform results across the entire smile, rather than focusing on just those front and side teeth that are the most visible. Furthermore, whitening treatments work best on properly prepared and cleaned teeth, and even the most comprehensive at-home oral care routines are not going to be as thorough as a professional cleaning by a dentist or hygienist. At the end of the day, a professional tooth whitening treatment can significantly improve the appearance and visual consistency of your teeth, and give you the stunning white smile you want.

Repairing Damaged Teeth with Crowns, Veneers & Bonding

For chips, indents, and other types of physical damage that may be on your teeth, your dentist may recommend repairing them with treatments such as dental bonding, dental crowns, or porcelain veneers.

Dental bonding uses an artificial form of dental enamel to replace and refill small missing portions of a tooth such as a chip or surface gouge. This material is extremely hard and durable, and can be colour-matched to the natural tooth colour of the patient making it virtually undetectable. After the tooth surface is prepared, dental bonding material is applied to the damaged area and then shaped to replace the missing section. The material is then hardened, smoothed and polished to provide the perfect finish.

Crowns are essentially artificial tooth caps that can be used to repair large chips and cracks, or to replace decaying tooth material that required removal to avoid progression of the decay. After the top section of the tooth has been cleaned and shaped to accept the replacement crown, the new tooth cap is affixed using a permanent dental adhesive, creating an exact replacement of the natural tooth.

For a complete resurfacing of multiple teeth, porcelain veneers are thin yet highly durable covers that are affixed to the outer surfaces of the teeth, covering up deep stains, mottled colouring, indentations, and other noticeable tooth imperfections. Veneers provide a total transformation of the appearance of the smile without the need for any dramatic alterations to the patients’ natural teeth.

Re-aligning Teeth with Braces & Orthodontics

When teeth are misaligned, braces and orthodontics are needed to help shift the positions of the teeth within the jaw. Modern braces are advanced dental appliances that are engineered to provide the fastest possible results with the greatest comfort for the patient. Whether you’re in need of a minor reposition of just a few teeth, or a complete realignment of multiple top and bottom teeth, there are different styles of braces to choose from to achieve your goals.

Traditional metal braces are the tried-and-true option for a wide range of orthodontic treatments. Ceramic braces are similar to metal braces in form and function, but utilize different materials in their construction that are subtle in appearance and reduce the visibility of the brace. Fast braces feature specialized designs to accelerate the speed at which teeth move in the jaw, along with supplementary phototherapy and subsonic wave treatments to increase comfort, in order to deliver much shorter treatment times.

One of the most in-demand styles of braces is the Invisalign system of invisible braces. This innovative approach uses clear plastic aligners, fitted on top of the teeth and sequentially changed every two weeks, to provide the same great results as traditional braces with unequaled comfort and convenience. Invisalign aligners are removable for easier eating and cleaning, and are so subtle in appearance no one will even know that you are wearing them.

Regardless of the exact style of braces or orthodontics your dentist recommends for you, they will be the solution to correct bite pattern problems and visibly crooked teeth. At the end of your treatment, you’ll certainly be impressed at how dramatic the change will be, and that’s sure to get you smiling!

Replacing Missing Teeth with Dental Implants & All-on-4

Perhaps one of the most frustrating dental problems to deal with is lost teeth. There are varying reasons why a single tooth or multiple teeth may have been lost, such as an accidental impact, advanced stages of tooth decay, or some other type of serious health conditions such as gum disease, cancer or diabetes. Regardless of why the tooth is missing, it’s important to treat it promptly, not just for aesthetic reasons but also to avoid problems related to decreased mouth function and bone loss in the jaw.

Replacing missing teeth is fairly straightforward, and the procedure is highly effective. For the replacement of individual missing teeth, single dental implants will likely be used. These replacement teeth look virtually identical to the patients’ natural teeth, but utilize a specialized metal or composite anchor to embed the lower portion of the implant directly into the jawbone. This approach mimics the root of a naturally-occurring tooth and retains the integrity of the surrounding bone, preventing the gradual loss of bone density that results from missing teeth.

For larger-scale restorations and full-mouth reconstructions, the All-on-4 dental implant procedure may be recommended to you. In this treatment, all remaining or existing damaged or decayed teeth will be removed from the patient and are replaced with a full set of artificial replacement teeth. While the tooth arches may appear visually like normal dentures, they are securely anchored to the patients’ jaw via four strategically-placed dental implants. All-on-4 offers many significant advantages over normal dentures in terms of fit, comfort, durability, and function.

Rejuvenate Your Smile with Cosmetic and Restorative Dentistry

If you’ve been noticing yourself acting a little more self-conscious about your smile than you used to be, perhaps it’s time to explore the different ways you can enhance it. The team here at Georgian Dental would love to guide you through your options and help you select the treatment that best suits your needs and achieves your smile rejuvenation goals. Whether it’s a simple tooth cleaning, a professional whitening, orthodontic treatment, or a more extensive restoration procedure, we’re here to help. Book your next appointment today to get started!