Belmont Cosmetic Dentist & Smile Design

From a mere cleaning to a complete smile design," a trip to the dentist can be a cosmetic experience these days.

San Mateo CA porcelain veneers Smile Design If you're in the market for a smile design makeover, there are many beauty specialists who can help you. You might turn to a hair stylist, cosmetic surgeon, or dermatologist. You probably wouldn't think of going to the dentist, yet dentists can do things for your appearance that no one else can.

Cosmetic Dentistry is much more than cleaing and maintaining your teeth. There are procedures that can change the shape, size, and color of the teeth.

Cosmetic dentistry isn't exactly a dental specialty. Those who call themselves cosmetic dentists do cleanings and drill cavities, too. They're just particularly interested in aesthetics, and they have extra training to do cosmetic procedures.

Smile Design & Teeth Whitening provided by Belmont Cosmetic Dentist

The simplest and most common thing they do, akin to having Botox shots, to give you that total smile design is tooth whitening. This is nothing new, but it is cheaper and easier today than it used to be.

Getting a new smile design with tooth whitening is a process of lightening the color of teeth. It's used to erase stains that come from coffee, tea, red wine, cigarette smoke and chewing tobacco. It will lighten teeth that have darkened because of age or are naturally yellow or dark. The effects generally last for five years depending on personal habits.

There are four smile design methods to choose from, each providing varying degrees of effectiveness: Dentist In-Office power bleaching, Dentist supervised home bleaching, Laser bleaching, and Over the counter bleaching systems. Bleaching should be done under a dentist's supervision.

Today, nearly 85 percent of U.S. dentists offer bleaching services. Tooth bleaching has been proven successful for 90 percent of patients. But for very sensitive teeth, periodontal disease, or teeth with worn enamel, your dentist may discourage bleaching.

Smile designs started over 30 years ago, very strong solution of hydrogen peroxide – the solution was so strong that if hit touched the lips or gums of the patient it would cause injury.

In this type of smile design and teeth whitening treatment, called "power bleaching," teeth are isolated with rubber dental dams, and the peroxide solution on the teeth is heated up with lamps.

This process did work but due to the amount of time and trouble most patients would not do the procedure. The cost of the procedure was also very high due to the amount of time needing the patient in the dental chair.

Power bleaching is still available, but there's a cheaper alternative. Some new smile design tooth-whitening technique uses lower-strength peroxides that are left on the teeth longer. Nevertheless, you don't pay for so much of the dentist's time.

After the Belmont Cosmetic Dentist makes sure your teeth are healthy enough for the treatment -- fillings, bridges, cavities, or a gum infection may rule it out -- you have an impression of your teeth taken, and the impression is used to make a tray that holds a peroxide gel on the teeth. You wear this tray at home for a few hours every day, over the course of one to five weeks.

The resulting brilliant whiteness still isn't cheap. Depending on where you live, a take-home tooth whitening can cost anywhere from $150-$1,000. Double that for an in-office bleaching.

Smile Design by Belmont Cosmetic Dentist

Tooth whitening can be just the beginning. If you want to get serious, you can have your teeth and gums overhauled completely. Smile design is what most cosmetic calls it.

Smile design is looking at the positions of somebody's teeth, and how the teeth are framed by the lips," he says.

For example, if your gums show too much when you smile, that can be fixed. That is what's called a gum lift. The technical term for this procedure is called crown lengthening. What a great way to improve you’re over all smile design.

This is a surgery that can be done in the cosmetic dentist's office, whereby the gums are pushed up so that more of the teeth show. Surprisingly, there isn't much pain involved with this procedure since it is a fairly minor surgery.

You can also have your teeth shaped any way you want them to be. The lengthening and rounding the edges of your front teeth can actually make you look younger. A lifetime of chewing (and especially of nail biting) wears down your teeth. Even after a facelift, worn teeth can add years to your appearance and take away from your over all smile design.

To shape a tooth, a Belmont Cosmetic Dentist may bond a resin or porcelain veneer or crown to it. Resin bonding is the older method. It still is good procedure and used a lot today, but it doesn't last as long as porcelain, the newer material to create a better smile design.

Resin may, in time, wear out or become discolored, whereas porcelain doesn't. The other difference is that resin bonding is done in the dentist's chair. For a porcelain veneer, a mold is sent away to a dental lab to be made, and then bonded on later.

Tooth whitening is a process of lightening the color of teeth. It's used to erase stains that come from coffee, tea, red wine, cigarette smoke and chewing tobacco. It will lighten teeth that have darkened because of age or are naturally yellow or dark. The effects generally last for five years depending on personal habits.

Dr Charles McDonald DDS, Aesthetic Dentist - Providing services in cosmetic and extreme makeover dentistry and smile makeovers to the areas of Belmont, the San Francisco Bay Area and San Mateo, California (CA).