A warm inviting smile
How you present yourself allows you to open up your opportunities both socially as well as professionally. A warm, inviting smile is something that people are attracted to. Today, due to new technologies, materials and procedures you can make changes large and small to improve your smile. Chipped, malaligned, discolored teeth can be improved with various dental cosmetic techniques.

While traditional dentistry focuses on oral hygiene and preventing, diagnosing and treating oral disease, cosmetic dentistry focuses on improving the appearance of a person's teeth, mouth and smile. In other words restorative, general and/or family dental practices address dental problems that require necessary treatment, whereas cosmetic dentistry provides elective — or desired — treatments or services.

Cosmetic Dentistry Treatments
Cosmetic dentistry treatments currently in use include:

Inlays/Onlays: Also known as indirect fillings, inlays and onlays made from porcelain or composite materials are a long-lasting yet cosmetic way to provide a “filling” to teeth with tooth decay or similar structural damage. Whereas dental fillings are molded into place within the mouth during a dental visit, inlays and onlays are created in a dental laboratory before being fitted and adhesively bonded into place.

Composite Bonding: Chipped, broken, discolored or decayed teeth may be repaired or have their appearance corrected using a procedure called composite bonding. A dental composite material with the look of enamel and dentin is applied into the cavity or onto the surface of a tooth, where it is then sculpted into shape, contoured and hardened with a high-intensity light. The result is a restoration that blends invisibly with the remainder of the surrounding tooth structure and the rest of your natural teeth to create a healthy, bright smile.

Teeth Whitening: Teeth whitening is perhaps the most commonly recommended cosmetic dentistryprocedure. Teeth are often stained from smoking, food, drink (coffee, tea or red wine) or poor oral hygiene. Bleaching the teeth can enhance the appearance of your smile.

Dental Veneers: Dental veneers are very thin pieces of specially-shaped porcelain or plastic that are glued over the front of your teeth with little or no anesthesia needed. They are the cure for teeth that are severely discolored, chipped, have small holes or pits, misshapen or crooked, or for the correction of unwanted or uneven spaces. Unlike crowns, veneers won't require excessive removal of the tooth. Veneers are created from a dental impression.Your custom veneer is then glued directly onto your tooth.

Dental Implants: Dental implants are artificial tooth root replacements that are used as a part of prosthetic (artificial replacement) dentistry in order to compensate for tooth loss. Often the result is not only an enhanced smile, but also a more youthful appearance, since missing teeth cause the face to collapse, making you look older.

Smile Makeover: Smile makeovers involve a comprehensive assessment of your smile esthetics in order to improve its overall appearance. Typically one or more cosmetic dentistry procedures, such as dental veneers, dental implants, gingival sculpting and teeth whitening, will be required for several teeth in both the upper and lower arches in order to achieve the look you want.

Full mouth reconstruction: While consulting with you about a smile makeover to primarily improve the esthetic appearance of your smile, we may discover that there is a need to provide necessary treatment to correct functional problems with your bite, muscles, teeth and bone structure. If you need full mouth reconstruction, the materials available today make it possible to provide you with durable, functional and clinically sound treatments that also look natural.

Recontouring or reshaping of the teeth (also called odontoplasty, enameloplasty, stripping or slenderizing) is a procedure in which small amounts of tooth enamel are removed to change a tooth's length, shape or surface.

GUM RESHAPING/CONTOURING
Your gum tissue is like a frame that provides form and shape to the top of your tooth. A less than attractive smile results when the integrity of the gum is compromised or the actual gum between your teeth becomes weak. Usually due to poor hygiene (gum disease), you actually begin to lose gum tissue. Cosmetic dentistry provides many cosmetic solutions such as composite resin bonding, crowns, and veneers to create a great smile. These solutions are usually part of an overall strategy which may involve cosmetic gum surgery. Used to correct a 'gummy smile' (a significant portion of your gum is exposed when you smile), cosmetic gum surgery is the procedure of lengthening your teeth from the neck of the tooth upwards. Your teeth then appear to be longer and much less gum is seen when you smile.

There are two primary procedures for cosmetic gum surgery, depending on your current smile.

"Gummy Smile" (Excessive Gingival Display)

A "Gummy Smile" can occur due to wear of teeth from teeth grinding, a short upper lip, or having a longer than usual upper jawbone. This smile is when your teeth appear too small and your gums appear to large.

Cosmetic gum surgery can be done to reduce the excess gum and bone. The removal of these tissues allows for normal sized teeth and for a normal gum line appearance by using an instrument, usually a laser, to remove the undesirable tissue.

"Long Tooth Smile" (Gum Recession)
As your gums recede, your teeth look much "longer" than normal. Such gum recession exposes your sensitive root surface which often makes hot or cold foods and drinks a painful experience. Teeth can become loose as your gum recedes. The cosmetic gum surgery solution is basically removal of tissue from the roof of your mouth which is then grafted onto your gum line. This tissue then reinforces thin gums or fills in areas where your gums have receded.