What You Need to Know About Aesthetic Dentistry

We practice aesthetic and cosmetic dentistry in our dental office.  Many people are unfamiliar with the term and how it differs from cosmetic dentistry.  Understandable as that is, the distinction is actually quite significant.

Functionality vs. Appearance

Your teeth are necessary for eating and speaking.  While a critical component of your body, many people take them for granted, assuming that they will always be there.  Tooth loss, however, is incredibly common, and when you lose your teeth, it all of a sudden becomes hard to even keep the same speech patterns.  In our office, we try to save teeth and preserve them whenever possible.  This may involve taking steps to remove an infection by performing things like a root canal, as opposed to removing an infected tooth.

Since our goal is to retain and restore the functionality of your teeth, we practice aesthetic and cosmetic dentistry.  This is an approach to dental care that says the function of the tooth is more important than the appearance of the tooth.  Keep in mind that we always make the tooth look as good as possible and consider esthetics in all of our treatment recommendations.  However, we don't want to sacrifice the function of the tooth for the appearance of it.

Cosmetic dentistry alone tends to take a different approach.  As the name suggests, the main focus is the cosmetic appearance of the teeth, rather than how they function now or how they will function in the future.  With that in mind, many people visit a cosmetic dentist only to find that they need to have a procedure repeated at a later date because the functionality was compromised.  For example, some procedures require that a portion of the enamel be removed, as is common with dental veneers.  While these solutions may be necessary at times, we always look for the solution that can restore the tooth, without compromising the structure of it, first.  An example of this is a bonding procedure.  This is one way to restore a tooth without needing to remove any of the enamel from it. Since a bonding procedure doesn't require the enamel to be removed, it is reversible and a form of aesthetic dentistry.

Options

In our dental practice, we will always provide you with options.  We understand that each of our patients has different goals for their smile and their appearance.  We will discuss them with you after examining your teeth and make a recommendation for what procedures will help you to accomplish your goals while maintaining the integrity of your tooth structure.  Our goal is to ensure that your dental work is something that helps to improve your life and your appearance.  With that in mind, we will go over the pros and cons of each procedure, helping you to select an option that fits within your lifestyle goals.  We will also discuss if the procedure will need to be repeated in the future so that you can make an informed decision.