A New Year...

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Can Bring A New Smile

There’s nothing like a beautiful smile. Perhaps more than any other facial feature, your smile is the first thing people notice about you. And when it dazzles, you exude beauty and confidence. Unlike fine wine, our smiles do not improve with age. But fortunately for all of us who long for a better smile, there are more options than ever before for improving one’s smile at any age. Thanks to the latest advances in cosmetic and restorative dentistry, restoring your smile, improving your overall appearance, and improving function are more attainable than ever before. When you’re looking for a way to dress up your teeth, it is easy to get confused. Here’s the scoop on several of today’s options.

Whitening
Brighter teeth are just the beginning when it comes to designing a gorgeous grin. Not everyone is ready to commit to the cost of a full-smile makeover. If you’re happy with your teeth but wish they were whiter, bleaching is the least expensive option to brighten your smile. The color of your teeth is dependent on both genetics and your lifestyle – red wine, coffee, cola soft drinks, smoking and other dark foods and drinks can put a damper on your smile. Such staining can be remedied with the use of a strong peroxide solution. Typical in-office bleaching solutions contain 10-30 % hydrogen peroxide (the whitening agent). While over the counter whiteners, by comparison, may not contain enough hydrogen peroxide to make a significant
difference on their own.

Veneers
Sometimes referred to as porcelain laminates, these wafer-thin shells of porcelain are bonded onto the front
side of teeth that are discolored, worn, chipped, or out of alignment. While veneers have been used for years, dentists are now working with stronger, whiter, and more realistic looking veneers than ever. Unlike the bulky caps of decades past, which required shaving down a significant portion of your natural tooth, today’s porcelain veneers can be paper-thin and bonded onto the tooth front. At times, only the smallest amount of natural tooth is required to be reduced before veneer placement. The advantage of porcelain veneers is that they do not wear down as natural teeth do, and they’re completely resistant to stains.

Dental Implants
Dental implants are designed to provide a foundation for missing teeth that look, feel, and function like natural teeth – and can provide you with a lifetime solution for many dental problems. The art and science of dental implants has advanced tremendously in the past two decades. Now patients who previously had to be condemned to wearing loose fitting dentures are rediscovering their confidence to eat, speak, laugh, and enjoy life. The dental implant is an artificial tooth root that holds a replacement tooth or bridge. Implants are an ideal option for people in good general oral health who have lost a tooth or more due to periodontal disease, an injury, or some other reason. The implants themselves are small titanium posts that are placed into the jawbone where the tooth is missing – bonding with the bone. But why opt for a dental implant over a bridge? Implants have one primary advantage: When the implant is placed, the bone is stimulated, thus preserved.