Facial expressions are a large part of body language. An attractive smile can make you look and feel good about yourself. Your teeth may not be as white as you would like or after years of eating, smoking, drinking coffee or tea, teeth can change. Cosmetic dentistry is a good place to start changing your smile to the one that you have always wanted, but Mother Nature failed to give you.

Here are some of the procedures your cosmetic surgeon might recommend for you:

BONDING

Bonding on the anterior or front teeth is an excellent method for repairing minor imperfections such as chips and stains. It can also be used to fill gaps between the teeth. Bonding can brighten your smile quickly and easily.

CROWNS AND BRIDGES

Weakened by a fracture or a large filling, the tooth is now in obvious need of repair. Your dentist may suggest a crown, an artificial replacement of the upper part of the tooth, to restore the function and look of the damaged one. Crowns can be made from several different kinds of materials, and based on location, esthetics, and cost, the right one to repair your damaged tooth can be selected.
You have one or more missing teeth due to decay or an accident. This loss changes the look of your smile, your bite, and puts stress on surrounding teeth to compensate for the lost tooth. One option your dentist may suggest for replacing the lost tooth is with a bridge. The missing tooth is replaced with an artificial tooth connected between two crowns (caps) which are permanently cemented or bonded on the adjacent teeth.

ORTHODONTISTS

Orthodontists specialize in tooth alignment and jaw correction. Their work consists of diagnosing and treating malocclusions or “bad bites” such as teeth crowding, gaps between the teeth, overbites and under bites. These conditions are often genetic, but they can also be caused by trauma or habits such as thumb-sucking. Through the use of corrective appliances like retainers or braces, orthodontists can prevent or treat such alignment problems. The result is teeth and jaws that function well, with a pleasing facial balance.

TOOTH WHITENING

Your dentist has a variety of methods for restoring a bright white smile, including porcelain veneers, composite bonding, implants and whitening, also known as bleaching. However, of all the advances made in dentistry to improve the appearance of the teeth, whitening is the easiest and least invasive, and effective for 3 out of 4 cases. The procedure is safe, easy to use, and more affordable than ever before. Because of these reasons and more, whitening has become very popular.

PORCELAIN VENEERS

It may be hard to smile, even if you want to, when your teeth are uneven, chipped or discolored. Porcelain veneers applied over your natural teeth can easily brighten your smile and your self-esteem. A thin porcelain shell bonded to the tooth to correct imperfections in shape, color, size, and position of teeth.

DENTAL IMPLANTS

Whether missing one tooth or all their teeth, more people are replacing the loss with dental implants. Most implant procedures involve placing metal anchors into the bone of the jaw, allowing the anchor and bone to fuse, placing an extension or abutment in the anchor, and fixing a prosthetic tooth, or crown, on the extension., many patients find they have a better feeling, better looking, and more stable solution after undergoing this multi-step process to their tooth loss. A patient considering this surgery should gather as much information as possible about the procedure and about the dentist who will be performing the procedure.

TOOTH CONTOURING & RE-SHAPING

A chip in a front tooth, some worn edges, or shallow pits or grooves in the tooth enamel are all minor issues, but they do stand in the way of having a perfect smile. If you suffer from one or more of these problems -- even to the extent of a minor fracture or overlap -- they all can be fixed using a procedure known as tooth contouring and reshaping. Using a polishing instrument, the dentist removes small amounts of surface enamel of one or more teeth to compensate for the imperfections. Followed up with a smoothing and polishing of all the surrounding teeth.

A patient considering any procedure should gather all the information from the dentist who will be performing the any dental procedure. Cosmetic dentistry can make a big difference in your smile.