Even though your teeth may be healthy, you still may be uncomfortable with their appearance. Here are a few ways that your dentist can help improve the look of healthy teeth.
Bleaching
Even though a tooth is healthy, it may be discolored. Healthy tooth material is porous, and pigments from the items that you ingest can become trapped in the pores, staining your teeth. Over time, the pigments accumulate, progressively discoloring the teeth.
To remove stains from foods and beverages, the dentist applies a dental bleaching product. The product removes dental stains using peroxide-based whiteners.
Before applying a bleaching product, the dentist covers the gums to protect them from irritation. They then apply the product to the teeth. As the product is in place whitening the teeth, the dentist may expose it to a bright ultraviolet light. The light reacts with the whitening product, intensifying the results of the application.
The color of the teeth may improve significantly from a single professional bleaching application. In fact, the whiteness may improve by multiple shades.
Veneers
Dental veneers can be applied to the teeth to correct cosmetic concerns, such as shape irregularities, permanent discoloration, and interdental gaps. Irregularly shaped teeth are not necessarily unhealthy. The irregularities may not originate from chips or breaks in the tooth material. Many people inherit imperfect tooth shapes. Likewise, the discoloration of a tooth may be due to a congenital defect.
Dentists attach a veneer to the front of a tooth to conceal its imperfections. The veneer is a super-thin shell made from porcelain or resin to look like natural tooth enamel. The device is shaped like a tooth and designed to fit the contours of the patient's mouth.
To place a veneer, a small amount of tooth material must be removed. This removal helps the veneer to rest flush with the natural line of the patient's bite pattern. Although a healthy tooth that will be covered by a veneer is permanently altered for the veneer's placement, the veneer fortifies the tooth, adding to its structural strength.
Plastic Aligners
Plastic aligners can help straighten healthy teeth that are moderately misaligned. The transparent aligners fit over the teeth, applying gentle pressure that coaxes the teeth into a straighter configuration. Multiple aligner sets are used during the treatment. The sets are worn in a specific order. Each set is applied for a couple of weeks, and then the patient moves on to the next designated set.
If you would like to improve the look of your teeth, schedule a consultation with a cosmetic dentist in your local area.
Share12 November 2019
Halloween is a holiday that my children love, and telling them they can't go door-to-door collecting candy would break their hearts. This led me to allowing them to collect candy on the holiday, then rationing it out to them every day instead of letting them gobble it up in just a few days. I always thought this was better for them, but my dentist told me this could be the reason why their February dental check-ups were always their worst ones. Daily candy consumption was taking a toll on their teeth. I started a new tradition of letting them indulge for two days, then giving them the option to swap the rest with me in exchange for a new toy. They never pass on the opportunity for a new toy. I created this blog to encourage other parents find similar tactics to keep their children's teeth healthy after Halloween.