A bright, healthy smile boosts your confidence and self-esteem. Cosmetic dentistry treatments can makeover your smile and address issues like stains, chipped teeth, misaligned teeth or gaps between teeth.
Treatment options range from minor alterations to dramatic transformations. Our team will design a personalized treatment plan that will help you attain your aesthetic smile goals.
Teeth Whitening
Unlike general dentists, cosmetic dentistry Louisville KY providers offer treatments that improve the appearance and aesthetics of your smile. Commonly used procedures include teeth whitening, dental bonding and veneers. A beautiful, confident smile can help you project an image of health and high self-esteem.
Yellow, dingy teeth can negatively impact your professional goals, relationships and social standing. A powerful professional whitening procedure can lift deep stains and restore your bright, vibrant smile.
If you have a healthy mouth, the results of a teeth whitening can last for several years, as long as you avoid deeply colored foods and drinks. If a tooth is chipped or cracked, a cosmetic procedure known as cosmetic contouring may be necessary to reshape the tooth for a more natural appearance. This treatment is performed without an anesthetic and usually requires only one visit to the dentist.
Veneers
Veneers are thin porcelain shells personalized in size, shape and color to hide cosmetic dentistry Louisville KY defects like discoloration, gaps, chips, crooked teeth, worn edges or short teeth. The result is a natural-looking, beautiful smile.
At your first visit, the dentist will examine your mouth and face from all angles, take X-rays and create a mold of your teeth to send off for custom-made veneers. You’ll also get temporary veneers to wear while the dental lab is working on your permanent ones.
At your next visit, the dentist will fit and test the veneers on your teeth. They’ll use water or glycerin to make sure the color and fit are right before cementing them in place. The dentist will apply a special cement and shine a light beam at it to activate chemicals that bind and harden the glue.
Crowns
Dental crowns, or “caps”, are porcelain and ceramic restorations that hide cosmetic dentistry Louisville KY and functional damage to your teeth. They are durable and crack-resistant, making them a good choice for your molars as well as your front teeth.
They are crafted in a lab from impressions or digital scans of your prepared tooth. The resulting crown is like your tooth’s doppelganger, made to fit perfectly and match the color of the surrounding teeth.
Porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns have a metal substructure for strength with porcelain covering them for a natural appearance. Metal crowns, which are fabricated from alloys such as gold or base metals, withstand biting and chewing forces well and last the longest in terms of durability. However, they have a metallic color that some patients find unattractive.
Bridges
Replacing missing teeth with natural-looking tooth restorations helps you maintain dental function, a beautiful smile, and your quality of life. A bridge fills in the empty space, keeps the surrounding teeth from shifting out of place and deteriorating, and improves chewing and speech.
The procedure involves recontouring the existing teeth on either side of the gap, which are known as abutment teeth. A mold is then taken to create a custom dental bridge, pontic, and crowns to fit perfectly over the abutment teeth.
A zirconia fixed bridge in Florence & Louisville, KY can reduce your risk of bone loss, keep the shape of your face, and give you the full roster of functioning teeth. We customize the color, translucency, and shade of the restorations to complement your smile specifications.
Implants
Implants are the foundation of a complete smile that replaces missing teeth. Unlike bridges or dentures, they don’t require the adjacent teeth to support them. For many patients, this is a permanent solution to tooth loss.
For most patients, the surgery to place an implant is minimally invasive and can be done with local anesthesia. Occasionally, bone grafts may be needed to provide sufficient bone volume for the implant.
Once the implant is in, it must be cared for just like natural teeth. This includes brushing twice a day and flossing regularly. The patient must also schedule regular follow-up appointments. This way, the implant and surrounding gums can be monitored for signs of infection and proper healing. With proper oral hygiene, implants can last a lifetime.
