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© 2007 Medellin Travel Guide - All Rights Reserved
© 2007 Medellin Travel Guide - All Rights Reserved
Dr. Juan Carlos Mejia Escalante Medellin Dentist
Cosmetic Dentistry Tutorial
Cosmetic Dentistry Tutorial by Dr Juan Carlos Mejia Escalante
COSMETIC DENTISTRY
While traditional dentistry focuses on oral hygiene and preventing, diagnosing, and treating oral disease, cosmetic dentistry focuses on improving the appearance of a person's teeth, mouth, and smile.
Cosmetic dentistry may also provide restorative benefits. For example, dental fillings are a common procedure used to treat decayed teeth. Previously, most dental fillings were composed primarily of gold, amalgam, and other materials that left visible dark spots on the teeth. Today, dental fillings may fall into the category of cosmetic dentistry, because you can select fillings made of porcelain or composite materials that closely match the color of your teeth, thus maintaining the natural appearance of your teeth and smile. Many people have their older fillings replaced with newer, tooth-colored fillings to enhance their oral appearance.
Cosmetic Dentistry Trends
Technological advancements in cosmetic dentistry have made it possible for dentist to address a wide range of challenges. Two of the latest trends aimed at creating a more attractive appearance are smile makeovers and full mouth reconstruction.
A smile makeover improves the appearance of the smile through one or more cosmetic dentistry procedures, such as dental veneers, dental implants, and teeth whitening.
Full mouth reconstruction may include treatment for functional problems with the bite, muscles, teeth, and bone structure as well as the use of additional cosmetic procedures. Full mouth reconstruction involves advanced restorative treatment designed to address severe wear of the teeth, pain, and other problems. Full mouth reconstruction frequently involves several dentists who focus on their specific areas of expertise in order to obtain the best outcome.
Cosmetic Dentistry Procedures
Cosmetic dentistry procedures currently in use include:
ˇ Dental Filling - As noted above, this traditional procedure can also be included in the category of cosmetic dentistry when porcelain and composite resin materials are used to provide a tooth-like appearance.
ˇ Bonding - They may be done via a procedure called bonding. A dental composite material with the look of enamel is applied to the surface of a tooth, where it is then sculpted into shape, contoured, and polished, making the crack or chip invisible.
ˇ Teeth Whitening - Teeth whitening is perhaps the most commonly recommended cosmetic dentistry procedure. Teeth are often stained from smoking, food, drink (coffee, tea, or red wine), or poor oral hygiene. Bleaching the teeth can enhance the appearance of your smile.
ˇ Dental Veneers- Plastic or porcelain laminates bonded to the surface of a tooth to replace chips and cracks will improve a worn appearance or severe tooth discoloration. Veneers may also be recommended if you have gaps in your teeth or if you have not had success with teeth whitening.
ˇ Gum Lift, is a cosmetic dental procedure that raises and sculpts the gum line. The procedure involves reshaping the tissue and/or underlying bones to create the appearance of longer or more symmetrical teeth.
ˇ Dental Implants - Dental implants are artificial tooth root replacements that are used as a part of prosthetic (artificial replacement) dentistry in order to compensate for tooth loss. Often the result is not only an enhanced smile, but also a more youthful appearance, since missing teeth cause the face to collapse, making you look older.
ˇ Enamel shaping removes parts of the contouring enamel to improve the appearance of the tooth. It may be used to correct a very small chip. The removed enamel is irreplaceable, and may sometimes expose Dentin. It is also known as enameloplasty, odontoplasty, recontouring, reshaping and stripping.
ˇ FULL CERAMIC CROWNS - This type of restoration replaces one or multiple teeth and restores very decayed teeth.
The tecnology available today permits you to have a higly esthetic prothesis that can be achived by using the latest generation of dental porcelains free of a metal framework and this makes it possible to replicate natural tooth.
Many different tools are available today to help you and the specialist visualize what can be done before actually performing anything on your mouth.
With the aid of computers and advanced programs, pictures of the patient can be altered, for example: do a gum lift, reshape tooth anatomy, repair a chipped or broken tooth. This helps to determine what can be achieved and make sure the patient likes it.
The wax up of cast models is also a very useful tool for the patient and especially for the dentist.
Using state of the art computer programs as NobelGuideŽ from Nobel Biocare permits a tridimensional reconstruction of a CT scan and actually perform surgery on the computer before is ever done on the real patient. This helps to reduce chair time for the actual surgery, gives more precision and in many cases permits doing a flapless surgery (with out incisions).
While traditional dentistry focuses on oral hygiene and preventing, diagnosing, and treating oral disease, cosmetic dentistry focuses on improving the appearance of a person's teeth, mouth, and smile.
Cosmetic dentistry may also provide restorative benefits. For example, dental fillings are a common procedure used to treat decayed teeth. Previously, most dental fillings were composed primarily of gold, amalgam, and other materials that left visible dark spots on the teeth. Today, dental fillings may fall into the category of cosmetic dentistry, because you can select fillings made of porcelain or composite materials that closely match the color of your teeth, thus maintaining the natural appearance of your teeth and smile. Many people have their older fillings replaced with newer, tooth-colored fillings to enhance their oral appearance.
Cosmetic Dentistry Trends
Technological advancements in cosmetic dentistry have made it possible for dentist to address a wide range of challenges. Two of the latest trends aimed at creating a more attractive appearance are smile makeovers and full mouth reconstruction.
A smile makeover improves the appearance of the smile through one or more cosmetic dentistry procedures, such as dental veneers, dental implants, and teeth whitening.
Full mouth reconstruction may include treatment for functional problems with the bite, muscles, teeth, and bone structure as well as the use of additional cosmetic procedures. Full mouth reconstruction involves advanced restorative treatment designed to address severe wear of the teeth, pain, and other problems. Full mouth reconstruction frequently involves several dentists who focus on their specific areas of expertise in order to obtain the best outcome.
Cosmetic Dentistry Procedures
Cosmetic dentistry procedures currently in use include:
ˇ Dental Filling - As noted above, this traditional procedure can also be included in the category of cosmetic dentistry when porcelain and composite resin materials are used to provide a tooth-like appearance.
ˇ Bonding - They may be done via a procedure called bonding. A dental composite material with the look of enamel is applied to the surface of a tooth, where it is then sculpted into shape, contoured, and polished, making the crack or chip invisible.
ˇ Teeth Whitening - Teeth whitening is perhaps the most commonly recommended cosmetic dentistry procedure. Teeth are often stained from smoking, food, drink (coffee, tea, or red wine), or poor oral hygiene. Bleaching the teeth can enhance the appearance of your smile.
ˇ Dental Veneers- Plastic or porcelain laminates bonded to the surface of a tooth to replace chips and cracks will improve a worn appearance or severe tooth discoloration. Veneers may also be recommended if you have gaps in your teeth or if you have not had success with teeth whitening.
ˇ Gum Lift, is a cosmetic dental procedure that raises and sculpts the gum line. The procedure involves reshaping the tissue and/or underlying bones to create the appearance of longer or more symmetrical teeth.
ˇ Dental Implants - Dental implants are artificial tooth root replacements that are used as a part of prosthetic (artificial replacement) dentistry in order to compensate for tooth loss. Often the result is not only an enhanced smile, but also a more youthful appearance, since missing teeth cause the face to collapse, making you look older.
ˇ Enamel shaping removes parts of the contouring enamel to improve the appearance of the tooth. It may be used to correct a very small chip. The removed enamel is irreplaceable, and may sometimes expose Dentin. It is also known as enameloplasty, odontoplasty, recontouring, reshaping and stripping.
ˇ FULL CERAMIC CROWNS - This type of restoration replaces one or multiple teeth and restores very decayed teeth.
The tecnology available today permits you to have a higly esthetic prothesis that can be achived by using the latest generation of dental porcelains free of a metal framework and this makes it possible to replicate natural tooth.
Many different tools are available today to help you and the specialist visualize what can be done before actually performing anything on your mouth.
With the aid of computers and advanced programs, pictures of the patient can be altered, for example: do a gum lift, reshape tooth anatomy, repair a chipped or broken tooth. This helps to determine what can be achieved and make sure the patient likes it.
The wax up of cast models is also a very useful tool for the patient and especially for the dentist.
Using state of the art computer programs as NobelGuideŽ from Nobel Biocare permits a tridimensional reconstruction of a CT scan and actually perform surgery on the computer before is ever done on the real patient. This helps to reduce chair time for the actual surgery, gives more precision and in many cases permits doing a flapless surgery (with out incisions).
