What is Cosmetic Dentistry?

Since the 30’s, Hollywood has been experimenting with dentistry as a way to change or enhance the appearance of an actor’s smile. Over the years, that experimenting (with hastily applied veneers that would only stay on for a day or so) has turned into a respected discipline within the field of dental medicine. The focus of cosmetic dentistry is, quite simply, to modify the way a smile looks - or in encyclopedic terms: “to change the appearance of an oral cavity and it’s surrounding structures.”

Patients are able to have a more pleasing, and subjectively accurate, smile thanks to major advances in cosmetic dentistry and its technologies. In the 1980’s after substantial research and testing, veneers were no longer for the stars who were “ready for their close ups” but were being made available to any willing to pay to have them custom made.

There are several types of treatments used to enhance a patient’s smile, namely Whitening, Enamel shaping, Bonding, Veneers, and Gum Lifts.

Whitening, or usually referred to as “tooth bleaching,” is by far the most common cosmetic dental procedure in practice today - not just by cosmetic dentists, but in dental “whitening boutiques” across the United States. On the fashionable Newbury Street of downtown Boston, one can find a very upscale tooth salon. Have lunch with girlfriends, get a whitening, buy shoes, head home. All in a day’s work!

Enamel shaping, is the practice of removing parts of contouring enamel in order to improve the appearance of the tooth, or teeth. Small chips, as well as jagged or rough edges, can be shaped by “moving” the enamel. This practice can also be called stripping, slenderizing, reshaping, recontouring, odontoplasty, or enameloplasty.

Bonding, just like the name suggests, is a procedure employed by cosmetic dentists to fix chipped or badly cracked teeth. In the bonding process, an synthetic enamel dental composite is applied to the tooth and then sculpted, hardened, and polished. In more ways than one, cosmetic dentistry is seen as an art, especially when matching other unaffected neighboring teeth, or during a full mouth restoration.

Veneers, like the Hollywood actors used to use, are very thin custom designed laminates that are applied and bonded directly to the tooth. Thankfully, unlike black and white Hollywood days - they stay on permanently. Because of their dramatic and real look, many patients and dentists alike are choosing veneers to produce some of the most stunning smiles available. Severe discoloration and staining, in addition to gap closure are also possible reasons a cosmetic dentist may choose veneers for their client.

Gum lifts is perhaps the most “graphic” procedure in terms of reconstructing a client’s smile, simply because it involves the sensitive tissues of the gums and the bone within. In this procedure, a cosmetic dentist will literally reshape the gum tissue and sometimes the underlying bone, in order to give the smile a more uniform look - one that can be particularly effective when a smile could use more symmetry.

For veneers, cosmetic dentists no longer rely on old unstable metals which can create dental problems after decades of wear and tear. Porcelain is an extreemely strong material made from heating clay, which in turn becomes a glass/mineral (mullite) solid. Porcelain is the material of choice for most cosmetic dentists, as the look can be very accurately shaped to resemble real teeth. Most veneers and other cosmetic dental work, if done by a skilled set of hands and assisted by equally skilled assistants, are not recognizable as “false teeth.” This provides by far the most “real” looking alternative for clients seeking a realistic and enhanced smile.