Cosmetic dentistry advances
- Advances in dental materials have led to tooth shaded resins which are painted on and bond to your tooth. Your dentist can now repair chipped or damaged teeth with minimal drilling. The resultant filling is usually impossible to detect.
- Your dentist can now keep fillings as small as possible. When combined with lifelike modern materials, these small fillings are hardly noticeable.
- For severely damaged teeth, crowns (caps) may now be reinforced with gold covered by a bonded tooth shaded porcelain.
- When teeth are missing, your cheeks tend to 'fall in' making you look old and tired. Ask your dentist if the missing teeth should be replaced.
Replacing missing teeth
When a tooth is lost, there are many alternatives to the partial denture.
- Bridgework with modern porcelains fixed to adjoining teeth is often difficult to detect.
- Simple bonding of the replacement tooth to the teeth either side is now possible—involving no drilling or further loss of tooth structure.
In replacing missing teeth, implants made of titanium (a space-age material) can be inserted into the jawbone to anchor the artificial crown, bridge or tooth. Implants are especially effective where a single tooth is replaced by a lifelike crown. It looks like a natural tooth growing out of your gum.
Orthodontic treatment to correct the position of crooked teeth can greatly improve your appearance. Mature adults as well as youngsters experience excellent results. Orthodontic bands (braces) are now small and more comfortable than in the past. Brackets and wires may also be placed on the inner surfaces of your teeth so that they are not noticeable when you smile.
Last Reviewed: 05 July 2001
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