Dental Procedures
6. TOOTH CONTOURING AND RESHAPING
Dental reshaping and contouring is a procedure to correct crooked teeth, chipped teeth, cracked teeth or even overlapping teeth in just one session.
The dental contouring procedure can even be a substitute for braces under certain circumstances. It is also a procedure of subtle changes. A few millimeters of reduction and a few millimeters of tooth-colored laminate can create a beautiful smile with no discomfort. Tooth reshaping, or dental contouring, is commonly used to alter the length, shape or position of your teeth.
This procedure is done if you want your teeth to appear less crowded, lack chips and fractures, have decreased overlaps or to be without pits or grooves in the enamel. With a little dental contouring, a huge difference is made in the way you feel about your smile.
Tooth reshaping, or tooth sculpting, is a safe and conservative way to improve your smile. Teeth may become weaker if large amounts of enamel are removed, tooth reshaping should be limited to minor changes or combined with veneers or bonding for the best smile.
Procedure
X-rays will be taken to evaluate the size and location of the pulp of each tooth to ensure that there's enough bone between the teeth to support them.
The dentist will mark your teeth with a pencil prior to performing the procedure. This helps the cosmetic dentist in their sculpting process. As your dentist sculpts the tooth, imperfections are artfully eliminating or minimized. A sanding drill or laser may be used to remove small amounts of surface enamel gradually. Abrasive strips are then moved back and forth between your teeth to shape the actual sides of your teeth. Then the teeth are smoothed and polished. Usually anesthetic is not needed. Teeth contouring and reshaping usually takes one to three visits.
Contouring teeth may also help correct small problems with bite. It is common for bonding to be combined with tooth reshaping to achieve a beautiful smile.Types of Procedures
There are actually several ways to change the appearance of your teeth. Many times these various procedures are combined in different ways to deliver that smile of your dreams.
Tooth Contouring and Reshaping
The reshaping of your teeth is a procedure that involves the removal of a very small amount of tooth structure to help achieve a more desirable smile. Chipped or fractured areas are smoothed out and specific angles or edges can be rounded or squared. Contouring creates better alignment and can create a more feminine or masculine smile. It is sometimes done to prevent chipped areas from getting worse. Tooth reshaping is a conservative way to improve the teeth. Since teeth can become weaker if large amounts of enamel are removed, this procedure is limited to minor changes or combined with veneers or bonding for a terrific smile.
Dental Veneers
Veneers are sometimes used in conjunction with contouring. Dental veneers are very thin pieces of specially-shaped porcelain or plastic that are glued over the front of your teeth with little or no anesthesia needed. They are the cure for teeth that are severely discolored, chipped, have small holes or pits, misshapen or crooked, or for the correction of unwanted or uneven spaces. Unlike crowns, veneers won't require the dentist to remove much of the tooth itself. Veneers are created from an impression taken in your dentist's office. Your custom veneer is then glued directly onto your tooth.
Tooth Bonding
Basically, bonding will cover any natural flaws applying a thin coating of a plastic material on the front surface of your teeth. After this, your dentist will apply a bonding material sculpt, color and shape it to provide a pleasing result. A high-intensity light then hardens the plastic, and the surface is finely polished. This procedure often accompanies contouring and teeth reshaping procedures.
Advantages
Your dentist can remove only a small amount of tooth enamel, contouring your problem tooth into a more pleasing shape for an improved smile. The tooth contouring procedure is quick, simple, painless, and inexpensive.
Disadvantages
There are limits. You may be at risk for tooth breakage and decay if too much enamel is removed your teeth. If your teeth were uneven because you grind them, they'll become uneven again until the grinding issue is resolved.
Dentures are removable replacements for missing teeth typically made out of an acrylic resin which may at times incorporate porcelain or metal for additional structural support. There are two main types of dentures, complete and partial. Both Complete dentures and partial dentures are finely crafted and custom-fitted to the patient. If you properly maintain your dentures they will appear natural and provide a perfect smile. Additionally, dentures help strengthen muscles controlling your expressions that require the support of your teeth, rid you of pronunciation problems caused by missing teeth and aid with chewing.
Procedure
It is somewhat common to extract some teeth and surgery, in some cases, is necessary to improve the bony ridges that stabilize your dentures.
The procedure begins with a wax bite impression of your mouth that will give your dentist exacting measurements. Your final dentures are fabricated and placed.Types of Dentures
Complete Dentures
These replace all of your teeth, upper or lower. Their comfort depends on muscle, bones, tongue, and saliva.
Immediate Dentures
Immediate Dentures are placed all at once, and may require additional adjustments after the healing process. It can take months for your bone and tissue to stabilize after tooth extractions.
Over Dentures
Over Dentures are a type of conventional denture similar to Complete Dentures. The difference is that not all teeth are extracted and they use one or more natural teeth for their support. This type provides greater stabilization during chewing. Over Dentures cost more and typically require more preparation dental appointments until the procedure is fully complete.
Partial Dentures
Designed to correct the gaps in your smile when only some of your teeth are missing. Metal attachments anchor the dentures to your natural teeth. Partial Dentures maintain tooth alignment by preventing your remaining teeth from shifting. Partial Dentures can also help prevent your loss of more teeth due to decay or gum disease.
Advantages
Dentures definitely provide a great smile with a very natural appearance. They're made of very durable materials and last very long when properly taken care of. Typically dentures last from five to ten years. They also correct several problems, from speech to chewing, for many patients.
Disadvantages
There's no doubt that dentures take a little getting used to. There is maintenance involved, and initial speech issues to overcome (these are temporary and last only a couple of days). Mouth irritation or sores may occur, but are usually caused by poor dental hygiene, and not removing your dentures when needed. It is common that your mouth change over the life of your dentures, so even though they last long, they may need to be replaced to achieve a better fit before they are worn out. With a denture a person typically chews at only 15-23% efficiency compared to a person chewing with their natural teeth. In the case of a full upper denture, the upper palate is covered which can reduce taste of foods you're chewing.
Most of us have had amalgam fillings (silver) or gold filling restorations. Some amalgam fillings contained mercury. Metal fillings were effective, but very conspicuous and tended to blacken in color over time.
Composite resin dental fillings were created as an alternative to traditional metal dental fillings. Tooth fillings colored to look like a natural tooth are known as Composite Resin dental fillings are made of a plastic dental resin. Composite Resin Dental Fillings are strong, durable, and make for a very natural looking smile.
Procedure
Your dentist will give you a local anesthetic to numb the area. The dentist then prepares an access to the decayed area of the tooth and removes the decayed portions. This is accomplished with traditional drills, micro air abrasion or even with a dental laser. With a composite filling, your dentist will preserve more of the natural tooth as the composite resin can be bonded to the tooth in thin layers. If your tooth's decayed area is close to a nerve, a special liner will be used to protect the nerve.
A special dental material is then used to open up the pores of your tooth's dentin and roughens up the surface of the exposed enamel. This achieves better and stronger bond. The bond resin is applied to stick the composite to your tooth. This material is made of the same dental resin as the composite however it is much more fluid. This layer is then hardened and cured with a very bright light.Composite resin fillings are applied in thin layers, and slowly built up to form the complete filling. A bright dental light will harden each layer before the next is applied.
Once your filling is completed, your dentist will use a special paper, articulating paper, to adjust the height of your dental filling and that your bite remains correct. Your tooth is then polished.Advantages
The composite of composite resin fillings bonds to further support the remaining tooth structure, which helps prevent breakage and damage to your tooth. They certainly look better, and are color blended to match your natural tooth color. These fillings are often used to improve the appearance of misshapen, chipped or discolored teeth.
Composite resin fillings last about six to twelve years or more, and the procedure usually takes just one visit to your dentist. There is very little sensitivity to hot or cold items often experienced with amalgam fillings. The dentist won't need to drill as much of the tooth structure as with amalgam fillings.Disadvantages:
Composite resin fillings require more time to apply than amalgam fillings. This results in an increased cost for placing composite fillings.
