What is a Cosmetic Dentist and How Can They Improve My Smile?

In many senses, as a cosmetic dentist, we bring the art to the science of dentistry. What we do every day is to help the regular dentist, also known as a general dentist, by augmenting the work they do. What we mean is this: your regular dentist, or general dentist, has a very important job to do. They are responsible for the overall health care of your teeth, gums, and mouth. As such, they are in a role that deals with things like gum diseases, diagnosing and treating problems, finding issues, and working really hard to prevent you from having any of the above. Their entire world revolves around what must be done and how to do it. In other words, they take care of what you must get taken care of. On the other hand, when you practice cosmetic dentistry, you get to see the other, equally important side of dentistry. This is the side that lets you do what you want to, chose to, or elect to do. This involves things like straightening your teeth so you are more confident when you smile or whitening them so you have a more radiant smile. In fact, the smile is probably the most important thing we focus on in cosmetic dentistry.

There was a time when the two disciplines were pretty much on unique tracks, but with the advent of modern medical science, form and function are no longer completely separate from each other, so what ends up happening is all dentists, knowingly or unknowingly, end up practicing a little bit of cosmetic dentistry. A great example is the simple tooth filling. This is a process many of us get familiar with in the cavity-filled days as children. A filling becomes necessary when you have a cavity or a small hole formed by the decaying action of the bacterial acid in the mouth. From a functionality standpoint, it is essential to clean this wholly, remove all the decay and bacteria, and fill it so the bacteria cannot return. For years, this process was done using gold or amalgam to fill these cavities. Both of these were very obvious, so when you had fillings, anybody could see they existed. As a cosmetic dentist we focus more on the aesthetics, composite and porcelain fillings have emerged, which are the same color and shade as your teeth. When you have one of these fillings, it is like you never even had a cavity to begin with.

Today, most people recognize the forms and procedures that are the mainstays of a cosmetic dentist. When you go in for a teeth whitening procedure, it is the product of cosmetic dentistry. Ironically, even all the advertising for whitening on television find their roots in cosmetic dentistry. From dental veneers to dental crowns, the use of our tools have become virtually universal, with little concern for the fact that they were once only for aesthetics, but now give the teeth a whole new level of functionality and longevity.