Visit a Cosmetic Dentist to Improve the Health of Your Gums

As a cosmetic dentist, the vast majority of our time is spent improving the quality of a person's smile. To do this, we have focused most our attention on the aspects of dentistry that can improve your teeth, making them whiter, straighter, and less intrusive. The importance that looks play in today's society has made many of the functions we perform a household name. When you want your teeth to be brighter, you know about teeth whitening. When your child has crooked teeth, you come in and see us for braces. When grandma needs new dentures, a cosmetic dentist is your first call. There are a lot of functions that we perform on a daily basis, and these are what make up the bread and butter of cosmetic dentistry. There are a few other procedures that we do, which are not quite as widely known. The two we have described below are actually relatively common and have been conducted as a way to improve gum health. There is, however, significant crossover and so now these procedures are also conducted by cosmetic dentists as a way to improve the gum line and hence improve your smile.

One procedure, a cosmetic dentist performs is known as a gingivectomy. This procedure is done by cosmetic dentists and periodontists as a way to save your teeth from being lost. Usually, there is a risk that an infection has spread inside the gum, which can threaten the underlying bone. In order to deal with this the affected gums have to be treated. Diseases like periodontitis cause the gums to become separated from the bone. This creates the effect of deep pockets forming under the gum. Not only is this extremely unattractive to look at but these deep pocket provide the perfect breeding ground for bacteria and infections. Plaque, which is typically easier to brush away, builds up in these hard to clean pockets and will eventually cause long term damage to the gums and teeth. Doing the surgery involves injecting local anesthesia in the gums around the pockets so that the gums are completely numb. Next, using a laser or a scalpel, the dentist will remove the excess matter and loose gum tissue from the site causing the pockets to close. Putty will be placed on the gum so that it has enough time to heal properly. Once this procedure is done successfully your gums will return to their normal healthy appearance.

We perform gingivectomies and provide our patients with the ability to have their gums the right length and contour. Due to a number of dental conditions, or procedures, the gums can become too long or too short. Gum recession, or the shortening of gums, can often leave the teeth looking too long and the root exposed. Too much gum and you have a gummy smile. Done in our offices, under local anesthesia, gum reshaping can give you the right length of gums that not only look great but also provide the right protection for your teeth. As a cosmetic dentist, these are merely two of the ways we can improve your health and appearance at the same time.

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What You Should Know About the Science of Teeth Whitening

Teeth whitening is everywhere. More and more people are starting to catch on to this idea that there is nothing quite as amazing as a beautiful white smile. In the fast pace modern world, a smile can make all the difference. Ironically it is the very pace we live at today that is causing some of the major reasons why people need access to effective, inexpensive teeth whitening. With the advent of a speeded up life cycle more and more people are turning to stimulants to keep up. These include things like energy drinks, caffeine based drinks like tea and coffee, and even cola products.

Take coffee for example. There are currently over 53 thousand coffee shops across the continent. 54% of all adults partake in at least one cup per day, and over 63% of people who drink coffee will drink at least one cup within their first hour of being awake in the morning. The challenge with all this energy consumption is that tea, coffee, red wine, energy drinks, and cola are all products that have a very high probability of staining or discoloring your teeth. Coffee is one of the least virulent of these, but with the huge rates of consumption quickly rises to the top of the list of products that can cause you to need teeth whitening.

The process of teeth whitening is a chemical process, which involves the chemical composition of your enamel and how it interacts or reacts with the teeth whitening solution that we put on it. Teeth look white. This is because they, like all objects, reflect light at a certain degree. Each color we see is actually the brain interpreting the reflected natural light differently. For teeth, it is necessary to be more colorless so that there is not a disturbance in the reflection of the light to the brain. Stains and discoloration fundamentally work to distort the reflection of the light. We use a peroxide based solution that can penetrate deep into the core of the enamel. There it will work to release free radicals. These free radicals, once released into the organic chemical composition of the tooth's enamel, make the tooth appear to be more colorless and hence a brighter shade of white to your brain. We use a peroxide because we want to start this oxidization process quickly and safely. There are differences between what you can buy in the store to whiten your teeth, and the formula we use in the clinic based on the strength and peroxide content in the solution.

What you can buy in the store is a much weaker version of the teeth whitening we use. First it is hydrogen peroxide based. This is because hydrogen peroxide has a better, longer shelf life. Second the content of hydrogen peroxide is between 3% and 20%. The formula we use in the clinic is carbamide peroxide based. Carbamide peroxide has a 35% hydrogen peroxide content. Additionally we use a much more potent mix, which is between 15% and 43% carbamide based for quicker, more effective results.

Dental Implants  >  Teeth Whitening