Cosmetic Dentistry Blog

Veneers can correct a multitude of dental defects. By making thin tooth covers and permanently affixing them to the front surfaces of your teeth, Dr. Tekin can give them a new surface, new shape, new size, and new relationship to their neighboring teeth. Veneers can correct:

• Small gaps between teeth
• Small chips or shallow cracks in the enamel
• Slight mismatching in sizes
• Slight crookedness or misalignment
• Visible wear and tear
• Discoloration that will not respond to a tooth whitening procedure

If your smile is marred by any such minor defects which don’t need orthodontic treatment or any entire tooth replacement, veneers are an excellent choice. The dental porcelain will so closely match your natural teeth that only Dr. Tekin will be able to detect its presence. Even if you have several of the above problems, they can all be taken care of together, in this one procedure.

If you have the problem of short teeth, which make your smile “gummy” or childlike in appearance, we can treat that with a different procedure. That would be gum recontouring. Teeth look short when there is too much gum tissue hiding part of the enamel. A laser can quickly, painlessly, and easily vaporize just enough gum tissue to reveal your full-sized teeth.

If any of this sounds like dentistry you would like to try, please feel free to call or email our office, and we can schedule a personal consultation for you.

Your porcelain veneers need no special care, but they do need the same care you would give your natural teeth. It’s potentially damaging to use your natural teeth for purposes like opening bottles of beer, and never a good idea to bite on hard things like ice or pens. That can potentially damage your veneers also. A veneer is bonded strongly to your tooth and is part of that tooth, and will remain so with normal use.

Daily hygiene
Good dental hygiene is the secret to lasting dental health, and that includes your veneers. Although the porcelain itself will never decay, the back surface that isn’t covered by the veneer can develop caries. So brush at least once a day to clean the exposed surfaces, and floss every night to be sure the side surfaces are cleaned, the areas between teeth.

Toothpaste type
Although the stores sell many lines of toothpaste that claim to be “whitening”, stay away from them. Look for a brand which does not claim to whiten your teeth. Those making that claim contain abrasive ingredients like baking soda, which might whiten your teeth a little in the short term, but in the long term will yellow them. That is because they will gradually remove your tooth enamel along with bacteria and food particles, allowing the yellow dentin layer to show through. They can also scratch the porcelain and dull its pearly shine. Dr. Tekin recommends the Rembrandt brand of toothpaste.

At Art of the Smile, we have dental hygienists who understand dental porcelain and know how to clean it in your regular visits for professional cleaning. Please contact us if you would like to have a personal consultation.

You may be familiar with porcelain teacups or plates – they are very thin, exquisite ceramic objects. Dental porcelain is similar. By itself it is brittle, as are porcelain cups, but after it is bonded properly to your teeth, it is strong and durable. Dental porcelain can be used with a metal lining or with a porcelain lining. Dr. Tekin uses only layered feldspathic porcelain, which has a porcelain lining. That means that no dark line will appear at the gumline later on, as it will if you have porcelain restorations with metal linings.

Tooth enamel and dental porcelain share two important characteristics:

• Whiteness
  Teeth look white at first glance, but a second glance will show you that there are several shades of white in each tooth. Each person has an inborn limit on how white their teeth can become after a tooth whitening procedure. And we all eat and drink substances which gradually stain and yellow our teeth. But regardless of where you fall in those two continuums, your teeth have subtle variations in their whiteness.
  

Dental porcelain has the same feature, and the best porcelain in particular has this asset. This means that Dr. Tekin can choose a porcelain which most closely matches your individual tooth color, both in overall shade of white, and in the variations of white.

• Semi-translucency
  Both enamel and porcelain reflect some light off their surfaces and absorb some light. The absorbed light travels through to the layer beneath, and is reflected back to the viewer from there. In the case of tooth enamel, that is the dentin layer, a yellowish part of the tooth structure. In the case of porcelain veneers or crowns, it is the dental bonding substance used to attach them to the tooth. In both cases, the end result is a pearly sheen. A porcelain restoration cannot be distinguished from natural teeth except by your dentist.
  

An extra benefit of porcelain
Whereas tooth enamel gradually stains and yellows, porcelain is stain-resistant. It will not darken from coffee-drinking, love of blackberries or blueberries, and all the edible delights which leave their mark on our smile. Not even tobacco use or aging will dull the appealing whiteness of dental porcelain.

On the flip side, it does not respond to tooth whitening. So if you would like to whiten your teeth as well as have porcelain veneers or crowns, do the whitening first. Then Dr. Tekin can match the porcelain to your new bright white.

You are welcome to call or email us for more information, or to schedule a personal consultation. We hope to hear from you soon.

For you, the patient, porcelain veneers are a simple thing. Just come for two visits. For Dr. Tekin and his master ceramist, there is much meticulous and subtle work, only possible after many years of training.

In the first visit, Dr. Tekin removes a tiny amount of tooth enamel to create space for the veneers, which are about as thin as contact lenses. Then he takes impressions of the tooth or teeth (many veneers can be done at once). He sends these to his dental lab, along with other information and images so that his ceramist will be able to make superbly customized veneers for your particular mouth.

In between the first and second visits, you would not need any temporary veneers, although if you would like, Dr. Tekin could use some dental bonding to create a temporary cover for each tooth.

In the second visit, Dr. Tekin will clean and prepare your teeth and attach the new veneers with temporary cement at first. He’ll make any fine adjustments needed until both you and he are satisfied with how it feels and how your bite comes together. Then he will attach them with permanent cement. It isn’t “cement” in the usual sense - it’s a composite resin used in dentistry to make durable bonds between teeth and crowns or veneers.

Cosmetic dentistry is as much art as it is science. In designing your porcelain veneers, Dr. Tekin considers your whole facial shape and coloring, and how your mouth changes when you smile. If any teeth need subtle shape-changes, he will do that by slightly modifying one or more veneer shape. On the technological side, Dr. Tekin offers a very up-to-date amenity which is comfortable for you and makes work quicker and easier for him - the Isolite system. You can read more about it on our Technology page.

Please call or email us if you would like a personal consultation.

There are many options for fixing chipped teeth. The best solution for you will depend on how much of your tooth is missing and your overall dental goals.

You options include:

• Enamel recontouring
• Porcelain veneers
• Dental bonding
• Dental implants

Enamel recontouring and porcelain veneers are often a good choice if you want to correct the shape or appearance of several teeth. Recontouring can minimize teeth that are too large and build up missing areas. Porcelain veneers can cover many imperfections at once, including discoloration, crooked, and misshapen teeth.

Dental bonding can go further in building up a tooth than is appropriate for porcelain veneers. You can replace up to half of a tooth with bonding.

If you are missing a significant portion of your tooth you may want to think about replacing the entire tooth with a dental implant. A titanium rod is used to replace your root and fuses with your jawbone, so it is permanent and stable. A beautiful, porcelain false tooth is attached to the implant.

Fear does not have to stand between you and good dental health. It is estimated that 30% to 50% of Americans avoid seeing a dentist because of fear. Sedation dentistry is a safe and effective way to remove that obstacle.

Putting off dental care not only means more serious dental problems and the need for more invasive procedures in the future, it can also contribute to life-threatening health problems such as heart disease.

Sedation dentistry involves taking a sedative pill, no IVs or needles are involved, and you will be breathing on your own. You will be semi-conscious, but you may find yourself napping through your procedure. Your body will be completely relaxed, and many patients have no memory of the experience whatsoever.

Sedation dentistry can also allow you to experience the benefits of dental care if you are intolerant to dental procedures due to resistance to numbing, a strong gag reflex, or difficulty swallowing. It can make long, complex procedures possible without the need for general anesthesia.

The term “instant orthodontics” may be a little confusing. When you hear the word orthodontics, it probably brings to mind memories of the long, grueling process that you, or someone you knew, went through in high school, involving braces and multiple appliances used to force teeth into alignment.

Instant orthodontics won’t actually move your teeth. It simply makes them appear straight, by covering them with porcelain veneers and/or using dental bonding techniques. Porcelain veneers are a thin shell of porcelain, bonded to the surface of your teeth, which look and feel like natural teeth. Your veneers are made in a lab, so they will actually require two office visits to complete.

Besides being quick and easy, your porcelain veneers can cover multiple imperfections in one procedure, eliminating the need for tooth whitening, and correcting the appearance of chips and misshapen teeth.

Of course, if you want to truly straighten your teeth, you have the option of choosing Invisalign, which takes six months to two years, depending on how much adjustment you need. Invisalign requires a longer commitment of time than instant orthodontics, but the clear aligners eliminate the need to wear unsightly and uncomfortable braces.