Cosmetic Dentistry Directory Blog

Dental porcelain is in some ways like the delicate teacups we know as porcelain. It has a shiny gleam, it is appealing in its subtle coloration and it has a high-quality look to it. It is also brittle by itself - but once it is bonded to tooth enamel, it is strong and durable.

Inlays and onlays are the names of two types of porcelain filling that differ in size:

• Inlays are smaller, being within the tooth's cusps;
• Onlays are larger, extending over one or more cusps to one of the outside surfaces. Onlays are a step between an inlay and a dental crown, which covers all the tooth's surfaces.

Inlays and onlays are not placed directly on the teeth. They are known as indirect restorations because they are created by a dental lab according to your cosmetic dentist's specifications and then placed and bonded to your tooth in a second visit.

However, no second visit is necessary if your dentist has a CEREC system. Then your inlay or onlay can be created in the dentist's office while you wait and bonded in the same visit.

Porcelain inlays and onlays have the great benefit of strengthening the teeth they restore. Unlike metal fillings, which eventually fracture the teeth, inlays and onlays hold the tooth together. The bonding connection pulls inward on the tooth’s periphery. Porcelain does not expand or contract with hot and cold foods, but retains its shape and size precisely.

Your inlay or onlay will be matched in color to your natural teeth. Porcelain comes in many shades of white, with subtle variations of color like tooth enamel. Once your restoration is in place, it will look so natural that nobody but you and your dentist will know it is there - and even you will probably forget because of its superb function and appearance.

Please see Inlay and Onlay Questions for more information

If you would like to find a qualified cosmetic dentist in your area, please use the Find a Dentist navigation at the top of the page, or the map at the bottom.

We all know the discomfort of tolerating another person's halitosis and the embarrassment of having bad breath ourselves. Sometimes bad breath is caused by a digestive problem that needs medical attention. But most of the time, it is caused by bacterial action in the mouth.

The goal of good dental hygiene is to keep mouth bacteria at a minimum. There is no way to eliminate them entirely. But effective daily brushing and flossing, and maybe also use of a good mouthwash, can keep their numbers down and prevent them from damaging the teeth and gums.

Modern cosmetic dentists take a preventive approach to your dental care and many have technology to diagnose tooth decay very early. You can read more about that on our page Dental Technology: Catching Problems Early. When tooth decay is not detected and repaired early, the damage can so destroy a tooth that it must be extracted.

The gums can be damaged also when bacteria spread below the gumline and create pockets around the teeth where they cause the gums to recede from the teeth. The teeth then loosen and may even fall out and the gums will bleed and deteriorate. This is severe gum disease.

What causes this damage is the acidity of bacterial excretions. The bacteria themselves, little one-celled organisms, feed on tiny food particles left on the teeth. They have a simple metabolism that leaves toxins on the tooth and gum surfaces and these toxins are acidic. Anything acid eats into other substances. Both bacterial toxins and acidic foods and drinks eat into tooth enamel.

This creates infection in the mouth and unless something is done to stop it, it will keep increasing and spreading and part of its results is bad breath. The bad breath begins before gum disease becomes severe, however; it will begin in the early stage called gingivitis.

Bad breath can be treated and the infection eliminated - by use of dental lasers to clean the gums and teeth, use of superior toothbrushes and water picks, regular professional teeth cleaning, and by dental repairs such as white fillings and dental crowns and bridges.

You do not need to live with recurrent bad breath. To find an experienced dentist in your area, please contact us today.

With so many advances in general, cosmetic, and implant dentistry, there is no need to suffer with dental problems that make you embarrassed to smile. A dental bridge is just one option to "bridge" the gap created by one or more missing teeth.

Dental bridges are made up of two dental crowns for the teeth on either side of the gap; these two teeth that serve as anchors are known as "abutment teeth." The dental bridge also has a false tooth (or teeth) in between the abutment teeth. The false teeth are called "pontics" and are typically made of gold, alloys, porcelain or some combination of these materials. Your natural teeth (or dental implants) support the dental bridge.

Dental bridges are a very effective solution to missing teeth because they:

• Prevent remaining teeth from shifting
• Maintain the shape of your face
• Enhance/restore your smile
• Allow you to speak and chew properly

There are different types of dental bridges available in most dentists' offices:

• Traditional bridge (most common type and are made of porcelain-fused-to-metal or ceramics)
• Cantilever bridge (usually used on front teeth)
• Maryland bonded (resin-bonded) bridge (supported by metal framework)

If you have a missing tooth or teeth, dental bridges may be the perfect solution for you. Please visit our Questions About Dental Bridges page to learn more about how dental bridges can improve your smile and give you your confidence back.

Most of us are familiar with smile makeovers from television programs, if not from our own experience. They are one of the most popular offerings of modern cosmetic dentistry and are so customized that nobody has ever had your smile makeover, or ever will.

Do you have more than one dental defect that you would like to correct? Rather than having them repaired or improved separately, perhaps even by different dentists and at different times, you can have an overall plan in one cosmetic dentistry office. It can be designed to fit your lifestyle and your budget and most modern dentists work with a third party financing company to help you get an easy-terms loan if you would like to do that.

Your smile makeover plan will be devised by you and your cosmetic dentist together, based on your goals and concerns and your dentist's evaluation of your dental status. It might consist of just a couple of procedures, or it might be more extensive.

You might want to have certain procedures done before others, such as teeth whitening before porcelain veneers. That would be because dental porcelain does not react chemically to substances in the mouth. That is, it does not become discolored by pigmented foods and drinks and neither does it respond to whitening agents.

Therefore, when you have your teeth whitened first, your dentist can choose a shade of porcelain for your veneers that matches your new bright color. These two procedures together would give you an outstanding smile makeover.

Other possible procedures might be all-porcelain crowns to replace gold crowns or white fillings to replace unsightly metal fillings. There are many more possibilities too, depending on your needs and preferences.

To learn more about your unique smile makeover from a qualified cosmetic dentist in your area, please use the map below or "Find a Dentist" above.