CUSTOM VENEERS TO IMPROVE YOUR SMILE IN SCARBOROUGH
When you’re happy with your smile, you won’t be able to stop showing it off! At the Scarborough dental clinic of Dr. Daniel Gibbs, we want to work with you to create the smile you’ve always wanted. We offer a number of cosmetic dentistry services, including teeth whitening, veneers and more. If you’re unhappy with your smile, we can improve it! Talk to us today.
PORCELAIN VENEERS
Veneers are purely cosmetic. They are thin facings that are applied mainly to front teeth. These facings are fabricated in the dental laboratory and require 2 visits to complete. They can be made for a single tooth or for multiple teeth. Veneers last about 10 years, and enable to change the colour and shape of your teeth to improve your smile.
Veneers can be used to eliminate gaps between teeth, and may also be used to build up teeth that have been slightly fractured or broken. For slightly uneven, streaked, or discoloured teeth (teeth that tooth whitening cannot improve), veneers are an excellent treatment option.
ADVANTAGES
Veneers can be fabricated and applied in 2 visits. They can last 10 years or longer, providing a patient is careful of their eating habits and visits the dentist regularly.
DISADVANTAGES
Veneers are a permanent procedure requiring a very small amount of the patient's tooth enamel be removed to make room for the thickness of the veneer. Also, the veneer cannot replace missing teeth, badly rotated or fractured teeth, or teeth with infection. As veneers require a proper occlusion (the way the upper and lower teeth meet to form the bite), some orthodontics may be required before this treatment option is considered. Lastly, a porcelain veneer can fracture under extreme stress so proper care must be taken of teeth to which the veneers have been applied.
TREATMENT
On the first dentist visit, the dentist reduces the outside enamel of the tooth slightly to accommodate the thickness of the future veneer. An impression of the treated tooth is taken and a temporary veneer is placed to maintain the appearance of the tooth. The laboratory fabricates the veneer to the chosen shade, and it is bonded to the tooth on the second visit one week later.
After the veneer is applied, the patient should avoid hard foods and extreme temperatures, for a few days. After this time, the patient can resume normal eating habits. However, the patient should always take care with the veneered teeth by avoiding strong bites on hard objects, or expose the veneers to extreme temperatures (biting on ice, for example).
As with all dental procedures, patients should maintain good oral hygiene, not use abrasive toothpastes, and see a dentist a minimum of twice a year.
TEETH WHITENING
Coffee, tea, smoking and illness are just a few factors that contribute to the discolouration of teeth over time. For patients unhappy with the colour of their teeth, professional teeth whitening is a quick and easy solution. In just a single visit, your smile could be shades lighter. If discoloured teeth have been keeping you from smiling or socializing comfortably, you could be a candidate for this procedure. Consider teeth whitening for a brighter, more confident smile.
CROWNS & BRIDGES
If a patient happens to lose a tooth from accident or disease, the resultant space represents a potential dental problem as the surrounding teeth are likely to shift and cause bite problems.
One way to correct this problem is the crown and bridge treatment. This procedure involves the preparation of teeth on either side of the space for the placement of a cap. The dentist must pay careful attention to make the preparations on the abutment teeth as parallel as possible. A detailed impression is taken and the laboratory makes a fixed bridge, with 2 crowned abutment teeth and a false tooth to fill the space. The units are soldered together and the joints are very strong. On the second visit, the prosthesis is cemented to the abutments. There are many occasions when crown and bridge treatment can be considered for multiple units. Careful planning must be done in these complicated situations.
REMOVABLE PARTIAL DENTURES
These are removable bridges or dentures that the dentist designs to replace missing teeth. The dentist makes small preparations on the teeth adjacent to the space, and then takes a detailed impression. Sometimes the design allows for the denture to have small clasps to help in the retention of the prosthesis. This treatment requires 4 to 5 visits from the initial impression to the final insertion. The patient must clean the denture after eating and also take it out at night to allow the gum tissues to rest.
