A person’s smile is one of the first things that a person notices but unfortunately time has a way of lowering a person’s self esteem as the teeth discolor, get small chips and cracks, the person then begins to hide their smile behind their hand. As unfortunate as it is that time takes its toll on teeth it is equally as fortunate that cosmetic dentistry in San Jose can restore a person’s smile. As there are a number of methods available to a cosmetic dentist, he or she must consider certain factors before the decision is made as to which method to use to improve the appearance of the patient. Two of the most common cosmetic dental treatments are crowns and dental veneers.
There are some similarities between a crown and a veneer; both of them are custom made in a dental lab and they are both designed to give the patient healthy, white teeth. The process is straight forward, the dentist first prepares the tooth and then a mold is made of the resulting teeth or tooth. This mold is sent to a dental lab which returns a crown or veneers that is tailor made to fit the teeth. The dentist, using a special adhesive, fixes the crown or the veneer to the patients tooth. However, despite these similarities, the two are different. A dental crown is designed to enclose an entire tooth while a dental veneer is designed to cover only the front part of the tooth, the part that people see when the person smiles.
When a dental crown is being fitted the dentist reduces the size of the tooth so that when the crown is fitted, the result is a crown the same physical size of the original tooth. This usually means that the tooth is reduced by about 2mm. Although a tooth also has to be ground down to fit dental veneers, the thickness only has to be reduced by less than 1mm.
Crowns are used to repair teeth which are broken or decayed; they are extremely strong as they are used for biting and chewing. Veneers on the other hand are fitted to teeth which are strong and healthy; they are just discolored or chipped. As the veneer only covers the front of the tooth they are not subjected to any great forces although they are quite strong.
Cosmetic dentistry in San Jose – has come a long way in a few short years thanks to new techniques and material. It was not too many years ago that cosmetic treatment was simply not available, the best that could be expected was to have a bridge fitted in the event of a missing tooth, today a dental implant can easily be placed in the jaw and a new tooth is created.
If you are ashamed of your smile then you can have a complete smile makeover when you visit the cosmetic dentist in San Jose. To enhance your smile and regain your confidence make an appointment with the professionals at California Shine Dental.
