Does it feel like the end of the year has kicked time into high gear? It’s not uncommon for the last few months of the year to seemingly fly by. While you might regret losing track of your resolutions as yet another new year approaches, it’s not too late to do something about at least one of them: to improve your smile. Few things can have a more positive or negative impact on confidence than the condition of one’s smile. A bright, white smile tells the world you take care of yourself, while deep stains or spacing issues can cause many people to feel self-conscious. Before another year closes, though, you still have time to seek cosmetic treatment, improving both your smile and your outlook as you face another new start.
The Many Ways a Dentist Can Help Improve Your Smile
Cosmetic dentistry includes a number of treatments designed to fix smile. Some are simple and can be completed in a single office visit, while others may require more time for treatment. But all have one thing in common, they offer patients a way to erase both recent changes to the smile, such as wear from nighttime grinding, but also any longstanding conditions like diastema, the technical term for a gap between two teeth.
- One of the least invasive and most popular cosmetic options is professional teeth whitening. Unlike over-the-counter options, professional whitening offers dramatic results, fast, often lightening teeth by up to ten shades in a few hours, or weeks depending on if patients prefer in-office or at-home treatment.
- Cosmetic bonding and contouring are nearly as fast as whitening, but can improve a number of issues, like spacing problems, and disproportionally small or oddly shaped teeth. During this treatment, the dentist sculpts a composite resin onto the teeth to create a more symmetrical and even smile. This is known as dental or cosmetic bonding. Contouring works similarly, but is used to erase minor overlaps of the teeth, jagged edges or unusually large teeth by gently etching away the enamel.
- Veneers accomplish many of the same goals as bonding and contouring, but are more expensive because they provide longer-lasting results that are less likely to stain or chip. That’s because the porcelain used to create veneers is much like your teeth’s natural enamel, in that it is strong and made to withstand long-term wear.