Cosmetic Dentistry

Cosmetic Dentistry at Smiles Depot

Despite staying committed to a thorough at-home oral health routine, you may start to see your smile’s aesthetics lessen over time. As one of your most prominent features, a smile gives you the opportunity to express yourself as an individual while contributing to lasting first impressions. However, when issues like cracks, chips, and discoloration deter from your smile’s beauty, it can cause unwanted uncertainty regarding your natural aesthetics, and these conditions can put your dental health and function in jeopardy.

At Smiles Depot, our team of dental professionals combine their extensive training with state-of-the-art technology to offer quality cosmetic dentistry for patients looking to improve their smiles throughout Lodi and Stockton.

If you are interested in learning more about how we can help you achieve a beautiful smile, call our office today to set up an appointment!

What are My Cosmetic Dentistry Options?

Just as each individual is unique, so are smiles, and the art of cosmetic dentistry tailors each service to meet the specific needs, wants, and concerns of those smiles. Cosmetic dental services may often involve the following:

Tooth-Colored Fillings
Porcelain Crowns
Teeth Whitening
Veneers & Lumineers®

Woman's mouth open with dental tools placed in front

Invisalign®
Dental Implants

What Smile Limitations Can Cosmetic Dentistry Address?

Cosmetic treatments are designed and highly personalized to address a wide variety of dental issues. Our office provides expert solutions treatment for the following:

Discolored or yellowed teeth
Dental chips, cracks, or fractures
Uneven spaces or gaps
Crooked or misaligned teeth
Missing teeth
Weak or worn teeth
Misshapen Teeth

Although cosmetic dental care primarily focuses on addressing the aesthetic limitations of the smile, this branch of dentistry also contributes towards proper dental health and function.

Why Cosmetic Dentistry is Worth More than Just Enhancing Aesthetics

When you think of cosmetic dentistry, you probably think of the rich and famous getting dental enhancements to make their already perfect teeth, better. These solutions however, do more than beautify one’s smile.

Cosmetic services can, in fact, be what you need to treat specific dental health issues, and in turn, help establish long-lasting oral health.

Cosmetic dentistry really is any dental work that improves the appearance of one’s teeth, gums, and bite. The overall appearance of one’s smile is enhanced through aesthetic dental procedures that focus on improving the size, shape, color, position, and alignment of teeth and gums.

How Will I know If Cosmetic Treatment is Right for Me?

During your consultation, we first take the time to discuss with you your needs, concerns, and expectations for treatment. We then take a series of panoramic, digital x-rays utilizing cone beam technology to capture exact images of your teeth, gums, jaw, facial and cranial structures. These pictures are essential for familiarizing ourselves with the contours of your smile as well as determining the healthy integrity of your the surrounding structures.

From then on, we conduct a gentle, yet thorough examination using innovative tools like intraoral cameras along the way, so that we can walk you through our findings as well as look for any underlying health issues that make themselves present in your mouth.

Once it’s been determined that your smile is healthy, only then will we create a treatment plan that is all your own. When crafting your plan, we factor in important aspects like your day-to-day lifestyle.

Cosmetic dental care is an ideal option for just about anyone in proper oral and overall health.

Addressing Tooth Discoloration with Professional Teeth Whitening

At Smile Depot, we proudly offer professional teeth whitening using Phillips ZOOM. As one of the most popular services of cosmetic dentistry, professional teeth whitening is a great way to improve the appeal of your teeth effortlessly and safely when administered by one of our highly-trained team members.

We offer several ways to brighten your smile, these include:

In-office whitening: or chairside teeth whitening provides a comfortable way to brighten your smile by multiple shades within a single visit. However, treatment times may vary depending on the severity of staining.

Take-home whitening: is especially ideal for individuals with more demanding schedules that make it difficult to get their teeth whitened at our office. This method includes a tray crafted to fit your smile perfectly along with the professional-grade whitening gel. With this option, you have complete control of when and where you wish to lighten your smile.

How Do Teeth Get Stained in the First Place?

Even with the most diligent of oral hygiene routines, tooth discoloration is often unavoidable because smiles are in such constant use.

When consuming highly pigmented foods and drinks, such as dark berries, red wine, coffee, tomatoes, and soda, your porous enamel absorbs these pigments very easily because these foods have larger color molecules that attach to your teeth, causing discoloration.

Stains can penetrate the enamel, causing lasting discoloration that is often impossible to remove with over-the-counter products. However, with professional teeth whitening, the brightening solution is of a higher-grade which can tackle pesky stains that love to linger past your enamel.

Professional teeth whitening offers a truly comprehensive solution to enhancing your smile as it can also be paired with other cosmetic treatment, like Invisalign.

Caring for Your Newly-Whitened Smile in-between Visits

To help maintain the whitening effects of your treatment, it’s best to watch what you eat and drink. Avoid or limit certain foods and beverages to help reduce new stains on your teeth.

Additionally, it’s highly advised that you stop using tobacco products. Not only are these products harmful to your health, but they will stain teeth, even after whitening treatments.

Perhaps the most effective way you can help maintain your smile’s luminosity is to stay proactive about your at-home oral hygiene routine. This involves brushing twice a day, flossing daily, and rinsing with mouthwash.

Make sure you continue to visit our office every six months for your necessary examinations and scheduled teeth cleanings.

Helping You Achieve a Straighter, More Symmetrical Smile Discreetly with Invisalign®

Invisalign involves a series of clear aligners that gently straighten your teeth. Invisalign trays are virtually invisible, completely removable, easy to keep clean, and will not interfere with diet or day to day activities. Because of the many aesthetic and easy benefits Invisalign offers, it continues to increase in popularity, as many patients prefer this discreet yet effective choice.

Invisalign works by gently shifting teeth into ideal positioning. Patients are given a series of aligners that are changed out every two weeks. With each new set, your teeth gradually become straighter.

Living with Invisalign®

To achieve the best results, patients are obligated to wear their clear trays 22 hours per day. The aligners are removed for meals and during at-home hygiene routines. Because of the removable design, Invisalign is easy to maintain, simply rinse the aligners with lukewarm water after meals and at night to prevent the buildup of bacteria.

Can Anyone Undergo Invisalign® Treatment?

Because Invisalign’s clear aligners are removable, treatment is often recommended primarily to responsible teens and adults who will comply with wearing their aligners for up to 22 hours. Ideal candidates for Invisalign must also be in good oral health.

Those with active issues such as gum disease, decay, or cavities will need initial treatment first for eliminating these issues. A healthy smile, free of infection ensures your aligner treatment will not worsen any current oral health complications.

Tooth-Colored Fillings, Porcelain Veneers, Lumineers, and CEREC ® Crowns

Fillings, veneers, and crowns can all be used to restore dental damage, function, or aesthetics. Depending on your unique situation, our dentist will work with you to determine the ideal course of action for your cosmetic treatment. Our team takes into consideration your budget, smile goals, needs, and concerns.

Still unsure about which cosmetic option is right for you? Below are important aspects each treatment has to offer in which you should familiarize yourself with.

Tooth-Colored Fillings:

At Smiles Depot, we only use tooth-colored fillings made of the highest-quality, body-safe materials that are shaped to match your unique smile. These white, composite fillings are used restore the natural appearance of a decayed, damaged, or previously filled tooth. To keep our cosmetic procedures safe, we do not carry silver, gold, or amalgam fillings.

Mimic the look, feel, and function of natural teeth
Treatment can be completed in one visit
Minimal time and preparation of tooth needed
Treatment may be covered by insurance
Reliable for minor to moderate dental damage

Porcelain Veneers & Lumineers®:

We offer life-like porcelain veneers and Lumineers for addressing dental cracks, chips, mild misalignment, and deep, persistent enamel discoloration. This allows our team to help you achieve a Hollywood-worthy, more uniformed smile that looks and feels completely natural.

Veneers are thin, yet durable ceramic shells which mimic the semi-translucence of your natural tooth enamel. Lumineers are like traditional veneers, but they require minimal preparation of your natural teeth, and they are thinner than traditional veneers.

Mask a wide variety of dental issues
Moderate altering of teeth needed for placement
More durable than fillings, but less than crowns
Ideal for most visible front teeth of the smile
Typically not covered by dental insurance

CEREC Crowns:

Dental crowns are both reliable and versatile. They can be used to treat everything from tooth damage to replacing a missing tooth when attached to a dental implant. At our dental offices, we proudly provide crown treatment paired with CEREC technology. This innovative technique allows our team the advantage of placing your crown or crowns the same day, without comprising quality of treatment.

We utilize our-office milling machine to fabricate your restoration for prompt treatment. This eliminates the typical two-week waiting period for a traditional crown and eliminates the need for a temporary prosthetic.

Most durable option
Protects the tooth’s structure
Enhances aesthetics
Usually covered by insurance
Major reshaping of the tooth needed for placement

How Can Dental Implants Help My Smile?

Cosmetic dentistry highly relies on an excellent foundation of oral health. Without healthy gum tissue, teeth and tooth roots in proper place, or a strong, functioning jawbone, cosmetic dental care is unachievable.

A healthy, strong smile is the foundation for dental beauty. Fortunately, when factors like missing teeth, dental implants provide a complete solution.

Dental implants are unlike any other tooth-replacement option available because they consist of titanium posts that fuse with living tissue and bone. It’s this process, called osseointegration, that makes dental implants so successful and reliable.

These posts serve as artificial tooth roots which restore essential stimulation back to your jawbone, improving bone volume and helping preserve natural facial features.

When a life-like crown or denture is affixed to dental implants, missing teeth are completely restored, from the root to the crown.

Helping Rejuvenate Your Smile with Dentures

Dentures are prosthetic, or restoration, appliances designed to replace multiple or up to a full arch of missing teeth in the lower and upper jaw. While dentures take some getting used to, the dentures in today’s dentistry are fabricated to mimic your exact, natural smile and are more comfortable now than ever.

Denture options include removable or implant-supported variations.

Traditional Dentures

Full dentures, otherwise known as complete dentures, are restorations designed to replace all your teeth. You can have them fitted for your top or bottom gum line and are held in place by suction and the help of an oral adhesive. This version of denture appliances is removable.

Implant-Supported Dentures

An implant-supported denture is used when a person has no remaining teeth in the jaw but has enough bone to support implants. Dentures supported by implants have special parts that snap onto attachments on the implants.

An implant-supported denture is a type of overdenture that is supported by and attached to implants. A regular denture rests on the gums and is not supported by implants.

Achieve the Smile of Your Dreams with the Experienced Team at Smiles Depot!

While your optimal oral health is our top priority, we believe that all patients should be able to experience the confident smiles they deserve. If you are looking for exceptional cosmetic dentistry with a comprehensive approach, contact our team today to experience care that makes for beautiful smiles and positive dental visits.