Cosmetic Dentistry is a term used to describe a range of dental procedures that improve the appearance of your teeth. If you are looking for improvement in your teeth regarding colour, shape, alignment and appearance, you may want to consider cosmetic dentistry.
Cosmetic dental procedures include rebuilding broken, chipped or worn teeth, whitening teeth, reshaping uneven teeth, replacing missing teeth, filling in gaps, and replacing old amalgam silver fillings; all of which can give you beautiful and natural-looking teeth. From subtle changes to major repairs, there are options for everyone. As well as improving the aesthetics of your smile, cosmetic dentistry offers you a great range of benefits including making regular cleaning easier, improving your confidence and reducing the effects of clenching and grinding.
Swipe the below image to view before after of Cosmetic Dentistry
While it’s a big decision to proceed with a cosmetic procedure, you can’t underestimate the importance of confidence in your quality of life. It’s much easier to smile if you’re not embarrassed about showing chipped, crooked or stained teeth, and when it comes to an all-important first date, a job interview, or a night out with friends, a smile really is worth a thousand words.
Smiling is not only good for your health, but it also affects how others perceive you. A smile represents friendliness and confidence, so you don’t want to let unsightly teeth stop you from showing your best side. Almost any cosmetic dental problem can be fixed, thus improving your confidence and giving you even more reasons to smile. Cosmetic dentistry is not just for the rich anymore either – techniques have advanced so that there is now a variety of treatment options and price ranges that can put a better smile within reach of the average Australian.
Damaged teeth can also affect your general health as well as your self-confidence, particularly if they are left untreated, so it’s important to stay on top of your dental health and mention any concerns to your friendly local dentist. When it comes to Cosmetic Dentistry in Melbourne, Lentini Dental has extensive experience and a genuine interest in helping you achieve an amazing smile.
Using various methods of enhancement and modification, our dentist can improve your smile and even the way your teeth function. Cosmetically enhancing your smile can have dramatic results on your overall appearance and is certainly worth considering.
Lentini Dental offers a wide variety of advanced cosmetic dentistry treatments for improving your smile, such as:
Lentini Dental will be able to assess the complexity and severity of the problem and recommend the best course of treatment. Dr Lentini is a cosmetic dentist who can tailor your treatments to suit your needs and budget. Our goal is to help you achieve an amazing smile, as we believe everyone deserves one.
With extensive experience, a wide range of services and an advanced dental clinic, you can rest assured you will receive professional, friendly service with every visit. Our dental clinic in Melbourne is equipped with the latest technology to ensure we can give you the smile you’re searching for.
To find out how Lentini Dental’s dentists can help you rediscover your smile, Contact Us today.
Your cosmetic dental consultation
If you think you need a smile makeover, book a consultation with Lentini Dental. The dentist will consult with you about how you want to change your smile and assess the appearance and health of your teeth and gums.
Your dentist may use cosmetic imaging to get a better understanding of your needs, and you may need to undergo a full dental check-up before beginning cosmetic dental procedures to ensure that whatever procedure you choose is suitable for you. Your dentist will recommend the best course of cosmetic dental treatment for you based on your needs, goals and budget, and will give you a guideline of how long the treatment will take, how much it will cost and what maintenance will be required once you are finished.
Depending on your individual situation, your dentist may recommend any of the following cosmetic dental procedures:
Porcelain Veneers
Porcelain veneers are thinly constructed, custom-made shells designed to cover the front surfaces of your teeth and conceal dental imperfections. They can change the colour, size, shape or length of your teeth, and are a quick and painless way to make your teeth look flawless without the need to undergo complicated or invasive dental procedures. Veneers are used to treat a wide range of problems, and can be used to cover:
- Worn, chipped, cracked or broken teeth
- Discoloured or stained teeth
- Crooked, misaligned, uneven or irregularly shaped teeth
- Teeth with gaps in between them
- Excessively short teeth
With proper care, they can last up to 20 years with minimal maintenance. Veneers are stain-resistant and look very natural and are indistinguishable from natural teeth. Teeth only require basic preparation before veneers can be attached. Less than half a millimetre of enamel will need to be removed from your teeth before a veneer can be applied, to ensure even thickness.
Lentini Dental provides a point of difference in porcelain veneer treatment, with our dentist who is experienced in wide areas of dentistry including cosmetic dentistry – we can take the time to closely review your smile and implement the most appropriate aesthetic and structural solution for you.
Rather than having you select a ‘perfect smile’ from a catalogue, Lentini Dental takes a more realistic, hands-on approach, fitting temporary veneers as a trial before duplicating them with permanent porcelain veneers. This way we can evaluate any changes required and apply them before the veneers become permanent. Lentini Dental takes the utmost care during the process of fitting veneers so that you’ll receive a smile you’re happy to show off.
Porcelain Crowns
Much thicker than the veneer, a dental crown is a cap placed over a tooth to improve its size, shape, strength or appearance, and fully encases the entire tooth. Crowns are used to cover teeth which are cracked, chipped, damaged or otherwise beyond repair, providing support and protection to the vulnerable tooth. They can be colour-matched to your existing teeth so that they are completely unnoticeable.
Porcelain crowns are a great treatment choice in circumstances where tooth decay has damaged most of the original tooth, or in cases of severe enamel erosion. Crowns are a strong and enduring solution and can last a lifetime if properly cared for. Crowns function and feel like a regular tooth within days, and are a quick and highly successful restoration method.
Before a crown can be fitted, a precise preparation is required to achieve an accurate fit. At Lentini Dental, the CEREC system of computer designed and manufactured crowns, inlay and onlay restorations is available, which allows a single visit treatment option. No need for messy impressions with this technique as the scan is taken with a digital camera.
Porcelain Bridges
Missing teeth can be responsible for many problems. Not only does eating become more difficult, but the remaining teeth must compensate for the missing tooth or teeth, leading to uneven wear and damage. People with teeth missing may also have problems with their speech and be very self-conscious about smiling. In situations such as these, porcelain bridges can be one of the treatment options.
Dental bridges are custom-made to fill the gap left by missing teeth, creating the illusion of it being the original tooth. If these gaps are left exposed the surrounding teeth can often drift into the empty space, creating further problems.
The remaining teeth on either side of the gap are used as anchors for the bridge, which also prevents the teeth from shifting out of place. Bridges are highly durable and can often last a lifetime with proper care and good oral hygiene. They can also be matched to the colour of your existing teeth to give you added confidence in your smile.
Lentini Dental is an experienced treatment centre, with the ability to diagnose, plan and treat complex cases involving crowns or bridgework, with great attention to detail and care.
Gum Lifts
Gum lifts or ‘Gingivectomy’ is a cosmetic procedure where the gum line is raised, sculpted or contoured by a dental laser or surgically to increase the length of your teeth and improve a ‘gummy’ smile or an uneven gum line.
Gum lifts are often done in combination with other cosmetic dental treatments such as porcelain veneers or crowns. The recovery time is minimal, as the gum line around the front teeth is generally the only area corrected, and most patients are able to return to work the next day. As gum lifting is a superficial procedure that more often uses lasers, there is minimal swelling or bruising involved and you should be able to eat and drink within hours of undergoing the procedure. To be eligible to receive a gum lift, your tooth root must be strong and substantial enough so that exposing more of the tooth will not compromise it structurally.
Lentini Dental can ensure your gum lift is carried out to the highest standards, giving you extra confidence in your new smile.
Teeth Whitening
Teeth can become discoloured due to several factors such the natural aging process, poor diet, poor dental hygiene, certain medications, and habits such as smoking. If you’ve ever cringed when looking at a photo of yourself because your teeth look too yellow, or you try to hide your smile because you are embarrassed about the discolouration of your teeth, you might want to consider having your teeth whitened.
Teeth whitening is one of the simplest procedures to keep your teeth looking beautiful and brighten up your smile. The whitening gel coats the surface of the teeth and should be done after cleaning the teeth in order to restore a whiter and brighter appearance.
There are two ways to whiten your teeth:
Laser Teeth Whitening
Involving the use of whitening gel and Laserbrite activation lights, the result is immediate and treatment is performed in the dental chair. Laser Teeth Whitening involves polishing the teeth, applying whitening gel and allowing the Laserbrite activation light to do the rest. After applications under the Laserbrite light, results will be noticeable.
From there, impressions for customised trays will be constructed and provided to you with take home whitening gel for maintenance. You may decide to do further whitening with this gel at home or use it solely to maintain the level of brightness post-whitening. Treatment results will vary.
Take Home Teeth Whitening
For Home Whitening, customised trays are constructed to be used for 15 – 30 minutes daily over a 7-14 day period. Results from home teeth whitening have been outstanding. The added benefit of home teeth whitening is that you can do it as frequently as you like to increase whiteness of the teeth or for ongoing maintenance. Treatment results may vary.
Lentini Dental utilises the most current techniques in teeth whitening, and employs only proven whitening strategies that are efficient and reliable.
Tooth whitening doesn’t have to be a hassle. To find out how Lentini Dental’s Teeth Whitening services can help you rediscover your smile, Contact Us today. A bright white smile is finally within reach.
Cerec Cad Cam Technology
At Lentini Dental, we use state-of-the-art CEREC technology to perform cosmetic dentistry. CEREC is a computerised acquisition and design system for the construction of dental restorations using strong materials. With the help of CEREC technology, our dentist can create crowns, veneers, inlays and onlays using computerised software in a single appointment, decreasing the time you need to spend at the dentist.
The dentist has complete control of the shape, contour and fit of your veneer or crown, leading to greater precision and comfort. CEREC cosmetic restorations are strong, durable and metal-free, and because your mouth is scanned digitally, there is no need for nasty-tasting and messy impression materials to be used. The use of this technology will give you a faster recovery time and less tooth sensitivity.
Caring for your teeth following cosmetic dentistry
Once you’ve gone to the effort of having a cosmetic procedure done, it’s especially important to ensure you maintain your oral hygiene and gum health. Make regular dental check-ups a non-negotiable part of your routine so that your teeth and gums stay healthy and you can confidently show off your improved smile. As well as your daily brushing and flossing, you should have your teeth professionally cleaned twice a year.
Depending on which cosmetic treatment you choose, there may be special after-care requirements and guidelines you will need to follow. Your dentist will go through these with you following your procedure to ensure the best results.
The cost of cosmetic dentistry
Don’t be deterred at the thought of expensive, cosmetic treatments, as techniques have advanced to such a point that the treatments are much more affordable than in the past. The cost of cosmetic treatments will vary widely depending on each patient’s individual needs, circumstances and goals, and the treatment plan determined by the dentist in consultation with the patient.
Keep in mind that many medical insurance companies don’t always cover the cost of voluntary cosmetic dentistry, so make sure you check what is covered with your provider. Talk to your friendly dentist to determine the best strategy for you given the scope of your budget and what you want to achieve.
Questions to ask your dentist before proceeding with treatment
- What does the procedure involve and how long will it take? How many visits to the dentist will be involved?
- What will the cost be?
- What are the benefits and risks?
- Will I experience any side effects or pain?
- Is any special maintenance required after the procedure is done?
What should I look for in a cosmetic dentist?
Here at Lentini Dental we pride ourselves on being highly experienced and competent in providing you with cosmetic dentistry services. However, remember that not all cosmetic dentists are created equal, and the skills and experience of the dentist you choose can have an impact on the outcome of your cosmetic dentistry treatment. So to make sure you are choosing the best dentist to meet your needs before undergoing treatment, check that your dentist can provide you with the following:
- Proof of continuing education. Techniques in clinical cosmetic dentistry are constantly advancing, so you need to be sure your dentist is keeping up-to-date with the latest advancements by undergoing continuing education. Here at Lentini Dental, Dr Michael Lentini prizes continuous education highly and attends courses around the world to further his knowledge. He and his team strive to provide a more complete range of treatment options and to stay abreast of the most advanced dental restorative techniques available.
- Before and after photos. There’s nothing better than seeing the results of cosmetic dentistry first hand – this can help you decide if certain procedures will work for you, and will also show you your dentist’s skill level and the quality of care provided. Lentini Dental has a large range of before and after photos of cosmetic dental procedures which you can view here.
- References. Word of mouth is often the best recommendation – if your dentist has many happy customers they will be pleased to recommend him or her.
To find out how Lentini Dental can help you rediscover your smile, Contact Us today.
