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Keeping Your Teeth White Between Dental Visits


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Keeping Your Teeth White Between Dental Visits

Taking care of your teeth might seem mundane, but without enough attention, those pearly whites of yours can easily turn tinged and stained. Sure, having your teeth cleaned every few months at your dentist's office is a great start to maintaining a beautiful smile, but it isn't enough to keep each tooth pearly white on an ongoing basis. Now, don't get me wrong – you don't have to spend an arm and a leg on professional maintenance in order to get the results you want. You can use a variety of methods at home, like creating your own whitening mouthwash, that can help to keep you teeth white between dentist visits. Hopefully, the tips and techniques offered on this blog is enough to get you the results that you're after.

Cosmetic Dental Applications That Your Family Dentist Likely Offers

If you are concerned about the appearance of your smile, your family dentist may be able to help. Nowadays, many family dentists offer cosmetic dental applications.

Cosmetic dental procedures are designed to enhance the look of your teeth. Here are a few cosmetic applications that your local dentist likely offers.

Dental Veneers

Dental veneers can completely change the appearance of your mouth. A veneer, which is a thinly sliced bit of tooth-shaped resin or porcelain, is bonded to the front surface of a single tooth, concealing the flaws of the tooth. 

If you only have one or two blemished teeth, your dentist can apply individual veneers to the affected teeth alone. However, if all of the teeth that are exposed when you smile contain flaws, such as discoloration, minor misalignments, or irregular tooth shapes, a full set of dental veneers can be used to improve the look of your mouth.

Chemical Whitening

If your teeth are yellow due to food or tobacco-based stains, your dentist can chemically whiten them using dental bleaches. A dental bleaching product usually contains peroxide to help remove stains that have become trapped in the pores of the tooth enamel. 

To whiten your teeth, your dentist applies the bleaching product to your teeth and then exposes the coated teeth to a specialized ultraviolet light that intensifies the whitening effects of the application. After the whitening product has remained on the teeth for the prescribed time, it is rinsed from the mouth.

A single professional dental whitening session can whiten your teeth several shades. Thus, chemical whitening can be a quick and effective way to improve the overall look of your teeth.

Dental Implants

One of the most noticeable cosmetic dental issues is missing teeth. If you have lost one or more teeth, your smile may lack the uniformity needed to help it look attractive. 

Your dentist can install a dental implant to replace a missing tooth. The implant-based restoration includes the insertion of a titanium rod or screw into your jawbone to replace the root of the missing tooth. The implant is covered by an abutment and a dental crown to complete the single tooth restoration.

Since the implant is installed below the gum line, an implant-based restoration looks and behaves like a natural tooth. Since the prosthetic tooth integrates with the jawbone during the healing process, it can even withstand the bite pressure of a regular tooth.

If you are concerned about the appearance of your teeth, schedule an appointment with a family dentist in your local area to learn more about the available cosmetic dental options. 

Check out resources like http://www.charlottesvilledentistry.com/ for more information on the services that a family dentist can provide.