Having a smile you don’t like can ruin a lot of happy moments in your life. If you’re the best person at brushing and you can say you floss every day without lying, you can’t get around genetics, accidents, and age. Luckily, there are cosmetics procedures done to help your smile. Cosmetic procedures might make think of something like double eyelid surgery, but cosmetic dentists can transform your smile.
Loving your new smile can completely change your life. If you’d like a smile you want to stare at in the mirror, here are seven of the best procedures that can help.
1. Lip fillers
Maybe you already have perfect teeth, but you’re unhappy with your lips. If you have thin lips you don’t like, it can prevent you from drawing attention to them. Temporary or permanent lip fillers can make your lips more full so you’ll want to smile more. If you’re not sure, you can start off with small, temporary injections to see how you like it. The bright side of lip fillers is that they’re quick to do and easier than fixing other smile related issues.
2. Teeth whitening
Who doesn’t want bright white teeth? Stained teeth are common, and even with great oral hygiene, it can be almost impossible to avoid. One of the easiest and most common smile fixes is teeth whitening. For the best and safest result, go to your dentist for teeth whitening, don’t do it yourself. If your teeth are yellow and stained, teeth whitening can be all you need to get a perfect smile. You’ll have to keep following up, though, no form of teeth whitening is permanent.
3. Dental veneers
If you’re looking for a little more than just teeth whitening, you should consider getting dental veneers. Made from porcelain or composite material, veneers are custom made to match your natural teeth. Your dentist will simply cement them over your real teeth to give you the best smile possible. Porcelain veneers are more expensive, but they do a better job at resisting stains than your natural teeth or composite veneers. Veneers can help cover up teeth issues like discoloration, damaged enamel, and chipped teeth.
4. Gum contouring surgery
Gums that show too much when you smile can be annoying, and it might seem like there’s no changing it. Gummy smiles are usually not an actual issue and are most likely caused by genetics. For small teeth with large gums, you might consider getting a gum contouring surgery. With gum contouring surgery, oral surgeons can remove the extra gum and expose more of the tooth instead.
5. Gum graft
On the opposite side of the spectrum from gummy smiles, you might think you don’t have enough gums. Receding gums can be caused by genetics and age, or something more serious, like gum disease. Not just a cosmetic issue, receding gums can lead to tooth decay, infections, and tooth loss in some cases. Gums are different than the rest of our teeth, so they won’t be able to grow back. If your teeth are too large from gum recession or you’re worried about the risks, you can get a gum graft. Like a skin graft, a surgeon will take gum tissue from another spot in your mouth to attach to the area you’re missing gums. The new tissue will adhere to the existing tissue to get you your gums back.
6. Dental implants
Sometimes teeth fall out when they aren’t supposed to. Whether it’s from age or decay, a missing tooth can have a big impact on how you think of your smile. If you’ve experienced tooth loss, dental implants can help you get back your missing tooth. A metal screw is surgically inserted into the jaw bone to hold in the crown replacing the old tooth. Dental implants are permanent fixtures that look exactly like regular teeth and can transform your smile.
7. Composite tooth bonding
Composite bonding can be less expensive than some of the other cosmetic dental procedures out there. It’s also much quicker than other dental procedures, you can get multiple teeth done one just one appointment. Bonding can be used to fix the appearance of stained, chipped, or broken teeth. The only downside to bonding is that is can stain easily and won’t last as long as veneers.