When “Cosmetic” Means “Conservative Restoration”

When you have a specific type of concern with your smile’s appearance, such as a chipped or slightly misshapen tooth, the concern can seem mostly cosmetic in nature. Fortunately, cosmetic dental treatments are typically designed to achieve highly lifelike results in a minimally invasive manner, making smile improvement convenient for more people. However, there’s another important advantage of custom cosmetic dental treatment – creating conservative solutions to tooth problems that can have more than just cosmetic consequences. The right cosmetic dental treatment can help recreate a tooth’s optimal size, shape, and contour to make the tooth fit in more comfortably with your smile, both physically and cosmetically.

When tooth damage seems obvious, but minor

The term, damage, can have a serious connotation, and to many people, it means a severe fracture or break in a tooth’s structure. Less extensive tooth damage, such as slightly worn teeth or light cracks in a tooth’s surface, are often resolved with a custom cosmetic dental treatment, which may add to the misconception that they’re purely cosmetic concerns. However, the worn down surface and/or fracture or break in your tooth can also have subsequent consequences to the rest of your oral health. To avoid these consequences, we may suggest a custom-designed cosmetic treatment, such as tooth bonding or porcelain veneers, to restore the health and integrity of your smile.

When cosmetic blemishes affect bite alignment

When a tooth is damaged to any degree, its ability to function properly can be affected in a number of different ways. For instance, if it can’t take the full pressure of your bite because the damage makes it uncomfortable, or if it causes the rest of your teeth to meet unevenly when you bite down, then it can also have a negative impact on your bite’s function. With the strategic application of cosmetic treatments such as bonding or veneers, or with light, cosmetic sculpting (known as tooth contouring), you may be able to bring balance back to your bite before the problem leads to the need for more extensive tooth restoration.

When multiple concerns have a cumulative effect

A single worn-down, chipped, or lightly fractured tooth can be enough trouble on its own, but for many people, several such concerns can affect multiple teeth all at the same time. Because cosmetic dental treatment is heavily focused on minimally invasive treatment, one of the more popular options for addressing multiple cosmetic concerns is the placement of one or more veneers. Made form lifelike dental porcelain, veneers can replace and restore the entire front surfaces of one or more teeth. This makes improving their appearance simple and minimally invasive, but also helps build up and support tooth structure that may have been damaged, compromised, or lost.

Restore your smile with minimally invasive treatment

Cosmetic dentistry’s goal is to improve your smile’s appearance, but in many cases, that also means restoring your good oral health and proper bite function in the process. To learn more, contact our office by calling Syosset Dental in Syosset, NY, today at 516-433-2211 or 516-921-1678.