The visible part of a tooth, otherwise known as the crown, is only a small portion of the living system. The crown is made up of enamel, the hardest substance found within the body. It is bone that has been enriched with large percentages of calcium. That's why people who drink lots of milk or take calcium supplements have strong bones and teeth. The enamel is thickest at the crown, and thinnest near the roots of the teeth.

Throughout your life you end up having 2 completely different sets of teeth. The initial set is the baby teeth (deciduous teeth) that eventually fall out. They are whiter, softer, and less sturdy than adult teeth. Hence, they tend to wear out much faster than permanent teeth, but they also fall out to make room for them. Making sure that there's enough space in the vacancy caused by a lost baby tooth is important for healthy adult teeth.

Excellent crowns and bridges were made by the Etruscans in the 7th cent. B.C. At about that time, teeth were being extracted in Asia Minor as a cure for bodily ills and diseases. Skills achieved by the Etruscans, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans were largely lost during the Middle Ages, when barbers and roving bands of charlatans practiced unskilled dentistry at marketplaces and fairs. Abulcasis, a Spanish Moor, was one of the few in his time who studied dental surgery.

Tooth loss is something no one looks forward to. If you lose one or more teeth, you have a number of options, one of which is dental implants. You owe it to yourself to be informed as possible about these options. With this in mind, we've created this section on dental implants. Begin learning more about dental implants for tooth replacement exacltly now!

Implants are great for replacing missing teeth. It is important that you have enough bone in the area of the missing teeth for the implants to be attached to. Implants are not only used to replace one tooth, but rather people missing most, if not all, of their teeth benefit greatly as well. Implants are increasingly being used to replace certain types of bridges and removable partial dentures.

If you're missing one tooth or all of your teeth, implants may well be for you. So long as you have enough bone in the area of the missing tooth to facilitate the anchorage of the implants, this procedure can yield terrific results. If you don't have enough bone for this purpose, a bone graft may be necessary.

When missing one tooth, your cosmetic dentist may use a Flipper to fill the space. A Flipper is a false tooth to temporarily take the place of a missing tooth before the permanent crown is placed on the implant. A Flipper can be attached via either a wire or a plastic piece that fits in the roof of your mouth. Flippers are meant to be a temporary solution while awaiting the permanent crown to be placed on your implant(s).

Most of us have had amalgam fillings (silver) or gold filling restorations. Some amalgam fillings were what we have called mercury fillings, as some amalgam fillings contained mercury. Metal fillings were effective, but very conspicuous and tended to blacken in color over time.

A special dental material is then used to open up the pores of your tooth's dentin and roughens up the surface of the exposed enamel. This achieves better and stronger bond. The bond resin is applied to stick the composite to your tooth. This material is made of the same dental resin as the composite however it is much more fluid. This layer is then hardened and cured with a very bright light.

There are no known health risks of receiving composite fillings. If such a filling is not going to be enough to protect your damaged tooth, or if your tooth enamel is thin and will easily fracture, or if your tooth has had a root canal that weakened your tooth condition, your tooth may require additional protection such as a crown.

Dentures, also known as false teeth, are the primary topic in this section of our site. Here, you can learn how the procedure is performed, what dentures cost and the advantages and disadvantages of having them.

There are two main types of dentures. Both Complete Dentures and Partial Dentures are finely crafted, custom-fitted. If you properly maintain your dentures they will appear natural and provide a perfect smile. Additionally, dentures help strengthen muscles controlling your expressions that require the support of your teeth, rid you of pronunciation problems caused by missing teeth and aid with chewing.

This procedure should be thoroughly discussed with your dentist as there are several personal and medical factors to take into consideration. You may instead be a candidate for dental bridges and dental implants as optional procedures.

This section of our cosmetic dentistry information site provides you with some background into dental veneers, both composite veneers and porcelain veneers. Dental veneers, sometimes called tooth veneers, can be used to correct both color and shape problems.

There are several corrections that you can make to the color of your teeth as well as the shape of your teeth! Some of the causes of tooth discoloration are staining, aging, chemical damage, disease, medication, and genetics. Dental Veneers (Tooth Veneers) are used to correct both the color and the shape of teeth.

Teeth enamel discoloration can be caused by staining, aging, or chemical damage to teeth. Some of the more common causes of teeth discoloration are medications, coffee, tea or cigarettes. People who drink significant amounts of cola soft drinks can experience similar staining.

You maybe candidate for dental bridges, if you have missing teeth and have good oral hygiene practices, you should discuss this procedure with your cosmetic dentist. If spaces are left unfilled, they may cause the surrounding teeth to drift out of position. Additionally, spaces from missing teeth can cause your other teeth and your gums to become far more susceptible to tooth decay and gum disease.

If you a space from a missing tooth, a bridge will be custom made to fill in the space with a false tooth. The false tooth is attached by the bridge to the two other teeth around the space - bridging them together.

The dentist will then make an impression, which will serve as the model from which the bridge, false tooth and crowns will be made by a dental laboratory. A temporary bridge will be placed for you to wear while your bridge is being made until your next visit. This temporary bridge will serve to protect your teeth and gums.

Tooth reshaping, or contouring, is one of few instant treatments now available in cosmetic dentistry. Dental reshaping and contouring is a procedure to correct crooked teeth, chipped teeth, cracked teeth or even overlapping teeth in just one session.

The dental contouring procedure can even be a substitute for braces under certain circumstances. It is also a procedure of subtle changes. A few millimeters of reduction and a few millimeters of tooth-colored laminate can create a beautiful smile when performed by a cosmetic dentist, with no discomfort to you. Tooth reshaping, or dental contouring, is commonly used to alter the length, shape or position of your teeth.

The cosmetic dentist will mark your teeth with a pencil prior to performing the procedure. This helps the cosmetic dentist in their sculpting process. As your cosmetic dentist sculpts the tooth, imperfections are artfully eliminating or minimized. A sanding drill or laser may be used to remove small amounts of surface enamel gradually. Abrasive strips are then moved back and forth between your teeth to shape the actual sides of your teeth. Then the teeth are smoothed and polished. Usually anesthetic is not needed. Teeth contouring and reshaping usually takes one to three visits.

As we age, many of us find ourselves with teeth that are no longer structurally sound. Root canals, lost fillings, decay below a filling, chipping and cracking of the enamel are all things that can lead to large scale defects in a tooth's surface. When the entire surface of the tooth is a problem, but the root system is intact, a crown might be just what the dentist orders.

Grinding your teeth, an improper bite, age, fillings and tooth decay can all be contributing factors in the wearing down, cracking or breakage of your teeth. Dental crowns cover the entire visible surface of your affected tooth and add strength, durability and tooth stability.

Be sure to discuss with your cosmetic dentist that the cement color used for your permanent crown will be the same as used for your temporary crown. A try in paste is used for this purpose. The color of the cement does affect the overall color of a porcelain crown, so this needs to be discussed long before your temporary crown is placed.

The classic metal orthodontic braces are the most familiar method of teeth straightening. Consisting of a bracket glued to the front of each tooth and a metal wire connecting them, orthodontic braces usually require several years of wear for effective teeth straightening. They can be uncomfortable, expensive, and embarrassing for older patients. However, they are still the most effective method of teeth straightening and can correct overbites and underbites as well as individual teeth alignment.

Lingual braces are similar to classic orthodontic braces but are attached to the backside of the teeth, rather than the front. Although they still have many of the problems of standard braces, they are not visible and may be chosen by adults who do not wish for visible braces. Lingual braces are more expensive than standard braces but the fastest method of "invisible" teeth straightening.

The most common method of teeth straightening remains standard orthodontic braces. Archwires, springs, and rubberbands apply pressure to the individual teeth by means of brackets that are glued onto their surface. Regular visits are required to the orthodontist in order to tighten wires as needed and make other adjustments. At each visit, the wires will be tightened slightly to renew pressure and push them toward their intended position. Additional wires, rubberbands, and headgear may be prescribed to help move the teeth into their ideal position as quickly as possible. When the teeth have all been repositioned, the brackets will be removed and a retainer must be worn to prevent relapse for some period of time.

Definitions and terms on this page

Dental fillings

• Dental fillings are inserted as restorations in the treatment of dental cavities, after drilling out the cavities.

Dental implants

• Dental implants are surgically fixed substitutes for roots of missing teeth. Embedded in the jawbone, they act as anchors for a replacement tooth, also known as a crown, or a full set of replacement teeth.

Dentures

• Removable complete dentures are full-mouth false teeth, which are used when a patient has no teeth left on either the mandibular arch, the maxillary arch, or both.

Veneer

• A layer of tooth-colored material, usually porcelain or acrylic resin, attached to and covering the surface of a metal crown or natural tooth structure.

Anesthesia

• Total or partial loss of sensation, especially tactile sensibility, induced by disease, injury, acupuncture, or an anesthetic, such as chloroform or nitrous oxide.


• Local or general insensibility to pain with or without the loss of consciousness, induced by an anesthetic.


• A drug, administered for medical or surgical purposes, that induces partial or total loss of sensation and may be topical, local, regional, or general, depending on the method of administration and area of the body affected.

Bridge

• A dental bridge is a prosthesis used in place of missing teeth and may be removable or permanently attached.

Dental cavities

• The formation of cavities in the teeth by the action of bacteria; tooth decay.


• Also known colloquially as tooth decay.

Dental crown

• Full-coverage restoration (sometimes incorrectly called a cap) is a prosthetic tooth designed by a dentist and usually created by a lab technician.

Porcelain

• A hard, white, translucent ceramic made by firing a pure clay and then glazing it with variously colored fusible materials.

Stomatology

• The medical study of the mouth and its diseases.

Tooth bleaching

• Also known as tooth whitening.

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