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Teeth also drift towards the front of the mouth as bone and tissues holding them in place weaken with age. This can make your mouth look crowed with teeth less evenly distributed throughout the mouth.
Consequently, many older adults turn to cosmetic dentistry, even though this can add up to hefty dental bills. Medicare and most private insurance companies will not pay for cosmetic dental procedures. Let’s look at some of the available services.
Teeth whitening
Teeth whitening is a popular procedure for people of all ages. In office professional bleaching is done by a dentist using a type of hydrogen peroxide solution that is applied to the teeth and activated by an intense light or laser. In office bleaching can take up to two hours in the office and additional bleaching afterwards may be needed to get the desired shade you want. Some less expensive options at are home bleaching kits and whitening strips that are sold at the local drug store or grocery store. Neither of these are as effective as professional whitening in the dental office.No whitening procedure is permanent and eventually your teeth will discolor again over time unless you keep up with regular at home bleaching that your dentist has designed for you after in office whitening.
Veneers
These custom made plastic or usually porcelain moldings cover over your broken, decayed or discolored teeth and if cared for properly, can last a life time.
Bonding
The use of a tooth colored composite-resin is the quickest and least expensive way to fill in cracks or chips or holes in the teeth. The composite resin bonding material is matched to your teeth and with certain chemicals is applied to your teeth, smoothed and shaped and hardened with a high intense light. The dentist than shapes and polishes the surface of the composite to make it look like a normal, healthy tooth. In Dr. Marill’s office dental composite bonding has replaced unsightly silver fillings.
Crowns
These can be made of porcelain or metal, usually gold. Crowns can stabilize a tooth if it cracks or has large previous fillings that undermine the remaining tooth structure. A crown is usually placed on a tooth that has had a root canal treatment to provide stability to the tooth and to protect what’s left of the tooth. Getting a crown takes usually two visits, one to prepare the tooth and take an impression of the preparation and the other to cement the crown.
Implants
Implants are the most involved and expensive cosmetic procedures to replace damaged or missing teeth. An oral surgeon or periodontist places a specially designed metal post into the jaw where the new tooth will be placed. Later after healing of the placed implant, Dr. Marill places a crown over the implant to replace the missing tooth. Additional bone augmentation may be necessary in order to strengthen the bone and make the implant site more acceptable to placing the implant. If your bone is weakened by disease or by previous extractions, the surgeon placing the implant may graft bone into the weakened portion of the jaw. If your sinus cavity is too large and impinges on the area an implant might be placed, the surgeon may have to do a sinus lift to create more area for bone to place the implant.
Braces
New invisible braces are available, but if you have veneers or porcelain crowns, you will need the old fashioned metal braces, because the ceramic braces will not attach to the porcelain. Another option is invisible braces (Invisalign), which consists of a series of specially molded mouthpieces that are worn at intervals over time that will straighten your teeth.
Bridges
Permanent bridges, which are sometimes called fixed partial dentures, include one or more false teeth connected to two or more porcelain or gold crowns and are cemented to place over the teeth that will accept the crowns.
Dentures
Removable full dentures are typically made of acrylic resin, metal or a combination of both and can be partial or complete. A well made pair of removable dentures will look like your natural teeth, but since they have no teeth to hook the dentures too, you may have to wear an adhesive in the dentures to help the dentures stay in your mouth and stick to your gums. Immediate removable dentures can be inserted just after the remaining teeth are taken out, so you don’t have to be without teeth while your gums heal. Because bones and gums shrink both during and after the healing process, immediate dentures may require relining to help them fit properly.
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