The Shade of Your Dental Veneers is Essential to Your Smile

The choice of dental veneers over some of the other cosmetic dental procedures is reached for a number of reasons. First, however, a patient has to decide that they want to improve their smile. As it so happens, there is not much we cannot fix esthetically in your mouth today. With the rapid advancements in technology, we have the tools at our disposal to fix any nature of unsightly problems that range from teeth that are crooked and misaligned to teeth that are badly stained and simply need new life through whitening. Our patients typically chose dental veneers to cover up badly stained teeth or to replace missing enamel. As such, the most common reason for choosing veneers is still the fact that people want to have the brightest and whitest smile they possibly can. If you decide that you want to use veneers to have permanently whiter teeth, you will need to make the next important decision.

Dental veneers are virtually a permanent solution. This immediately poses a question - what color do you want your teeth to be for the next several decades? Most of us do not ever get to choose the natural color of our teeth which makes this decision slightly more challenging than it sounds. A few years ago patients were limited to a palette of 16 colors and you would have to pick a shade that was the closest match to your unaffected teeth. As you can imagine, this was not a very exciting prospect. After all, when you want your smile to be brighter and whiter, there is literally no fun in picking a shade that looks exactly like your old teeth. With advancements in technology, we now can do things like bleach your teeth before picking the shade so that all of your teeth, including your veneers, will be bright and white. Essentially you have more choices now.

While color is important, there is another factor to consider when you are getting dental veneers. This is the opacity or the translucency of the veneers that are placed over your teeth. Teeth are not solid. One of the most beautiful elements of natural teeth is the way that they allow natural light to pass through them. This gives the effect of a lighted smile and is something we will want to mimic very closely with your veneers. Having a solid block of veneers, that completely shields the light will cause your teeth to look plastic and fake. Instead, we will work with the translucency to ensure that the right amount of light passes through the veneer so that you have a radiant smile. As you are selecting the color and transparency of your veneers, you should keep in mind that they will not age or stain like natural teeth. Whatever you chose today is what you will have for years to come.

When using dental veneers to improve your smile, we can also address things like gaps, crooked teeth, damaged teeth, a loss of enamel and dark stains.  Once done, this solution will ensure that your teeth are bright, white, and beautiful. 

Teeth Whitening Can Improve Your Life - It's Science!

Statistically speaking teeth whitening is one of the ways people can get ahead in life. For centuries, people have used this technique to improve their life and advance in various social situations. There are those who argue that there is really no way of proving that teeth whitening actually helps you improve in important areas like getting a job, for example. A recent study, however, showed that in fact having a whiter brighter smile does influence the opportunities that open up to you. We found that people with a better smile get offered their dream job 58% to 42% more often than those without. At the same time, we also found that 53% of people with whiter teeth were more likely to be offered things like a promotion or salary increase. On the social end of the equation, the study found that over 70% of women judge a man by their teeth and are more likely to be attracted to a man with a whiter more confident smile.

Once you do get your teeth whitening done, however, there are certain steps you must follow and some things you must avoid in order to prevent your teeth from reverting to their original stained condition. With the desire for having whiter teeth causing the industry to grow at unprecedented rates, there are two distinct routes you can take to get your teeth whitening done. The first is to come in and see us where we can whiten your teeth in our carefully controlled environment.  This is certainly the most effective way of doing so. The other is to take the over the counter approach, where you use a standard product available in stores. In either case, here are a few things to be aware of so that you do not need to have your teeth whitening repeatedly done.

Perhaps the easiest way for you to keep your teeth white is to brush your teeth on a regular schedule, twice per day. The one element that you need to include is using a fresh toothbrush. In order to keep your toothbrush fresh, you will need to change out the brush or the brush head, in the case of an electric toothbrush, at least once every three months. Another easy tip to follow is to rinse your mouth out every time you eat something that could potentially stain your teeth. Doing this immediately after you eat or drink these kinds of foods will ensure that your teeth whitening lasts longer.

The fastest way for your teeth to lose their pearly whiteness after a teeth whitening is to eat or drink substances that have a high level of color pigmentation. Foods like marinara sauce and soy sauce are staining agents. Even foods that are good for you, like blueberries, can stain your teeth if you do not rinse your mouth after eating them. Smoking or chewing tobacco is not only unhealthy, but will also go far to undoing all the work of teeth whitening. If you aren't sure which foods or drinks will stain your teeth, look in the mirror after eating.  If your teeth appear darker, you should rinse right away.