When Do I Need a Dental Crown?

If a dental crown has been recommended as a part of your treatment plan, it’s likely that you have a tooth that has been severely decayed. Dental crowns are used for replacing the entire top part of your tooth – what’s visible above the gum line – to stop the spread of decay, and help you regain a strong bite.  But crowns can be used for a variety of reasons, or can be substituted for other dental restorations in some circumstances.

Crowns Used in Cosmetic Restorations

Dental crowns can be used for more cosmetic purposes as well. Crowns are traditionally made with a metal base coated in a porcelain, tooth-colored finish, but can also be made of pure porcelain or ceramic to more closely mimic the appearance of a natural tooth. If you have teeth that are too-small, or if your natural teeth are gapped and crowded, a cosmetic dentist can place a crown on a tooth to alter its shape and alignment. This method requires buffing-down existing dental enamel, so it’s typically only indicated for a tooth that needs restoration in the event of extensive cosmetic damage, like a large chip or crack.

Alternatives to Dental Crowns

The process for getting a dental crown does involve some preparation. In order to correct instances of decay and damage, the affected tooth is buffed and polished to accept the restoration. When dental enamel is healthy enough, however, more conservative restorations are used to preserve natural tooth structure.

Onlays and inlays can treat moderate decay by filling-in only the damaged parts of teeth, as opposed to the entire top part of a tooth. Onlays and inlays offer enhanced cosmetic benefit as well, if they are created from tooth-colored materials like porcelain.

In the event that a flaw on one of your teeth is small (like a very fine crack or a minor chip), composite dental bonding can sometimes be a viable alternative to a dental crown. Composite resin is built-up directly on teeth to hide any damage or replace broken enamel.

Do I Need a Crown? An Onlay? Or Dental Bonding?

Only your dentist will be able to tell you which restorative treatment will provide the best results for your long-term oral health and wellness. At Hughes Dental Group, we’re proud to offer cosmetic restorations that include porcelain crowns, bonding, and onlays and inlays. Contact our office for more information or if you need help deciding if a dental crown is right for you.

Five Benefits of Choosing Lumineers®

Having a set of porcelain veneers fitted to your teeth can make an incredible difference in aesthetic, giving you a bright white and attractive smile. While all porcelain veneers can improve your appearance, some styles of veneers provide offer advantages over others. Lumineers®, for example, are minimal-prep cosmetic treatments that help patients get flawless smiles in only a few dental visits.

Comfortable, Minimal-Prep Treatment 

Lumineers® are laminates, and as such as are much thinner than standard veneers. The process for fitting Lumineers® therefore requires that the dentist buff down only a thin layer of enamel from each tooth to accommodate the veneers. The Lumineers® treatment process is slightly faster and doesn’t require anesthetic or other numbing agents for the sake of patient comfort.

Fewer Problems for People with Sensitive Teeth or Gums

Standard types porcelain veneers cause discomfort to the gum line, but Lumineers® are so thin that they are much less likely to cause similar issues for cosmetic dental patients.

You Get a Naturally Beautiful Smile 

The thinness of Lumineers® provides yet another advantage: they have increased translucency, which means your smile looks more natural than it might with thicker porcelain veneers. Lumineers® are color-matched to blend with any natural teeth, just like traditional veneers, but their high level of translucency ensures that your teeth don’t look obviously treated or fake in any way.

Long-Lasting Treatment

Most porcelain veneers last ten to fifteen years under optimal conditions and with good care. Lumineers® can last up to twenty years if they are cared for properly, with good oral hygiene at home, along with regular dental visits.

If You Change Your Mind, Treatment is Reversible

If, at any time, you decide that Lumineers® don’t help you meet your cosmetic dental goals, they can be removed entirely. Again, this is thanks to the thinness of the veneers and that only minimal amounts of your own tooth structure were altered in preparation for treatment. Unlike most other veneers, Lumineers® can be safely removed at any time, with your natural smile’s structure and integrity in-tact.

Lumineers® help our patients get beautifully restored smiles in just two visits to our cosmetic dental office. If you have questions about getting porcelain veneers, contact our office to schedule your consultation.

The Benefits of Porcelain Cosmetic Dentistry

When searching for cosmetic dental treatments, the outcome must offer resilience, be long-lasting, and natural-looking. The restoration should also function just like a tooth, and provide stability. It's a tall order, but thanks to advancements in cosmetic dentistry, patients have more materials and treatments to choose from – among them, the option to select porcelain restorations as your treatment of choice.

The Benefits of Porcelain Cosmetic Dentistry 

Porcelain is made by heating raw minerals at high temperatures, which produces a strong and highly durable material.

In dentistry, porcelain can be sculpted and custom-designed to closely mimic the look of real dental enamel and functions similarly to a natural tooth. Porcelain is versatile, and can be used in inlays, onlays, crown, veneers, and more. Our cosmetic dentistry patients choose porcelain restorations for any of the following reasons:

• Natural Appearance – Porcelain is opaque and tooth-like in color. It also possesses similar luminosity (or light-reflecting properties) that mimics that of the tooth's enamel. Porcelain can be shaped and colored to resemble the natural tooth to such an extent that it is indistinguishable from neighboring teeth.
• Strength – As a manufactured material, porcelain offers reliable strength and can withstand force, including that of full biting and chewing power 
• Gum Health – Porcelain doesn't aggravate gum tissue, that way that metal amalgam can.
• Versatility – Porcelain can be used for crowns, veneers, onlays, inlays, bridges, and other cosmetic treatments. It offers a conservative approach to changing a tooth's color and shape without compromise. Porcelain is highly stain resistant and provides a long-term solution to dental problems.

If you're looking for a way to get natural-looking cosmetic dentistry, our porcelain dental treatments offer the perfect solution. Contact our office to learn more about cosmetic dentistry and your options for care.

How to Choose an Implant Dentist

Getting dental implants to restore one or more missing teeth can change your life for the better, but picking the right dentist to do the work is an essential first step. Choosing a skilled implant dentist—someone you trust and can feel comfortable with—provides reassurance to feel good about getting dental implants.

Placing and restoring dental implants is a specialized procedure, and it makes good sense, both for your peace of mind and for your oral health, to choose a dentist who has experience to do a great job. Many dentists are capable of placing dental implants; however, not all of them have the skills or technology to ensure ideal placement and best final treatment outcomes.

There are several questions you can ask an implant dentist to find out if they’ll be a good fit for your needs.

• How long has the implant dentist been practicing and how many implant procedures have they performed?
• Can they provide before and after photos of other patients they have treated?
• What technology do they use to improve the implant procedure? Examples digital imaging or guided implant surgery. 
• Do they provide sedation dentistry services, if needed? Sedation can make the implant procedure much for anxious patients. If you’re typically worried or anxious about visiting the dentist, this might be high on your list of priorities.

Finding the exact right position for surgical placement of your dental implant is an important part of the treatment process and helps your implant last for a lifetime – and something that only the right dentist can accomplish.

Hughes Dental Group is home to dental specialists with decades of experience providing quality dental care. We’ve helped many patients in achieving whole new smiles that are both healthy and beautiful. Our dental team is committed to staying up-to-date on all advancements in the field of dentistry to ensure that your implant treatment is successful.

If you have questions about dental implants, or would like to ask any of our implant dentists the above questions, contact our office to schedule your consultation.