Healthy Smiles Dentistry Georgetown Georgetown Texas

Cosmetic dental services can be used to strengthen your teeth. Cosmetic dentistry focuses mainly on issues that address how teeth look, but certain issues, like tooth decay, also affect teeth structures. Dental cosmetics like crowns can be used to address such issues while restoring the appearance of your affected teeth.

Cosmetic dental services that help strengthen teeth

Here are a few of the cosmetic dental services that can enhance the way that a patient's smile looks while strengthening their damaged teeth.

1. Composite bonding

During the process of composite bonding, composite resins made from mixtures of glass and plastics are used to restore the appearance of the patient's teeth. These composites can also be used to address issues that affect teeth, like decay and damage to teeth structures. Then, the dentist uses the composite to rebuild the tooth, restoring its function. Repairs made with composites can last up to five years, and additional composite layers can be added as needed.

Restoring a tooth with composite bonding starts with the dentist cleaning the tooth being treated and roughening it with an etching solution. Next, the tooth is cleaned and dried again before the dentist begins applying the composite in layers. Then, the composite is shaped as needed before being hardened with ultraviolet light. The dentist finishes the treatment by polishing the tooth to make it look more natural. This also makes it harder for stains to form on the restoration.

2. Crowns

Also known as caps, crowns are arguably the most popular restorations used in dentistry. This type of restoration covers up the visible part of a tooth, restoring its appearance. The crown also protects the tooth from irritants in the mouth and the bite forces caused by chewing.

Placing a crown on a tooth is an irreversible procedure. It requires the dentist to remove enamel from its sides so the crown fits properly on it. Therefore, the tooth will always need a crown to serve as its enamel moving forward.

Patients typically have to make two trips to the dentist to get a crown placed on a tooth. The first visit is used to prepare the tooth, take an impression, and place a temporary crown. Then, the impression is sent to technicians who make the patient's customized crown in a lab. It takes roughly two weeks for the custom restoration to get back to the dentist.

The second appointment involves removing the temporary crown and cementing the custom crown in place. Crowns provide a long-term solution to problems like severely decayed, damaged, or deformed teeth.