Alternative cosmetic dentistry techniques

Crowns: Protective covers made from porcelain or ceramic which are located over the tooth’s surface to hide dental cracks and yellowish stains. To start the procedure each teeth is shaped to pu on it the crown with local anaesthetic. Then a tooth impression is taken for the dental lab to elaborate a crown of similar color. In the meantime, the patient will be placed with temporary crowns for 2-3 weeks. And finally, on the second visit the final crowns will be bonded into teeth.

Keynote: A good crown placement is done when the crowns look like natural teeth and can go along with implants or any other dental reconstruction technique.

Bonding: This is another altenative to cosmetic dentistry which consists on composite resin that is molded onto the teeth to change their color and shape. The resin material can stain and chip over time. This procedure can usually be done in one office visit.

Implants: complex pieces formed by a titanium rod –compatible material with the tooth’s tissues, bones and nerves- used as a base for an artificial tooth, as well for bridges, crowns or dentures. This is probably the most expensive alternative of all since the cost is very high per tooth! But it’s long-lasting -15 years approximately- and is quite suitable for those poeple who have lost most of thier dental pieces.

Dental bridges: In case a teeth has been lost or removed a dental color-matching bridge is placed between the gap left among the adjacent teeth. A special lab-made structure that incorporates a hollow crown to support the lost dental piece, and then the bridge if fitted in the missing tooth’s place.

It’s more the most preferred among permanent treatments since it’s more comfortable and less invasive than a fake denture.

Dental orthodontics or “braces”: Even though is more usual in teenagers, nowadays more adults are going for using braces. Neverthless the process for them is lenghty due to the fact that their bones are already developed and not in continuous movement and realigning as in teens. Braces are small pieces applied on the tooth’s frontal face supported by a wire and very small bands per piece, bespoken to realign teeth’s position.

Before their colocation some procedures must come first like cavities restoring, getting x-rays of the jawbone and taking samples of the teeth’s alignment. This is also a very expensive treatment and demands lot of patience from the patient since it takes at least 1 year or continuous visits to the dentist.

Keynote: now there are removable braces for a period of months and invisible braces too (invasilign), and the results are as good as the regular braces, but depends on the specialist’s determination according to the particularities of each case.