Cosmetic Dental Care & Your Oral Health

Cosmetic dental care does more than just improve the appearance of your smile. In this post, our Nanaimo dentists discuss these procedures and how they could help your oral hygnine. 

What is cosmetic dental care?

The primary focus of cosmetic dental care is to alter the appearance of a patient's bite, teeth, and gums. This could include various procedures from teeth whitening to improving the size, alignment, colour, shape, and position of the patient's teeth and gums.

Many patients that have cosmetic dental procedures done hope that the appearance of their smile will be improved after the treatment has been completed. While this is the main goal, cosmetic dental treatments go beyond your appearance.

Cosmetic dental procedures don't just alter the looks of your teeth, they could also enhance oral function, promote oral hygiene, and improve your oral health.

What else can cosmetic dental procedures do?

1. Enhance Oral Function - While the aesthetics of our teeth are important, it's important to remember that the primary purpose of our teeth, mouth, and oral structures is to eat. A mouth with a set of strong, healthy teeth will make a great deal of difference in your eating habits. Think of an old man who has a hard time chewing. Imagine having a toothache and having to starve yourself for a week or two while you live on smoothies. If your teeth aren’t even or level, eating could be uncomfortable for you, with all of the chunks of food getting caught in between your molars. There are specific cosmetic dental treatments that could help correct many of these problems and improve your oral function. Some examples include dental bridges, gum lifts, Invisalign, gum grafts, dental implants, tooth reshaping, and bite reclamation. You will probably find it easier to eat with these procedures.
2. Promoting Oral Hygiene - Many cosmetic procedures require some degree of dental cleaning prior to the actual treatment. Oral prophylaxis removes tartar and stains accumulated by smoking, eating, and drinking. On top of this, most cosmetic dental procedures focus on restoring broken and cracked teeth. These include inlays, onlays, bonding, crowns, and veneers. Tooth repair will help protect your tooth from further damage and help prevent decay from affecting other teeth as well. 
3. Improves Oral Health - Cosmetic dental procedures may help improve oral health by improving your bite, repairing weak teeth, and improving overall function. This may help with preventing more serious dental problems in the future. Your oral health might also have an indirect connection to your overall health, given that food and nutrition get into your body via eating. Thus, improving oral health can alleviate some common health problems, which in turn may translate into better overall health.

Contact our dentists in Nanaimo today to find out which of our cosmetic dental services may be able to help your smile.