Cosmetic dentistry covers more ground than most people realize until they start looking into it properly. It is not a single treatment or a single type of result. It is a range of procedures that address different aesthetic concerns with different approaches and different timelines.

Cosmetic dentistry in Saanich, when done well, produces results that look natural rather than obvious. The goal is a smile that looks like the best version of your own teeth rather than something that announces itself as dental work.

What falls under cosmetic dentistry?

Most people start with teeth whitening. Professional whitening offers results that are simply unattainable with over-the-counter products due to the much higher concentration of the whitening agent and because they follow a controlled application process.

Veneers fix problems that whitening can't solve. Next on the agenda are chips, cracks, severe staining that does not respond to whitening and gaps, along with minor alignment issues. A veneer is essentially a thin layer of porcelain that covers the front surface of your tooth to completely change how it looks while conserving much of the natural tooth structure.

Bonding is a dental procedure that can be used to repair chips, close small gaps, or improve the shape of teeth that are slightly misshapen with tooth-coloured composite resin. It is a less invasive alternative to veneers, and it’s for patients with aesthetic concerns that don’t require full coverage of the tooth, as in a veneer.

When cosmetic and restorative overlap

Others work to fix the looks and the function of the teeth at once. A crown that treats a broken tooth also helps improve its appearance. Implants are a tooth replacement that restores the smile and also replaces the function that the lost tooth used to do.

This distinction between purely cosmetic and functionally restorative treatment sounds clear in theory, but in practice, it's much less so, and a good cosmetic dentist will have one foot in both dimensions, as it would be counterproductive to treat them separately.

What the consultation covers

The actual, realistic conversation happens at the consultation for cosmetic dentistry in Saanich. Your concerns, options for those specific concerns, what the treatment is going to involve, what the result will look like, and what the timeline and cost look like for that approach that makes the most sense for you.

At Runway Dental, that conversation is honest. If a simpler and less expensive option addresses your concern as effectively as a more involved one, that is what gets recommended rather than the more profitable alternative.

The result is worth working toward.

Cosmetic dentistry in Saanich, done properly, changes how people feel about smiling. That sounds like a small thing until you have been self-conscious about your teeth for long enough to know how much space that takes up.

This article's author is John Danial. For additional information regarding cosmetic dentistry Saanich please visit our website at runwaydental.ca.