Cosmetic dentistry can be loosely defined as procedures designed to enhance the aesthetics of your smile, rather than its health or functionality. Though it may not be strictly necessary from an oral health perspective, cosmetic dentistry can have a dramatic effect on your mental and emotional health, providing a self confidence boost in all areas of your life. Here’s how.
Social Life
Humans are social creatures, and social isolation is a common cause of depression and anxiety. Yet an unsightly smile can lead you to choose isolation rather than socialization. With cosmetic dentistry, you can eat, laugh, smile, and talk without fear of your teeth being judged. As you become more and more outgoing, people around you can’t help but be drawn to your positivity. This creates a cycle of increasing self confidence and further socialization.
Appearance
Right or wrong, today’s society is extremely driven by appearances. A beautiful smile is a sign of health, youth, and vibrance. Cosmetic dentistry can erase years from your appearance and help you develop the confidence you need to shine the light you have been hiding away. As you begin to recognize your own attractiveness, your self confidence will soar.
Career Benefits
Whether you are applying for a new job or a promotion, or meeting with an important client, a friendly and confident smile is vital. A broad smile makes you appear genuine, loyal, motivated, and trustworthy. If you are uncomfortable with your teeth, though, you might try to hide them. A tight grin can make you come across as insincere or even fake.
As you smile more, your clients and employer will naturally return the smile. This can take your career to new heights, further improving your self confidence.
Overcoming Trauma
In many cases, a problematic smile is the result of a birth defect or a previous trauma. Cosmetic dentistry helps with healing by allowing you to reclaim your personal power. You will be able to move past the situation that created the flaws, embracing the future on your own terms.
Cosmetic dentistry is a powerful way to regain your self confidence. Whether you are suffering from social isolation, trying to land your dream job, or healing from a past trauma, a beautiful smile can be a powerful tool. Regardless of what originally caused the flaws in your smile, today is an excellent day to start changing your life story.
We will perform a comprehensive assessment of your smile, treat any problems with your oral health or functionality, and then work with you to create the smile you have always imagined. Please note that depending on the current condition of your smile and your goals for treatment, cosmetic dentistry may require several different procedures spaced out over time. It will all be worth it when you see your finished smile for the first time.
Ready to Get Started?
If you are ready to start your journey to better oral health with a Cupertino dentist you can trust, contact Ryan Senft, DDS today at 408-996-8595 to schedule your first appointment.
Dentures were long considered the best solution to replace missing or failing teeth. Today, though, dental implants have become the gold standard. While dentures rest on the gums, dental implants actually replace the tooth roots, providing a strong and stable base for highly functional and aesthetic replacement teeth. Here are 5 benefits of dental implants.
Long-Term Costs
Dentures cost significantly less initially, but dental implants have far lower long-term costs. Dentures need relining at least annually, and they must be replaced every 5 to 10 years. Dental implants can easily last a lifetime with proper care. If you are concerned about the out of pocket expense, consider implant-supported dentures. As few as 2 implants can stabilize a removable full denture.
Aesthetics
Today’s dentures are highly natural in appearance, but they can move and shift when laughing, talking, or chewing. A partial denture attaches with a clasp that can often be seen, while a full upper denture has a hard plastic palate. These factors make dental implants a more aesthetic solution.
Comfort
Supported by the gums, dentures tend to rub, slip, and pinch. These issues are magnified when eating foods that are chewy, crunchy, or tough. Dental implants fuse to the jawbone to create a stable and secure base that vastly improves comfort.
Strength and Stability
Dentures restore only about a quarter of natural bite strength, making it difficult or impossible to eat steak, corn on the cob, taffy, and other challenging foods. With dental implants, which restore more than 90 percent of bite strength, patients can again enjoy their favorite foods.
Future Oral Health
Lost teeth trigger the process of resorption, in which the gum tissues and jawbone shrink. Over time, denture wearers can develop a sunken, wrinkled, prematurely aged appearance. Even the best-fitting dentures will also become loose due to this process. Dentures also tend to cause sores and inflammation in the mouth, raising the risk of gum disease.
Since dental implants take the place of tooth roots, they stimulate jawbone growth, reversing the resorption process. They also anchor the replacement teeth, preventing sores and inflammation from developing.
Like any procedure, dental implants are not right for everyone. For many people, though, dental implants are the best choice for long-term health, comfort, and aesthetics. We will review your options with you and help you make the decision that best meets your needs, goals and desires.
Ready to Get Started?
If you are ready to start your journey to better oral health with a Cupertino dentist you can trust, contact Ryan Senft, DDS today at 408-996-8595 to schedule your first appointment.
Whether you are going on a first date or a job interview, first impressions matter. You smile is a vital part of your first impression, but unsightly teeth are unfortunately common. If your teeth are stained, crooked, yellowed, or worn down, porcelain veneers are a terrific way to improve your smile.
What Are Porcelain Veneers?
Porcelain veneers are very thin shells of color-matched dental porcelain that slip over the front of your teeth. Unlike crowns, they require very little healthy tooth enamel to be removed. They are chemically bonded to your teeth, making them a long-lasting, strong, and highly durable solution.
What Conditions Can Veneers Fix?
Veneers do not treat issues with your dental health. If you have tooth decay, gum disease, or other dental health issues, we must fix those before placing your veneers. However, if your teeth are healthy but do not look their best, veneers can solve this problem. Here are some common reasons that people get veneers:
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Wear and tear: All teeth wear down over time, especially you tend to chew on ice or pens, or if you use your teeth as a tool.
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Minor breakage: Light trauma such as falls or minor sports injuries can cause chipping or cracking. Deep damage must be corrected, but chips and surface cracks can often be covered by veneers.
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Discoloration: Excessive fluoride consumption, large fillings, tetracycline use, root canals, and more can cause tooth discoloration. Veneers will hide this discoloration.
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Misshapen or uneven teeth: Few people have truly perfect teeth. Uneven and misshapen teeth are extremely common, and veneers can make your teeth appear more symmetrical.
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Minor gaps or crookedness: If your teeth are slightly gapped or crooked, you may not need to undergo a complex, long-lasting treatment such as braces or Invisalign. Instead, you might choose to simply cover them with porcelain veneers.
Are Porcelain Veneers Permanent?
Very few dental treatments are truly permanent, but porcelain veneers are one of the longest-lasting solutions. They can easily withstand biting and chewing forces and, with proper care, they typically last for far more than a decade.
Porcelain veneers are also far less prone to yellowing and staining than natural teeth. Tooth whitening must be regularly repeated, but those with excellent oral hygiene will see their veneers continue to look white and healthy over time.
Are Porcelain Veneers Natural Looking?
Many people worry that porcelain veneers will give them a too-white, fake “game show host” smile. The reality, though, is that porcelain veneers closely mirror the sheen and translucency of natural teeth. They can also be color-matched to your existing smile.
If you want a whiter smile, consider having your natural teeth whitened first, and then your veneers color-matched to your brighter teeth. Just remember that your veneers will remain that color, while you will need to have whitening performed regularly for all of your teeth to match.
Complementary Procedures
To make your smile look its best, we may suggest additional procedures to complement the look of your new veneers. Tooth whitening, Invisalign, and other procedures allow us to place only the veneers that you truly need rather than filling up your mouth. We will carefully assess your smile and discuss your goals for treatment, and then create a plan to create the smile of your dreams.
Ready to Get Started?
If you are ready to start your journey to better oral health with a Cupertino dentist you can trust, contact Ryan Senft, DDS today at 408-996-8595 to schedule your first appointment.
The digital revolution is exploding around us, and groundbreaking modern technology is improving all aspects of our lives. In the field of dentistry, we are blending the best of yesterday’s tried and true techniques with the most exciting new methods of today. Here are just a few ways that digital technology is revolutionizing dentistry.
Digital Record Keeping and Consultations
Now more than ever before, dentists and patients are able to work together as a truly collaborative team. Digital records require just a tiny fraction of the storage space that paper charts and films needed, allowing dentists to better utilize those areas. Online scheduling lets patients make, change, and cancel appointments as needed. Specialized software allows dentists to consult remotely, in real time, on complex cases.
Websites and social media sites encourage dialogue between and among dentists, staff members, and patients. Any patient with an internet connection can easily research his particular condition and the available options for treatment, while online reviews let patients share their experiences with others.
CAD/CAM Design and 3-D Printing
One of the most frustrating parts of dental treatment is dealing with lab-created restorations. Impressions are taken and sent out to the lab, and patients must deal with temporary fixes while they wait for the final restoration to come back. Fortunately, CAD/CAM design and 3-D printing are rapidly changing this process. Dentists who embrace this technology can create many common restorations, such as onlays and crowns, right in the office, and place the final restoration in a single visit.
Digital Impressions, X-Rays, and Photos
Traditional dental impressions were not much fun for either the dentist or the patient. You probably remember biting into a tray of goop, trying not to gag, and then waiting impatiently as your dentist rocked the hardened material back and forth to get it out of your mouth. Digital impressions are clean, comfortable, and fast.
Digital x-rays use less radiation than traditional films. They also require less storage space, and they can easily be magnified and manipulated to zero in on problematic areas of the mouth. Intra-oral cameras take digital photos that can be used in tandem with digital x-rays for better diagnostics.
Optical and CT Scanning
If your dentist needs to take a closer look at your mouth, there are now numerous painless digital scanning options. Optical scanners and digital color maps are used to improve the esthetics of dental restorations by more precisely matching them to your existing teeth. Electronic sensors evaluate the way your teeth come together. Cone beam CT scanning creates a highly detailed 3-D map of your unique oral anatomy, vastly improving the precision with which dental implants are placed.
Guided Implant Placement
Believe it or not, many implant dentists place dental implants into their patients’ jaws by simply “eyeballing it”. More technologically advanced dental offices place dental implants using surgical guides. With this technique, specialized software is used to create custom surgical guides. These guides direct the exact location, angle, and depth of each implant placement. The use of the guide increases the accuracy, efficiency, safety, and predictability of the procedure.
Digital technology cannot and should not replace reasoned, evidence-based dentistry. However, when properly used, digital tools are truly creating better, safer, and less painful dental procedures.
Ready to Get Started?
If you are ready to start your journey to better oral health with a Cupertino dentist you can trust, contact Ryan Senft, DDS today at 408-996-8595 to schedule your first appointment.
If your tooth is badly damaged or decayed, you will likely need a dental crown. While traditional lab-created crowns can be a good option for some situations, more and more dentists and patients are choosing CEREC same-day crowns instead. CEREC means either Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics, or CERamic REConstruction, depending on who you ask. Either way, CEREC is revolutionizing modern dentistry. Here are 3 reasons to choose a CEREC same-day crown.
Convenience
For many people, convenience is the number one reason to choose a CEREC same-day crown. A traditional crown requires two dentist visits. During the first appointment, your dentist will fix any existing problems with the tooth and prepare it for the crown. He or she will then take impressions and send them off to the lab, and fit you with a temporary crown to wear while you wait. Three weeks later, your new crown will be ready. You will then return to the office to have it placed.
With CEREC, we will repair and prepare your tooth like normal, and then take digital impressions. We feed those impressions into a specialized computer and use 3-D computer aided design (CAD) technology to create a model of your new crown. Finally, we will send the design to our in-office milling machine. The machine uses a block of color-matched ceramic to create your customized crown, which we will place in your mouth before you leave. There is no need for a second appointment.
Esthetics
While porcelain over metal crowns are reasonably natural in appearance, they are far from perfect. It is difficult to replicate the full appearance of natural dental enamel over a metal frame, and it is common for a thin band of exposed metal to show at the gum line.
CEREC same-day crowns are fabricated entirely from dental ceramic. This vastly improves the esthetics by more closely mimicking dental enamel. It also removes the risk of metal exposure at the gum line.
Strength and Durability
CEREC crowns use strong, durable, stain resistant dental ceramic. The CAD technology ensures a fit that is typically tighter and more precise than that of a lab-created crown. The ceramic is chemically bonded to the tooth, is fully biocompatible, and more closely resembles the natural composition of the tooth. This means that CEREC same-day crowns are an average of 18 percent stronger than traditional crowns. In addition, you will not need to deal with a loose, difficult to wear temporary crown while you wait for your final restoration.
Like anything else, CEREC same-day crowns are not right for everyone. In the majority of cases, though, a CEREC crown is an excellent way to improve both functionality and esthetics while reducing the time you spend sitting in the dentist’s chair.
Ready to Get Started?
If you are ready to start your journey to better oral health with a Cupertino dentist you can trust, contact Ryan Senft, DDS today at 408-996-8595 to schedule your first appointment.
Invisalign is sometimes known as “the clear alternative to braces.” Straight teeth are not only beautiful, but they make chewing easier, they reduce the chances of developing problems in the jaw joints, and they are easier to clean. For more than a century, metal braces were the standard solution for straightening teeth, and they remain popular today. However, more and more people are now turning to Invisalign, as it offers some significant advantages. Here are just 5 benefits of Invisalign.
1. Computer Imaging
The first step is to develop a 3D digital model of your teeth. We will morph it to show you what to expect from each stage of treatment, including the results, and then use that model to create a series of customized aligners that will gently shift your teeth.
2. Comfort and Esthetics
Invisalign’s smooth, comfortable, medical grade aligners have no sharp edges. Unlike metal braces, there is nothing to poke and scrape your mouth and tongue. In addition, Invisalign’s clear aligners are nearly invisible. No more flashing a mouthful of metal to your boss or your date.
3. Lifestyle Considerations
Braces mean extensively changing your lifestyle. You must learn how to clean around them, and you will be unable to eat a long list of foods, from popcorn to whole apples. Invisalign is removable and only needs to be worn approximately 22 hours per day. That means you can simply pop out the aligners to eat your favorite foods or to perform oral hygiene. If you play contact sports, we will advise you on whether to remove your aligners during play.
4. Reduced Risk for Oral Damage
Braces put a great deal of force on the teeth. Scraping and demineralization are relatively common, putting your teeth at greater risk for future damage ranging from cavities to cracking. Invisalign is smooth and gentle, so it is far less likely to cause damage.
5. Treatment Protocols
If you have a busy life, you will likely appreciate the simplicity of Invisalign. We will place attachments on your teeth and show you how to insert and remove the aligners. Then you will change aligners at home every two weeks or as directed, and you will see us for monitoring just once every four to six weeks.
With braces, you will need regular appointments for adjustments. You must also make an emergency visit if anything goes wrong, such as a popped wire or loose bracket. In addition, Invisalign treatment is typically shorter in duration than braces treatment.
Invisalign used to cost more than braces, but this is no longer always the case. With braces, you must factor in the price of adjustments and emergency appointments, as well as any desired enhancements such as colored metal. Invisalign’s transparent pricing model includes all visits, so you will know up front exactly how much you will pay.
More and more dental insurance companies are now seeing the value of Invisalign as well, and many are willing to cover a portion of the costs. We will help you determine your exact out of pocket costs before we begin.
Ready to Get Started?
If you are ready to start your journey to better oral health with a Cupertino dentist you can trust, contact Ryan Senft, DDS today at 408-996-8595 to schedule your first appointment.
