Cosmetic dentistry is a specialized field that focuses on enhancing the appearance of your bite, gums, smile, and teeth. The advantages of cosmetic dentistry go beyond looks. By addressing issues like chips, cracks, misaligned teeth, gaps between teeth, and discoloration, your dentist can assist you in realizing your dream smile and optimal healthy oral health. Typical dental procedures include bonding, orthodontics, contouring, veneers, bridges, and teeth whitening. Each procedure caters to different goals and needs, and your dentist can work with you to determine the best treatment option. Please continue reading this blog to learn how cosmetic dentistry benefits oral health.

It Corrects Bite Alignment Issues

Although your beautiful smile is the first thing most individuals notice, a healthy bite is equally vital. It affects your jaw health, ability to chew effectively, and speech clarity. If you experience challenges eating or are self-conscious of the bite, cosmetic dentistry could be the key to unlocking a functional and elegant smile.

Before looking at cosmetic dentistry solutions, here are the common bite challenges:

  • Open bite — It happens when you have a gap between your lower and upper front teeth after closing the mouth.
  • Close bite — This happens when your lower and upper teeth fail to meet appropriately after biting down. It can result in uneven tooth wear and tear.
  • Underbite occurs when the lower teeth protrude over the upper teeth.
  • Overbite is the opposite of underbite; the upper teeth protrude over the lower teeth.

How cosmetic dentistry corrects bite issues depends mainly on your bite issues. Here is how the procedures can address various cases:

  • Mild bite problems — Cosmetic procedures like tooth bonding or veneers can effectively address gaps or minor misalignments that cause bite challenges. Porcelain veneers are shells bonded to your tooth’s front surface, resulting in a more even and straighter appearance. On the other hand, bonding entails applying a resin material to close or reshape gaps between your teeth. While these procedures rectify minor bite challenges, consider consulting your dentist to determine the most appropriate solution for your case. Sometimes, orthodontic treatments like clear aligners or braces can help you realize the best bite correction.
  • Moderate bite challenges — Here, your dentist can recommend integrating treatments. While bonding or veneers can fix cosmetic issues, clear aligners can slowly reposition teeth for improved bite alignment.
  • Severe bite challenges — Braces are the most effective and popular bite correction solution. Nonetheless, your cosmetic dentist could partner with an orthodontist to develop the best treatment plan that fixes your cosmetic needs and bite issues. Ideal cosmetic procedures to consider include crowns or veneers.

Some of the advantages of addressing your bite issues with cosmetic dental treatments include the following:

  • Better chewing function — A proper bite lets you chew your food efficiently, boosting nutrient absorption and digestion.
  • Clearer speech — Rectifying your bite issues can improve how you articulate words and sounds.
  • Boosts self-esteem and confidence
  • Close small gaps — Tiny gaps between your teeth can trap food debris and particles and cause potential decay.
  • Balances uneven lengths — Your dentist can use cosmetic procedures to shorten longer teeth or lengthen shorter teeth, ensuring an even and balanced bite when the teeth come together. When teeth meet correctly, there is reduced stress, reducing the chances of excessive wear, cracking, and chipping.

Offers Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Pain Relief

The temporomandibular joint is a two-ball-and-socket, interconnected joint in your jaw. The jaw joint allows you to move the jaw up and down, sideways, and back and forth.

The joints comprise the lower jaw bone; a person cannot move one without moving the other. Consequently, when an individual has an issue with their joints or the surrounding muscles or nerves, the oral health condition is called TMJ.

Various factors can cause TMJ disorder, including the following:

  • An injury to your temporomandibular joint or the surrounding muscles
  • Misaligned jaws
  • Health Conditions affecting your joints, like arthritis
  • Repeated clenching or teeth-grinding

Some of the symptoms of TMJ are:

  • Painful jaw
  • Toothache
  • Challenges with swallowing, speaking, and chewing
  • Clicking, gratin sounds, or feelings in your jaw
  • Painful, tense, sore, and tender muscles in your face, shoulder, upper back, neck, or jaw
  • Pain in your ears
  • Dizziness
  • Muffled hearing
  • Tinnitus

If you are experiencing one of these symptoms, your cosmetic dentist will first conduct a thorough jaw assessment to determine whether TMJ is the root cause. If it is, they will give tips and tricks like relaxation techniques, jaw exercises, and stress management to resolve the TMJ-related discomfort and pain. If these options fail to work or your misaligned bite is the root cause, your healthcare provider can embark on more advanced procedures like braces and Invisalign.

Here is how cosmetic treatments can help with TMJ:

  • Fixing misalignments like a bad bite or malocclusion, which can lead to TMJ signs and symptoms
  • Improving your jaw position — By aligning your jaws properly, your treatment option can relieve strain on your temporomandibular joint, relieving you of TMJ-related pain and discomfort.
  • Balancing your bite — Your cosmetic treatment procedure can optimize your bite, ensuring your lower and upper teeth meet correctly. The balance eradicates stress on your jaw joint, lowering TMJ signs and symptoms.
  • Supports orthodontic treatments — If you suffer from TMJ and other orthodontic challenges, your dentist can use the most appropriate cosmetic treatment to address the concerns, offering a holistic approach.

Cosmetic Dentistry Replaces Missing Teeth

Missing teeth compromise your smile and make chewing harder, increasing pressure on the existing teeth and the likelihood of infections like gum disease.

When you lose a tooth, the remaining teeth start moving from their position. Your jawbone and the gums supporting it begin to recess and resorb. The gap between your receding gums and teeth forms pockets that are the bacteria's feeding grounds. Gum disease, characterized by bleeding and sensitive gums, is a severe infection that threatens the remaining teeth and your body.

If you notice any signs or symptoms of gum disease, you should consult your dentist immediately. The earlier you seek treatment, the greater your possibility of halting irreversible damage to your oral cavities. Failing to address the issue, gum disease can trigger chronic inflammatory responses and worsen into periodontitis. Periodontitis is an advanced gum infection stage that leads to teeth loosening and falling out of their sockets due to damaged supporting structures. That means you will have an infection and more missing teeth.

Gum disease can also result in the swelling of blood vessels, facilitating the spread of bacteria to other body parts. If the infection enters your blood, it can damage different body parts.

Some of the options your cosmetic dentists can use to replace the gap(s) include the following:

  • Dental implants — A dental implant is a titanium screw or rod that your dentist surgically inserts into bone tissues in your jaw. The implant fuses with your surrounding bone tissues, making it stable. The bonding process is known as osseointegration and can take six months. They will feel and look like your natural teeth and do not need lifestyle changes.
  • Dental bridges — They are fixed restorations that are anchored on the teeth near the gap. The abutments (the false teeth) are covered with crowns to offer stability to the artificial teeth that your dentist will attach to them. The procedure is irreversible because placing a crown on the abutments requires enamel removal.
  • Dental dentures — If you have lost a couple of teeth, your dentist can recommend a partial denture, and if you have lost many teeth, a full denture. Before placing the denture, your dentist will take an impression of your mouth by requesting that you bite down on a mold before sending it to a laboratory.

Cosmetic Dentistry Assists With the Early Detection of Oral Health Issues

Before any procedure, your skilled physician will conduct comprehensive exams and evaluations of your teeth, gums, tongues, jaws, and surrounding tissues. During the assessments, the healthcare provider can identify early symptoms of oral health issues like gum disease, temporomandibular joint disorder, oral cancer, and tooth cavities.

Early detection permits prompt treatment, preventing the progression of the conditions, minimizing risks and complications, and preserving oral health. It also prevents the need for extensive and expensive dental procedures.

Cosmetic Dentistry Repairs Chipped or Cracked Teeth, Protecting Them from Further Damage

Over time, your damaged teeth can break down as you continue biting down and chewing. Cosmetic dentistry can make these teeth stronger and more aesthetically pleasing with the treatments below:

  • Your dentist can use dental caps to restore worn-out teeth, restore their look, and protect them from further breakage, infections, colds, and heat.
  • Dental bonding is ideal for repairing teeth with tiny cracks, restoring them, stopping cracks from becoming larger and improving your teeth’s appearance.
  • Veneer can cover your cracked or chipped teeth, reinforcing their structure and preventing the breakage or cracks from enlarging.
  • Implants replace gaps left by missing teeth, preventing neighboring teeth from shifting and jawbone deterioration.

It Can Prevent Other Health Conditions Related to Your Oral Health

Like most body parts, your mouth has germs. While the germs are primarily harmless, your mouth is the entry point to your respiratory system and digestive tract, and these germs can cause diseases.

Your body’s defense and proper oral health care can keep germs under control. Through cosmetic dentistry, your dentist can ensure germs do not reach levels that can result in infections, like gum disease and tooth decay.

Your oral health can play a significant role in the following health conditions:

  • Endocarditis (an infection of the heart valves or chambers’s inner lining)
  • Cardiovascular diseases like stroke, clogged arteries, and heart disease
  • Birth and pregnancy complications
  • Pneumonia

Other health conditions that can affect your oral health are:

  • Diabetes — Diabetes can hinder your body from fighting infections, putting your gums at risk of developing gum disease
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Cancer — Different types of cancers, including cancer of the lungs, breast, uterus, prostate gland, gastrointestinal tract, and mouth, are linked to gum disease.
  • Alzheimer’s disease — Oral health worsens when Alzheimer’s disease becomes worse.

It Improves Appearance and Confidence

The best apparent advantage of cosmetic dentistry is that it can improve the appearance of your smile and teeth. The procedures cover many imperfections, giving up a natural-looking and complete smile. It could boost your self-esteem and confidence, resulting in a positive outlook on life.

Promotes Practicing Proper Oral Hygiene

It is vital to note how closely interrelated cosmetic dental procedures are with maintaining proper dental hygiene practices; a healthy mouth is the foundation for any treatment to be effective and last. For example, veneers require your underlying teeth to be free from gum disease or cavities. Likewise, orthodontic treatments require regular cleaning of teeth and aligners to prevent tartar plaque, which could result in gingivitis or tooth decay.

Cosmetic dentistry treatments are tailored to aesthetics but do not work independently from dental hygiene. Instead, the treatments encourage improved dental health practices as part of their maintenance and installation process, contributing to overall oral health in the long run.

These dental health hygiene practices include the following:

  • Brushing your teeth twice daily using fluoride toothpaste and a soft-bristled toothbrush. You should brush for two minutes. Remember to clean your tongue.
  • Eating a balanced diet and limiting your sugary beverages and food intake
  • Replacing your toothbrush after three months or once its bristles start flaring or wearing out
  • Avoiding alcohol and tobacco
  • Visiting your dentist twice a year
  • Flossing once a day

Find a Qualified Cosmetic Dentist Near Me

Your smile makes your initial impression, so it is no wonder that many people are turning to cosmetic dentistry to improve the appearance of their teeth, smile, gums, and mouth. However, many must learn that cosmetic dentistry goes beyond perfecting their pearly whites. It also has positive effects on your oral health. The experienced dentists at Northridge Advanced Dentistry believe that healthy gums and teeth are the foundation of an elegant smile and can take a comprehensive dental care approach that focuses on your teeth’s aesthetics and overall oral health. When you visit our office, we can assess your health history and evaluate your dental health issues to develop the most appropriate treatment plan. Please contact us at 818-701-3010 to learn more about the connection between the two and how you can benefit from them.