You often hear or see the phrase “smile makeover” in magazines, infomercials, and the radio in relation to cosmetic dentistry but are seldom explained what it means.  What exactly is a smile makeover?

A smile makeover is categorized as one or more cosmetic dentistry procedures.  Some of the most common problems treated in a smile makeover are tooth color, alignment and spacing, missing teeth, and damaged or cracked teeth.  Esthetically, a smile makeover can involve procedures that deal with tooth alignment, tooth proportions, and smile line.

We all know that tooth color can be whitened by bleach, but what are the procedures involved in other treatments?  Porcelain veneers are often used to fix alignment, spacing, and damaged or cracked teeth.  Veneers involve shaving teeth down and bonding very thin porcelain laminates to them, which can last up to twenty years. 

Dental implants are used to replace a missing tooth without affecting your adjacent teeth.    With a dental implant, an implant is placed into the prepared bone.  When the bone is healed around the implant, a post is placed in the implant and a prosthetic crown is then placed over the post and cemented.