Esthetic Dentistry and Rehabilitation
"The smile is one of the first things that other people notice about us. If they are stained, pigmented, deformed, cracked, with spaces between them or simply poorly positioned, this may affect the way in which we interact with other people by inhibiting our wish to laugh and smile."
Teeth darkening may occur for various reasons such as: age, coloured foods, smoke, inter alia. Teeth whitening can be carried out at the surgery or at home.
In the surgery whitening takes around 1 hour. Two to three sessions are usually needed to obtain the desired results. With whitening at home (outpatient) the patient sleeps with gel in a mould which is around 1mm thick for about 15 days for the upper arch and a further 15 days for the lower arch.
Veneers are fine, semi-transparent layers of the contact lens type which are permanently stuck to the teeth. Although they are not suitable for all patients, veneers are the most esthetic and conservative solution for a wide variety of dental problems:
- Diastemas (spaces between the teeth);
- Cracked teeth;
- Deformed or poorly positioned teeth;
- Discoloured or pigmented teeth.
Veneers may be made of porcelain or composite resin and they are very often used in combination with dental whitening techniques.
Porcelain
Porcelain veneers are made in the laboratory and they require 2 appointments, with minimum or none tooth preparation and once they have been stuck they are highly resistant. Usually it is more costly and they are particularly suited to more complex transformations of Dental Esthetics.
It is not liable to pigmenting and maintains its shine and natural appearance over time.
Resin composite
Resin composite veneers (composite) are placed at one single appointment and in the majority of cases they do not require any tooth preparation and once they have been placed they are also very resistant.
Resin composite veneers are typically less costly and they are particularly suited to more simple transformations of Dental Esthetics.
Resin composite made of nanoparticles which are highly resistant materials and which, with the correct technique, allow the implementation of virtually invisible veneers. They are not very susceptible to pigmenting and they are easy to polish if they lose any shine after a few years.