Services
Cosmetic Dentistry
Cosmetic dentistry spans a single afternoon that lightens your smile all the way to a deliberate plan that changes the shape and alignment of several teeth. Where you start depends entirely on what's bothering you.
Matching the fix to the concern
Discoloration that hasn't responded to over-the-counter products is usually a whitening question. A chipped edge, a gap between two teeth, or a small area of decay in a visible tooth is often best addressed with bonding. Teeth that are more significantly chipped, worn, or oddly shaped, where whitening or bonding won't get you there, is where veneers tend to come up. Crowding or spacing that bothers you functionally as much as cosmetically is a conversation about clear aligners. It's rarely obvious from the outside which category a given concern falls into, so this usually starts as a conversation instead of a fixed treatment plan.
Bonding, specifically
Bonding uses a tooth-colored composite resin, shaped and hardened directly on the tooth, to fix a chip, close a small gap, or cover discoloration, often in a single visit and without the lab time a crown or veneer requires. It's less durable than porcelain over the long run and can pick up staining over time, so it fits smaller, more contained repairs better than a full smile redesign.
What it costs, and when to ask
Most dental plans cover little or none of a purely cosmetic treatment, so this is worth sorting out early instead of at the end. Cindy, our office manager, will go through what your plan does and doesn't cover before anything is scheduled, and the practice accepts CareCredit for treatment you're paying for yourself, which spreads the cost over time.
Where to look next
Teeth Whitening, Veneers, and Clear Aligners each have their own page with more detail on what the process involves and who tends to be a good fit.