Crowns and bridges

Your dentist may suggest placing a crown as part of your treatment plan. A dental crown or ‘cap’ is a restoration which covers over and encases the natural tooth and is designed to look like a real tooth. Dentists use crowns when rebuilding broken or decayed teeth or to improve the cosmetic appearance of a tooth. Crowns are made in a dental laboratory by a dental technician who uses moulds of your teeth made by your dentist. The type of crown your dentist recommends will depend on the tooth involved and your preference. Materials available include porcelain bonded to metal, gold alloy and metal-free zirconia.

Apart from cosmetic indications, the most common reason for suggesting a crown is to strengthen an already weakened tooth. When more that half of the tooth is filling material, the tooth will be weak because there will only be a thin shell of real tooth on one side. If a tooth has had a root canal, the tooth is likely to have had a deep area of decay in the past, and now a deep filling (the root canal itself doesn’t weaken the tooth). Occasionally the tooth may have not developed properly, and a crown will restore the structure. Often around old amalgam fillings large cracks may threaten to split your tooth in two. Such an event is disastrous for a tooth, and will result only in extraction. Crowning in all cases will cap the entire surface of the tooth with a thin shell of very strong material- like a helmet, holding together cracks, building up lost tooth structure and adding great strength. The tooth needs to be prepared by reducing the tooth by about 1mm, otherwise the cap would be too big to go over the tooth. This may sacrifice some tooth enamel, but the overall gain makes it worthwhile.

Porcelain veneers

Veneers are thin, tooth-coloured porcelain or glass/plastic layers fixed onto the front of your teeth. This can be a suitable option if you have teeth with gaps, that are stained, discoloured, broken or chipped, oddly-shaped or badly-aligned.

Tooth whitening

Tooth discolouration can be caused by coffee, smoking, red wine and ageing. Cornerstone Dental professionals recommend that tooth whitening is undertaken only under the supervision of a dentist. Your dentist will assess the cause and extent of your discolouration, and discuss whether whitening would be suitable for your individual case. Fillings on front teeth, for example, won’t change colour with bleaching.

While you can buy over-the-counter, use-at-home toothpastes and strips, your dentist is best qualified to determine if you need teeth whitening. You may be tempted to go to a shopping centre booth or a beautician to get your teeth whitened, but neither are staffed by suitably qualified personnel. Incorrect use of bleaching agents may cause irreversible damage to your teeth and gums. DIY bleaching comes with all sorts of risks, and anecdotal treatments such as rubbing strawberries, lemons, or even bicarbonate of soda on your teeth, can do a lot of damage to your teeth and gums for no real whitening gain.

A professional scale and clean is required prior to starting treatment, as it will remove superficial stains and debris first. Professional whitening can rapidly improve the colour of your teeth. The most popular method is a take-home custom made kit which allows you to treat them for a short time each day.

We sell and recommend an Australian product for professional whitening, clinically proven to deliver fast and effective whitening. It is formulated to remove both surface and embedded teeth stains, prevent dehydration of the teeth and it has a neutral pH. Custom home bleaching provides visibly whiter teeth in only 3 days but can be used for up to 14 days. Your dentist will create a customised tray that fits comfortably in your mouth and allows you to whiten every tooth. The advantage with this system you can tailor how white you want your teeth- you may have a satisfactory outcome with only three days of application, or prefer a brilliant result and repeat for 2 weeks. Take home custom tray systems give you a personalised control of the results using gentle peroxide ingredients, and trays can be reused if you wish to bleach again in years to come.

If you need your teeth white fast: there is an interview coming up, or a big wedding day, you may not mind how white your result is; you may be after a one hour in-office accelerated bleach session. This is another type of bleaching where the dentist applies a concentrated bleach formula under supervision with cool-light LED. It also is a great way to bleach teeth when you are time poor; we do all the work for you, and you just sit back and relax for one hour. It’s that simple. Call our practice on 3172 3651 if you would like to discuss bleaching options further to see what is best suited for your case.

Microabrasion

Microabrasion with remineralisation is a type of conservative therapy that can create a profound improvement in the enamel of teeth with mottle or uneven white spots (fluorosis or hypomineralisation). Using a modern approach to replace minerals in the enamel, teeth which would have received fillings or veneers in the past can be much better managed.

White fillings

A beautiful aesthetic result is possible with composite restorations, when special attention to details is performed. Dentists Dr Emma and Rebecca Wainwright are particularly passionate about achieving amazing conservative results with fillings for cosmetic cases. Composites are a form of hardened plastics, that can be adapted to the tooth in the form of small or large fillings, or as complete composite veneers or build-ups. They can provide a very good shade match with the natural teeth, and a nice polish that lasts for many years. A well done filling should be difficult to see and blend seamlessly with the natural tooth.

Teeth straightening

Using corrective items like braces and plates, your dentist or orthodontist (specialist) will line up your teeth within your jaw so you not only look better but may have more efficient use of the affected teeth. Once considered unsightly, braces, a key part of teeth straightening, are now much less noticeable than they were, in some cases being all but invisible.

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