Cosmetic dentistry does not just create beautiful smiles with natural and youthful-looking front teeth and smiles.
It applies the most recently developed dental materials and methods to help minimize damage to tooth structure and to recreate the properties of native teeth, coining a new term: minimally invasive dentistry. The physical properties of new dental restorative materials approximate those of natural teeth. Restored teeth, including premolars and molars, look like natural teeth. Many of Dr. Rabanus older patients contact him after many years to tell him with excitement that some dentists at first look did not believe that they had anything done to their teeth. This is exactly what cosmetic dentists are striving for, naturally beautified teeth with minimum expenditure of healthy tooth structure.
It should be underlined at this point that teeth are only as "beautiful" as they are comfortable, permanent, and integrated within the framework of biological and mechanical function of the entire stomatognathic system. A tooth-colored crown for a molar does not serve any purpose, if it is not built on sound biomechanical principles as explained elsewhere in this website.
The advancement of "bonding technology" and the understanding of the way they interact with teeth and the intaglio surfaces of porcelain restorations does not just contribute to camouflaging the interfaces between teeth and dental restorations, it also produces survival rates of porcelain and composite restorations for decades. Restored teeth look and feel real, even in the back of your mouth. They can assume the same function as your natural teeth.
In addition, the development of stronger and tougher dental materials, such as eMax and zirconia products, has even facilitated the reliable and permanent rehabilitation of patients who grind their teeth or had a deteriorating masticatory system due to a variety of other reasons.
Porcelain Crowns
These two molars had extensive decay under their amalgam fillings and had to be restored with crown. We chose Empress crowns. Patients who grind their teeth would be fitted with tougher materials, such as eMax and zirconia restorations.
Composite Fillings
This patient requested to have these both amalgam fillings replaced with tooth-colored composite fillings. She had learned that dental composite materials have become much stonger and are now perfectly suitable for direct composite restorations of molars. The options for cosmetic dental composites are endless. Various molecular structures of dental composites are used in cosmetic dentistry.
Composite Fillings
The first molar had a defective amalgam filling that was replaced with a tooth-colored composite filling combined with dental bonding technology.
Composite Fillings & Partial Porcelain Crown
The molar and the bicuspid next to it had defective amalgam fillings. The molar was restored with a partial Empress crown. The bicuspid was restored with a composite filling. For the purpose of showing the aesthetic contrast between an amalgam filling and a tooth-colored dental restoration, one amalgam filling was left in place and replaced later.
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