Are Your Teeth Complementing Your Face?

Many of us choose haircuts or clothes based on our facial or body shape so why not our teeth? We are all born with a set of teeth that may or may not be perfect to us. There may be minor flaws or major ones to our eyes. With modern cosmetic dentistry, teeth changes can be made to improve your overall appearance and look very natural.

Facial Analysis and Cosmetic Dentistry To Transform Your Smile

It is essential for your dentist to do a facial analysis in treatment planning for cosmetic dentistry. The face drives the shape and position of the teeth. If someone smiles at you and it’s a high and wide smile, the teeth might be out of balance or out of proportion to the face. If this is the case, the smile needs to be altered to bring about balance and proportion.

Simply put, the face, mouth, and lips direct the size of the teeth. The facial aesthetic drives the tooth size and position. Your dentist will need to look at the face from both the front and the side, the relationship between the lips and the teeth and the teeth’s shape, color, size and position.

“There is an important harmony that exists between teeth and facial features for a successful cosmetic dentistry result.”

The shape of the head, size and position of the eyes, nose, lips, cheekbones all play a role in determining the size, position, shape and contour of the teeth. Your cosmetic dentist should do a complete analysis with models of your mouth and records may include extra oral photographs of the full face, profile, smile and intra oral photos of the teeth, bite, gums, and arch form, and measurements. The architecture of the mouth, including the patient’s lip line (e.g., a high lip line give a “gummy smile” appearance), and gum line contours are an integral part of facial analysis.

Cosmetic dentistry utilizes many procedures to make the changes necessary to make your smile complement your face. The goal in cosmetic dentistry is to create a natural looking smile, so that only the dentist and patient know what was done. This becomes especially important as we age. Listed below are some of the cosmetic dentistry procedures that can be used to make complementary changes:

-Dental Bonding. dental bonding is the process in which tooth colored dental materials are bonded to a tooth. This might be one of the easiest cosmetic dentistry procedures to change our look. Using dental bonding we can change shape, size, color, length, and close any spaces that might be present. Dental bonding is generally completed in the dentist office in as little as an hour. The main drawbacks of dental bonding are chipping, wearing, and staining. The final product is not as strong as a porcelain restoration and may need to be updated over time, but can be done in less time for less money. While dental bonding is also used to restore teeth damaged by tooth decay it can also be used as a cosmetic veneer. This procedure can easily alter your smile in as little as an hour, and is minimally invasive. Dental bonding is a very easy way to make your smile youthful looking again.

-Porcelain Veneers and Porcelain Crowns. Often referred to as “instant orthodontics”, porcelain veneers can change the alignment of teeth, if the alignment issues are not too extreme. Porcelain veneers and porcelain crowns can be a great way to replace lost tooth structure and alter imperfect teeth creating a more youthful appearance. These cosmetic dentistry procedures tend to require more than one visit, but the results will give you a beautiful, youthful smile that lasts. porcelain veneers are custom made, ultra thin, tooth colored shells that are adhesively bonded to the teeth, and do not change color over time. This allows the cosmetic dentist to not only alter color of your teeth, but shape and lengthen as well. Porcelain crowns can be used on teeth that either already have crowns or need more extensive work (having large restorations or tooth decay). Both porcelain veneers and porcelain crowns can as used in cosmetic dentistry to give the patient a flawless, more youthful and attractive smile.

Tooth Shapes To Complement Your Face Type

A good cosmetic dentist will note all factors during treatment planning. Individual facial type is one of those important factors in cosmetic dentistry. The following is a guide to different facial shapes and their complementary teeth shapes:

-Small Face: A small face requires smaller porcelain veneers or porcelain crowns. Long, square shaped tooth shapes should be avoided. If the teeth are too long it will not be in line with overall proportions of your face.

-Angular or Square Shaped Face: For this type of face softer edges are required. This will help soften the overall smile and merge it better with the rest of your face. Sharp angled teeth may be too harsh of a look.

-Fuller Face: Just like vertical stripes make a person look slimmer, slightly longer teeth can create a slimming effect.

-Thin Face: The key here is to avoid thin, long teeth. They will only make your face appear longer. Wider, fuller teeth will broaden your smile and add fullness to your smile.

Other factors to consider:

-Tooth color - Lighter teeth are what most of us desire when altering cosmetics. Keep in mind, that skin color, lip color, and hair color effect how whit your teeth appear. You, and your dentist should go through several options to see what will work best for you.

-Tooth size - As we age our teeth tend to shift, chip, and wear. Tooth size and shape consequently change. Restoring back to proper proportions make your teeth appear healthier and more youthful.

Cosmetic Dentistry Conclusion

Many dentists call themselves cosmetic dentists, but not all have the proper training, experience, and skill to take an ordinary smile and make it extraordinary. The key to it all, is overall improvement, while keeping it looking natural. The best cosmetic dentistry procedures is make your smile appear natural with the proper color, shape, and light reflecting properties. Your friends and loved ones will love your new smile, without realizing what you have had done!