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Can you laugh when you hear a joke? Or are you covering your mouth with your hand? Today, a white smile is not reserved only for the lucky ones that nature has endowed with beautiful and healthy teeth. In the XNUMXst century, dentistry offers a range of possibilities, thanks to which a smile will become a showcase, regardless of age.
We pay more and more attention to appearance – we have to be well-groomed, happy, look young and healthy. We are assisted in this by visits to hairdressing salons, beauty salons and fitness clubs. But at the dentist? Meanwhile, changing the color, shape and arrangement of teeth in the arch can rejuvenate the appearance and change facial features, for example by enhancing the lips. The stereotype of a gray clinic straight from the People’s Republic of Poland and a sadist dentist with claws in his hands has long since passed into the past in favor of colorful offices, painless treatments and positively surprising effects. Never before has dentistry developed so quickly and did not have such materials, instruments and devices as it is today. But can everyone order a new, better, nicer smile? Is it too late at a certain age? On the contrary! Too young age may be a contraindication to some “beautifying” treatments. The skeletal system and teeth must reach maturity before permanent prosthetic restorations, implants or whitening are planned.
Brush, paste, cup, warm water
It seems trivial, but proper oral hygiene is the first and cheapest step to a beautiful smile. Thanks to it, we will keep gums healthy, emphasize the natural color of the teeth, and the existing fillings will serve us longer. In addition, it is worth reporting for professional cleaning every 6-12 months.
We can opt for scaling, i.e. removing hard plaque (calculus) with an ultrasonic tip or hand tools. Ultrasound will do it much faster and more accurately, but patients with a pacemaker must abandon this method. People who drink large amounts of coffee, tea, red wine, dark fruit juices, and smokers may also have problems with a dark deposit on the enamel surface. Sandblasting may be an effective method to remove it. Powder particles, mixed with water and hitting under pressure, effectively and quickly remove external discoloration, even from tight interdental spaces. (See how dental plaque is formed from bacteria and food debris! – Biofilm formation! – editorial note)
Scaling and sandblasting are complementary treatments – depending on the needs, they can be performed separately or combined with each other. They should be completed by polishing the teeth with a toothbrush or a rubber band with a paste usually containing pumice stone. The cost of cleaning in the office is a minimum of PLN 100. The price increases with the need to use additional tools or the need to spend more time with the patient.
Whiter Shade of white
If these treatments do not lighten the teeth sufficiently, it means the discoloration is in the tooth tissue. So the next step is whitening that is fashionable and popular in recent years. However, pregnant women must not do this! If the front teeth are damaged, have a lot of fillings or prosthetic restorations (crowns, bridges, veneers), whitening is considered the first stage of treatments. Next, the seals and porcelain restorations should be replaced. A contraindication to external whitening treatments may be tooth hypersensitivity, which may increase during this treatment. Also, people who have not previously experienced hypersensitivity can expect temporary discomfort during it. This feeling usually passes within a few hours or directly in the office after covering the teeth with a hypersensitivity preparation. In order for the procedure to be effective and satisfactory, a doctor who selects the appropriate method personally qualifies for it.
External whitening is necessary in the case of drug-induced or physiological discoloration, a gradual change in the color of the teeth related to age. The older we are, the more yellow our dentin becomes. The active substance is applied to the enamel surface. It is a less invasive method, so you can change the color of the entire dentition at the same time. It should be added that only the tooth tissue can be whitened, not fillings, porcelain crowns or acrylic dentures.
If only one tooth requires bleaching, internal bleaching can be used. Then, whitening preparations are placed inside the canal of the healed tooth. Dressings that need to be changed three or four times will lighten the dentin by a few tones.
There is a whole range of products for professional teeth whitening. Bleaching preparations are available in the form of a gel in various colors, with various concentrations and with various consistencies.
The shade of teeth in the office can be changed in as little as an hour. High concentration gels that act quickly and can additionally be activated by light and heat. For this purpose, special lamps are used that emit light radiation of a certain frequency, accelerating the release of active oxygen ions, i.e. enhancing the effect. The prices for the procedure start from approx. 1,2 thousand. zloty. The result is immediate, although the color will stabilize only after 2-3 days. In the case of a very dark shade of teeth, it is recommended to continue whitening at home. The patient himself applies a gel with a weaker concentration to the overlays, which he puts on for several hours during the day or at night. Tray whitening can also be an independent whitening method. The dentist takes impressions, on the basis of which individual overlays are made. The patient receives them along with the gel for use at home. The progress is monitored after a few days in the office.
The difference is usually noticeable after the first session, but it is necessary to continue the treatment for 7 to 10 consecutive days, and in the case of severe discoloration – even longer. The cost of making overlays, gel and visits to the office is about PLN 800. However, it should be remembered that the effect achieved is not for life. Bleaching may need to be repeated after a few years.
Straightening nature
There is still a belief that you go to the orthodontist only with children, and possibly with teenagers. Nothing could be more wrong! You can straighten your teeth at any age, although it is true that it takes much longer in the elderly than in the young. What can be achieved by a sixteen-year-old child in a year may well take three years for an elderly person. However, let’s not be discouraged by this. Metal braces decorated with colored rubber bands at the request of a teenager do not necessarily evoke the same enthusiasm in people in their forties. For them, orthodontists offer, among others tooth-colored braces or, even more discreet, braces mounted on the inner surface of the teeth.
Unfortunately, the relationship is simple – the less visible the camera, the more expensive it is. In the price lists of offices, you can find a device for 1,5 thousand, but there are also those for 10 thousand. zloty. Mandatory control visits are additionally payable. Often orthodontic treatment is sometimes the initial stage to prosthetic treatment. In some patients, without prior straightening of the teeth, it is not even possible to design correct prosthetic restorations.
Lace? Bridge? Or maybe an implant?
During a visit to the dentist’s office, we may find out that the teeth are badly damaged or discolored. To improve their appearance, it is necessary to make veneers or crowns. An indication for their use is also the unsatisfactory shape of the teeth.
Veneers are usually made after a minimum grinding of the outer surface of the tooth. They can be done using the direct method in the office. The teeth are then covered with the same material as the fillings, in the color chosen by the patient and the dentist. The second method is indirect: after the teeth are prepared, impressions are taken. On their basis, veneers, usually porcelain, of any color are made, which are glued during the second visit.
Crowns are another, more invasive method. After grinding the tooth on all sides and taking impressions, crowns are made in the appropriate color and shape. They are attached to the previously prepared tooth root with cement. Aesthetic crowns are made of full ceramics and look very natural: properly selected color, shade, translucency and individual features make porcelain flawlessly imitate nature. The price of one veneer or all-ceramic crown ranges between PLN 900 and 1,5 thousand. zloty. In order to obtain a satisfactory aesthetic result, usually at least six veneers or crowns should be made – two upper canines and four upper incisors. Depending on the patient’s facial expressions, which is assessed earlier, the lateral or lower teeth may require the preparation of prosthetic restorations. Veneers and crowns change not only the color but also the shape of the teeth. They can also repair minor orthodontic imperfections without having to wear braces – good news, especially for impatient people.
What if a tooth is missing or is already so damaged that it can only be extracted? The gap can be filled by making a porcelain bridge. Two teeth on both sides of the gap are ground in the same way as for crowns and a porcelain restoration is made that resembles three glued teeth. If no additional preparations (root canal treatment, etc.) precede the execution of the bridge, the treatment consists of only two visits. Of course, the bridge can be larger than that described above and can even include the entire arch, i.e. 14 to 16 teeth. The cost of its implementation is obtained by multiplying the number of porcelain teeth in the bridge (usually at least three) by the price quoted by the office for one porcelain crown.
An alternative to a bridge are implants, in other words screws that are screwed into the root of a non-existent tooth. More and more modern implantological systems allow you to enjoy a new tooth and a nice smile almost immediately after placing the screw in the bed. Sometimes, however, it is necessary to wait for the full effect, even 3 to 6 months, before installing a porcelain crown on the screw. In other cases, before placing the implant, it is necessary to surgically prepare the place for it, which additionally extends the time necessary to obtain the desired end result. Smokers must take into account that they may not be eligible for implant treatment. Reason? Long healing time and high probability of implant rejection. The price lists of offices usually include the amount of 2-3 thousand. PLN for a screw plus the cost of a porcelain crown.
Popular dentures
Although it seems that the possibilities of dentistry today are almost limitless, not everyone can afford to take advantage of these benefits of medicine. People with a limited budget or larger gaps in dentition must be satisfied with removable prosthetic restorations. This type of prosthesis is characterized by metal clasps on the outer surfaces of the teeth. However, this can be avoided. It is enough to attach them to invisible ball locks or bolts with the use of roots or implants.
Another type of aesthetic removable dentures is made of flexible material, including gum-colored clasps. The prices of an aesthetic prosthesis for one arch, upper or lower, start around PLN 700 and increase depending on the size of the prosthesis, the number and type of brackets and the material we want them to be made of.
Text: Dorota Pálfi, dentist, Prestatyn Dental Center (UK)
Source: Let’s live longer,