A smile makeover reclaims your smile from time and neglect. It uses a comprehensive approach that draws upon the most advanced techniques of cosmetic dentistry to address each dental and periodontal challenge. When you trust your smile makeover to skilled San Diego dentist Dr. Jennifer Santoro, the results can be dramatic and life-changing.
Dazzling Mile-Wide Smiles
There are many options available: Tooth whitening transforms yellow or stained teeth. Porcelain veneers cover flaws and flash the perfect smile to the world. Dental crowns stabilize teeth while increasing their aesthetic appeal. Dental implants, bridges or dentures replace missing teeth. Invisalign orthodontic treatment straightens teeth, restoring balance and beauty.
Healthy Pink Gums
The gums are an often-overlooked component of a great smile. As a start, they should be healthy, with a natural pink appearance. Gums that have begun to show signs of gingivitis tend to recede, and the pockets that develop under the gum line show space between the lower portion of your teeth.
Gums that are ignored completely can have a major impact on your smile, when periodontal disease eats away at roots and the bone that secures your teeth, resulting in a complete loss of one or more teeth. Available solutions include planing and scaling to deeply clean below the gum line, reaching hidden plaque and bacteria. Gum contouring may also be appropriate to restore your natural gum line and promote periodontal health.
Customized Options
Smile makeovers are highly customized, based on a patient’s current oral health, the number of complications or conditions present and his or her own vision for the perfect smile. Makeover plans are flexible, and are based on extensive conversations between patient and dentist in which questions about benefits, expectations, possibilities and costs are explored.
Targeting critical issues such as decay, loose fillings or crowns, impacted teeth or gum disease will be a first step. Once the foundation for a healthy smile is laid, the smile design process begins with a complete evaluation by Dr. Santoro and the creation of a plan that you both agree is appropriate. The next step involves taking an impression of your teeth. After that, the journey to your dream smile may take a few weeks or a few months.
Certain procedures stretch out the timeline; these include gum lift or gum contouring, which requires healing of at least two months, and dental implants, which may add six months to the schedule to allow time for the implant to become securely anchored in the bone. For misaligned teeth, orthodontic solutions may take a year or longer. Some procedures are able to be done concurrently in one or more follow-up appointments, including veneers, bonding, whitening and crowns.
To schedule your appointment, or to discuss smile makeover options, call Dr. Santoro at (858) 566-8510, or email Village Center Dentistry in Scripps Ranch today.
