Your smile is an extension of who you are, a window to your soul. If you do not love your smile, then you are not letting yourself experience one of the greatest joys in life…
What does your smile say about you? Does it radiate confidence? Does it radiate beauty? Does it turn heads? A smile is a powerful tool in the job market – don’t underestimate the positive effects a beautiful smile can have on your career, and on the flip side, the negative effect a poor smile can have as well.
At Ideal Dentistry we deliver custom porcelain veneers to give you the smile you deserve. Every smile we rebuild is unique, one of a kind, and beautiful. Below are some of the smiles we have created. Take a look at the detail, the realism, the beauty of true dental art.
Our smiles have been published internationally and our practice has become known as Louisville’s Veneer Practice. Of course we take care of your entire smile, including regular dentistry for adults and children, but all dentistry performed here exceeds the standard of care, dramatically.
Natural Looking Porcelain Veneers
At Ideal Dentistry we do not do “chicklets”, but we sure replace a lot!
If you are ready to have the smile of your dreams, give us a call at 502-228-4585 and speak to Lori.
Keep smiling.
Dentistry is a unique profession. We don’t just deliver a service, but we also deliver a product. Porcelain crowns, or caps, among many other type of restorations are delivered on a daily basis in a dental practice. So, what makes one dentist different from another? Why does one dentist charge more? What could the big difference be?
Here is a quick example of the difference between a good crown and a bad crown.
The sole purpose of a porcelain crown is to repair and preserve the tooth, mimicking its original shape and function. The color should match the existing teeth, so it blends in.
This is what we expect from a GOOD crown:
- Perfect Fit
- Matching contour to the neighboring teeth
- Straight emergence profile from the gum tissue
- Good contact between the teeth and the opposing biting surface
- Good color and stain match to neighboring teeth
Common errors seen in a BAD crown:
- Poor fit of crown – Results in recurrent decay, sensitivity, quick failure of crown.
- Over contoured crown – Results in inflammation around tooth, gum disease, recurrent decay and quick failure of crown.
- Crown fits on tooth like hat on a hat rack – Result is same as #2
- Crown is either too tight between teeth, too light or no contact at all – Results in food impaction, and consequent recurrent decay.
- Crown looks like a marshmallow or corn kernal rather than a tooth.
So now you know what a good crown should look and fit like. Now why are not all crowns made like this? Simply put, making a good crown is an art and requires a high level of skill. It takes time, and time is money.
The dentist needs to deliver a perfectly prepared tooth, a perfect mold of that tooth, and a perfect prescription to what he/she wants from the technician.
The technician needs to perfectly trim the model, perfectly build the crown on the model, and perfectly adjust that crown on the model. Then the dentist needs to try this crown on the tooth first, make any necessary adjustments, and then cement the crown perfectly. There is no room for error!
Preparing the tooth takes time and skill. Taking a perfect mold takes time and skill. The less a dentist gets paid for a procedure the less time he/she can spend on it. It is a simple matter of economics. It is a business. Running a dental practice is very expensive and there is significant cost involved.
Now, once a perfect mold exists the crown needs to be made by a highly skilled technician. The more skill the technician has the higher the cost. It is a very simple formula. You get what you pay for!
All these steps and requirements put together are what it takes to make a good crown. A bad crown is not much better, and sometimes worse, than no crown at all.
The difference between a good and a bad crown is immense – the aesthetics are better, the fit is better, the longevity is better. Would you expect to pay the same for a good and a bad crown? Of course not. A crown should last a very long time – decades. So, if the cost difference is less than a few pennies per day over the lifespan of the crown, why not get the good crown?
At Ideal Dentistry we only place good crowns because that is the right thing to do.
Keep smiling.
Almost every patient that comes to see me about getting a beautiful smile sooner or later asks “How long do porcelain veneers last?” This is a very valid question everyone should ask, but let me answer it here for everyone as a reference.
Porcelain veneers, or porcelain laminates, are very thin but become bonded to the outside surface of your tooth, permanently. If the veneer is bonded to the enamel, the strong outside layer of your tooth, then we achieve a bond that is so strong that the porcelain would fracture before the bond would break.
Then some patients always say: “My friend has veneers and some of them just popped off”. Well, if that happens then the veneers were not bonded on correctly. I can honestly say I have only seen this happen once about 10 years ago on a patient in California that I worked on, and the reason the veneer popped off was because there was a manufacturers error in one of the bonding solutions. We corrected it and it never happened again. So if veneers are coming off then there is a problem with the bond, usually.
To really give a better answer to “How long do veneers last?” I usually describe how veneers fail.
Veneers today are made out of incredibly strong porcelain. This porcelain is bonded to the tooth structure, as we discussed, permanently. So, the only way to “break” the veneer would be via an accident like a fall, or biting on a fork. Anything that would break your natural teeth will break the veneer. Secondly, veneers need to function properly. If you grind or clench your teeth then you need to wear a nightguard. People wear teeth down to nothing by grinding all night long. Also, teeth can break from grinding. Porcelain veneers have the same limitations as real teeth.
As we age our gum tissue recedes a little. This will expose the edge of the veneer. This is normal aging and would happen with normal teeth as well. If the veneer was blended in color wise at the gumline then it will look very natural. But, if you have super white veneers then the darker root surface will show up and it will stand out a little more.
Lastly, you still need to brush and floss or decay will creep around the veneers just like regular teeth.
That is it. So veneers, if done correctly and maintained correctly can last decades. I am personally getting ready to do my veneers, so you all can watch me go through the process as well!
I hope this helps.
Keep smiling.
Dentures, False Teeth, Plates, there are many names for these dental appliances, but regardless of what you call them, most people feel they look like fake teeth. This is because most of them do look like fake teeth!
I am here today to tell you that false teeth can look as beautiful as the most beautiful real teeth!
Yes, many of my patients have false teeth. You would recognize them (some are quite famous) but you would never believe they have false teeth. That is because they wanted aesthetic, beautiful dentures. The smile above is of a lady that gets many complements on her smile, but nobody knows that her teeth are actually dentures.
So, why do so many dentures look fake? Simple, you get what you pay for. “Dentures by tonight” or some other gimmick means you are getting a cookie cutter product. These cheap dentures come not only with poor aesthetics but a poor fit and many sore spots. If you want to look 10-20 years older than you are, then go ahead, sign up with the one-size-fits-all denture.
I believe that a smile is one of your most valuable assets. It does not matter if you have real or fake teeth, we can make them look beautiful and function great. Our technician is amazing and dedicates her career to delivering only the most aesthetic teeth. A good fitting aesthetic denture can take years, even decades off your look. With so much riding on your smile, why would you compromise on something so important?
Now think about your smile. Do you love it? Does it reflect who you are? Does it allow you to eat the foods you want?
If you answered no to any of the above then you need to come see us for a new smile.
JUNE is COSMETIC DENTURE month!
If you want a new denture that can make you look your best or you have a friend that does, then contact us as soon as possible. We are not a high volume practice and when we are completely booked we close the promotion. So act now, take 10 years off your smile and see what a difference a beautiful smile can make in your life.
In an IDEAL world, everybody would be smiling 🙂
Question: Why does my tooth hurt after it just received a new white filling? It did not hurt before!
Answer: Your tooth should obviously not hurt after the filling, especially if it did not hurt before. In this practice I do not have patients complaining of pain after white fillings are placed. If you are experiencing pain, here are some reasons why:
- Polymerization Shrinkage: Composites (white fillings) shrink a little when they harden. Generally the dentist will place the material into the cavity in a liquid to pasty form and then use a strong light (LED or Halogen) to instantly harden the material. If the composite material is placed incorrectly or in bulk then the composite will shrink enough to either allow a little gap to form around the filling, or it will actually pull the tooth together. Either way the tooth will become sensitive to hot and cold.
- Too Large Composite: Composite is a great material, in small fillings. Once the filling reaches a certain size (1/3 the distance between the cusps or more than 2 surfaces) then it generally is not strong enough to function correctly. Composite material is not strong enough to function exactly like tooth structure. The tooth will bend, the composite will wear or fracture, and eventually failure is inevitable. When the filling fails it will then require a much larger restoration or worse.
- Fractures in Tooth: Often old silver mercury fillings, amalgams, are removed and replaced with white fillings for various reasons. These amalgams have too many issues to list here (let’s see if any ADA dentists complain), but the main one is that the expansion and contraction as well as compression over time results in tooth fractures. Removing these fillings and not recognizing the fractures (visually) will result in trouble. A fractured tooth should not receive a white composite filling!
- Other Issues: The two scenarios above are fairly common. Often I see patients that have super large composite fillings (patches), and that is usually a warning sign to the quality of dentistry found in all the other teeth. Composite material is great if used correctly. It is not a cure-all. It can have bubbles in it, fail to bond correctly, not cure all the way, etc. Composite is very technique sensitive and is often placed without enough care. This is where experience becomes important!
So, to answer this persons’ question – Your tooth could hurt for many reasons, none are good. Talk to your dentist about this problem and see what they say. If the answer is “wait and it will get better”, then seek out a second opinion. Unfortunately Kentucky is not known for its quality dentistry (we are 49th and 50th in the US when it comes to number of teeth in adult mouths and oral health), so do your research and find a top dentist. I suggest you look at the AACD (American Academy Of Cosmetic Dentistry) as one of your sources. Select a member as they have gone through some of the most rigorous training in the world and must live up to their reputation.
During the campaign, President-Elect Obama had an engaging, winning smile; One reason was that his teeth were literally smiling. There are times when he may have been yawning, pausing, or thinking, but it appeared that he was smiling because his teeth are shaped in an arch form that enables him to just open his mouth to smile.
Barak Obama’s smiling teeth are a designed to give the appearance that he is smiling, all the time. When you see the teeth, you see a smile! Simple as that. This is used with models all the time, taking years off their appearance and instilling youth back into their look.
Does a smile make a difference?
It is a fact that we are attracted to people with good smiles. Three of our four candidates ( or their advisers) have discovered this fact. Americans know it too. They know that a white smile has become a standard fashion accessory, not only for supermodels, pageant queens, news anchors and actresses , but also for regular folks and surely for their candidates. A smile is not called “a winning smile” for no reason.
Today especially it is important to focus on the fact that first impressions are critical, and nothing makes a better first impression than an engaging confident smile. On the other hand, all of us have met people who most certainly were “nice” but had smiles that dragged them down. How would their life change if they had a winning smile? What doors would open for them? Will they ever take that important step and find out? I hope so.
What a difference a small white filling can make.
The old filling, an amalgam filling (50% Mercury, 50% silver), was leaking and had recurrent decay under it.
The “white filling” is placed after gently removing the old filling and any associated decay. Then a complex bonding procedure is followed closely, ensuring a perfect bond and beautiful aesthetics.
All too often old silver mercury fillings like this result in fractured teeth which then require extensive rebuilding, root canal therapy, or even removal of the tooth. Prevention and early intervention are the only two ways to significantly reduce the risk of this happening.
You have an accident and get a facial laceration – a big cut across your cheek. Where do you go to get that fixed? A General Surgeon? No, a Plastic Surgeon.
You have a bad case of acne, nothing seems to make it better. You want the best and right treatment. Where do you go? Your regular MD? No, a Dermatologist.
You have a heart condition that concerns you. You want the best treatment possible. Where do you go? Your regular MD? No, a Cardiologist.
The list goes on and on, and everyone knows the answers, they are common sense. Or are they? Let’s look at another example:
You have an accident and break off your front teeth. Or, you just plain want the most beautiful smile possible. Where do you go? Your regular Dentist? No, a Cosmetic Dentist.
The only problem is, EVERYONE SEEMS TO BE A COSMETIC DENTIST!
The same principles apply as with all the other examples. You want someone that has the expertise, experience, and training to deliver the best possible result.
I still have yet to meet a dentist that is not a self proclaimed cosmetic dentist!
So, what do you do?
So, if you want to have the most beautiful smile possible or just need to repair a cosmetic issue on your teeth, where do you go? Ideal Dentistry.
You would be surprised how many patients come to me dissatisfied with cosmetic dentistry they just spent a lot of money for. It is very sad. Going through all that time and spending all that money to not be completely thrilled with the result. What a waste. Now it will cost more time and money to fix. Plus, the situation is complicated by the fact that someone else has worked on the teeth and tissue, possibly making the situation even more complicated. It would be so much easier for even an accredited cosmetic dentist to treat the situation first, rather than be the fix-it guy.
Cost is always an issue. Everybody wants a good deal, including myself. How much more expensive is it to do it right the first time? Well, in short, not much at all. The cost of redoing it or just not being happy with it is much more! Just like all the examples above, cost should not be the determining factor when deciding such important issues as your smile – the gateway to your soul (shared equally with your eyes!). The difference in cost is not as much as you might think!
So, the next time you consider cosmetic dentistry, think about the examples above, do your online research and find out for yourself why you would be better off with an accredited cosmetic dentist. Your smile is too important to be experimented on!
