Because your lips, teeth and gums are integral to your facial appearance, it is impossible to create a beautiful face without a beautiful smile. Hence, as the teeth go, so goes the bone - and your good looks. Whether you're a natural beauty, or could use a boost, cosmetic dentistry can help enhance and maintain your youthful looks well into old age. But, cosmetic dentistry costs money. For some people, better looks just aren't worth the cost, and that's fine.

Please remember few dental procedures are strictly cosmetic or strictly health-related. In many cases, a particular treatment serves overlapping functions. For example, several treatments intended to remedy tooth decay - including fillings, crowns, inlays and overlays - also enhance the appearance of your teeth and gums. Those same procedures and even dental implants could be utilized for purely cosmetic reasons, but also would contribute to the prevention of disease.

Veneers

Veneers are thin, custom-made shells fashioned of tooth-colored material designed to fit over the front or the side of your teeth. Made from materials such as plastics, metals and/or porcelain, veneers are used to fill gaps between your teeth or to cover teeth that are badly stained, oddly shaped, chipped, cracked or crooked. They are just another way to improve your smile and your overall appearance.

Because it's necessary to remove a small amount of enamel from the tooth to accommodate the veneer, the process is usually irreversible. Keep that in mind. Your dentist may recommend you avoid some foods and beverages that may stain or discolor your veneers. These include coffee, tea, red wine and colas, as well as tobacco products. Veneers sometimes chip or fracture, but some people think they are worth the cost.

I would not recommend veneers as a treatment option for a price sensitive patient. The average life of such a treatment is shorter compared to other "conventional" treatment options. Unless you absolutely need it, I would not recommend it.

Bonding

Bonding is another technique for remedying gaps in your smile, as well as teeth that are chipped, cracked or stained. To "ramp up" your smile, the dentist will prepare an etching solution for your tooth or teeth. The solution is composed of special composite resin materials carefully chosen and blended to match your natural teeth. The materials are applied to your teeth, and then shaped into the right contours. Finally, they are hardened (or bonded) in place. Essentially, your dentist is caulking and/or sculpting a better-looking tooth. Bonded teeth should look like improved versions of your own teeth.

Consult with your dentist about whether bonding is appropriate and affordable for you. Do not forget to outline treatment warranties in writing, i.e. what happens if this does not work? Would you get the funds spent applied against any other alternative treatments? Chances are after asking all those questions your dentist would not suggest performing a procedure unless he really believes it to be a good investment for you.

Tooth Whitening

As you grow older, you are more likely to find your teeth stained and discolored. Years of smoking, tobacco chewing, coffee and tea drinking, and the ingestion of other foods and beverages, including certain fruits, will stain your teeth. Medications may also discolor your teeth, as will ordinary wear and tear.

Tooth whitening is a popular and cost-effective way to combat tooth discoloration, but there are a few caveats.

Your dentist may suggest performing the procedure in his office. "Chair side bleaching" may require more than one office visit, each lasting between 30 and 60 minutes. During bleaching, the dentist will apply either a protective gel to your gums or a rubber shield to protect the soft tissues of your mouth. A bleaching agent is then applied to the teeth, and a special light may be used to enhance the action of the agent.

It is best to have the whitening procedure done in your dentists office since at-home whitening kits can have side effects which can aggravate your teeth and gums.