Cosmetic Dentistry in Victoria, BC

Creating a smile that is just right for you.

We all know that smiling is good for us. Research has shown the connection between oral health and overall physical well being¹. Smiling shows the world that we are happy, confident and engaging. Being able to smile freely can help at work, with partners² and even with our mental and physical health.

After the eyes, the smile is where we focus our gaze when meeting new people. Most people believe that having a pleasing smile will improve their confidence. A smile can communicate so much in so many situations, and yet many people have trained themselves not to smile because they are embarrassed to show their teeth.

A study by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry showed that well over 95% of respondents believed that an attractive smile is a social asset and makes a person more appealing. Furthermore, three quarters of respondents felt that an unattractive smile could hinder a person's level of career success. Fortunately, there are many ways to improve your smile. Cosmetic dentistry is no longer just the domain of models and movie stars.
This is one of the most exciting areas of dentistry. And it is certainly NOT just about veneers...

For us, helping people create a smile that they can be proud of and want to share with the world is one the most exciting parts of being in a dental team. Cosmetic dentistry is about creating positive changes to the teeth, mouth and smile to compliment a healthy lifestyle. We feel that it is important to take the time to examine the nuances of your current oral health and smile and work towards a common goal of improving both.

Do you ever hide your smile?

“Fashions fade, style is eternal.” - Yves Saint Laurent.

We prefer: "Fashions fade, a smile is eternal."

We feel that there should not be a reason to permanently miss out on smiling. There may be numerous reasons why your smile and the general health of your teeth might not be what you would desire: staining or tooth decay, tooth loss, smoking, age-related tooth concerns, poor alignment, to name a few. Based on your needs, cosmetic dentistry right here in Victoria has created solutions to address the issues of dark, stained, chipped, broken, decayed and even missing teeth.

It all starts with a plan. Come in to see your dentist for a relaxed and comfortable discussion regarding your aesthetic ideas. There is never only one way to reach a destination. Once your goals become clear, your cosmetic dentist can then use all the knowledge and tools at our disposal to formulate a plan to improve your smile.

What makes a perfect smile?

Creating a beautiful and harmonious smile is a mixture of art and science. For centuries, artists have struggled with creating the "perfect" face and smile. They have looked at mathematics and the golden proportion and music theory. Dentists and ceramists have taken some aspects of these theories to try and create a beautiful smile. However, it must be said that our ideas of beauty are shaped by our cultural and social lens. Ideals of beauty have changed since the days of the great master painters and their muses; today, models in any modern magazine or newspaper often represent what is thought of as the ideal. However, what makes a perfect smile really is in the "eye of the beholder", and is an individual preference. Your smile should be as individual as you. Julia Roberts' or Simon Cowell's teeth may grab headlines, but in our experience, a cookie cutter solution should be saved for cookies. To help you achieve your desired results, a plan or blueprint is essential for the creation of a harmonious smile. With new techniques in cosmetic dentistry that allow us to give you predictable and long lasting treatment to correct or enhance a smile, we can work with you to plan the changes in your smile that you desire – whether they be major changes or minor tweaks. Following a smile design, the plan can then be carried out immediately or over a longer period of time, knowing that we are always working towards an agreed upon goal.

Smile design…it is all about you!

Smile design starts outside the mouth. It starts from an honest discussion of what you are hoping to achieve. Are you looking for help with the colour, shape, presentation of the teeth or all of the above? Do you hope to have "Hollywood" teeth because that suits your personal style? Or would you rather people not be sure what has changed - achieving the experience of "something is different about you, did you get a new haircut?" For many of us, at one time we were happy with our teeth, but over time things have changed. Can we get back the look that we have lost?
In many cases, patients are not interested in having a major makeover. By finding out where you want to get to, we can often give choices of a number of ways to reach that destination. Cosmetic dentistry encompasses simple treatments such as whitening and cosmetic contouring to the more complicated changes such as full mouth reconstruction, all here in Victoria.

How would you like to see and choose your smile before we start?

Until we get to know you, we can only create results that will look amazing on a dental model. By creating a mock-up model or “prototype” of your desired smile, we can preview the smile together and determine if this is the smile for you. Once you feel confident that we understand your needs, we will be able to test or simulate the final results before any preparations begin. Using models of your teeth, we can show you in wax the way the teeth may look and function (called a diagnostic wax-up). Occasionally, photographs can be manipulated with special software to simulate a change. Both techniques are valid. However, until you can see the work in your mouth, it will still be difficult to assess the look, feel and function of the proposed work.

One of our favorite techniques is to directly build upon the teeth with unbonded composite resin (white filling material). This technique can serve as a great means to preview the proposed work in your own mouth, and can help to determine whether or not the new smile suits your facial shape, size and complexion. After the preview, the composite resin shells can be removed easily and painlessly. Once you are happy with the proposed changes, photographs and models of the composite resin can be made to use as a working blue print for future guidance. As the work progresses a diagnostic wax up and/or temporary restorations give further opportunities to make small changes. By taking the time to plan the journey, the process is easier, more pleasant and everyone will arrive at the right destination. If this is the type of treatment that you would like to receive, contact your Victoria, BC Cosmetic Dentist, Dr. Ngan Huynh, for a consultation.

References:

1. Oral health: A window to your overall health, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dental/DE00001

2. Crest & Oral-B Great Canadian Smile Survey, http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2011/08/c8700.html

The American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry - Consumer Studies - http://www.aacd.com/index.php?module=cms&page=752.

The Golden Proportion, Beauty and Dental Aesthetics - http://www.goldenmeangauge.co.uk/http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/EMAT6680/Parveen/GR_Dentistry.htm