Aesthetic Dentistry or Cosmetic Dentistry

You may have seen or heard the term “cosmetic dentistry” or “aesthetic dentistry” and thought it was just about looks. Like you might think of cosmetic surgery. And while it’s undeniably true that aesthetic dentistry can improve the look of your teeth – and your smile – just like cosmetic surgery, the results of aesthetic dentistry go much deeper than just your outward appearance.

What is Aesthetic Dentistry?

While “traditional dentistry” focuses on oral hygiene and the treatment of dental diseases like gum disease, “aesthetic dentistry”, typically called cosmetic dentistry, focuses on improving the overall appearance of your teeth and smile.

Both types of dental treatment play an important role in protecting your oral health, and overall health.

Key Benefits of Aesthetic Dentistry / Cosmetic Dentistry

Uneven or overlapping teeth, large spaces between teeth, missing teeth – these types of problems can cause pain when you are eating, increase wear on your teeth, cause jaw pain, make your speech sound slurred, and even age your appearance. Stained or darkened teeth can make us hide our smile or even laugh a little less.

Choosing the right cosmetic or aesthetic dentistry procedure to correct these problems can improve your everyday life, and your overall health. Our previous blog Cosmetic Dentistry: The Art of Smile Enhancement discussed the various offerings we have available to help improve the look of your teeth and correct your bite.

Unsure what aesthetic dentistry procedure is right for you? Discuss your options with your dentist, and don’t be afraid to get a second opinion if you need one.

Aesthetic Dentistry – The Overall Benefits of Smiling and Laughing

When discussing aesthetic dentistry, it’s important not to discount the vital health benefits of smiling and laughing.

Today we look at ourselves more than ever – whether you are looking in the mirror, seeing your image in selfies or social media, or seeing your face during a Zoom meeting. If you are embarrassed about problems with your teeth, you may hide your smile, feel embarrassed or look and feel less confident. And this can have an impact on your overall mental health as well.

A healthy, confident smile can not only boost your self-confidence, it can improve how you are perceived by others…and possibly even help you live longer!

Other benefits of smiling include:

Reduced stress – smiling can help release endorphins in your brain that help lower stress, reduce pain, and decrease depression and anxiety.
Improved job performance – happiness has a measurable effect on your productivity at work, and optimism can boost your creativity.
Creating a positive impact on others – as the saying goes, “when you smile, the world smiles with you,” and there’s increasing scientific evidence to show that you feel happier when others smile at you, and your smile affects those around you.

All this goes to show that if aesthetic dentistry helps you smile more confidently and more often, it could help you enhance other areas of your life as well.

Choose Midland Bay Dental for Lasting Benefits of Aesthetic Dentistry

At Midland Bay Dental, we’ve been taking care of patients in the Midland, Ontario community for almost 50 years. We pride ourselves in offering professional, caring, and friendly dental services, recommending only procedures that we believe our patients truly need. If you have missing, chipped, cracked or misshapen teeth, want to whiten your teeth, or are simply looking for a great family dentist, book an appointment with us online, or call us today at (705) 526-6441.

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