Whether you have teeth discolouration, broken teeth, missing teeth, or crooked smile, there are many options can give back your perfection smiles which can suit different budget and individual conditions.

When talking about smile makeover, many people often think of porcelain veneers. While porcelain veneer is a very good option, it is not the only option available to produce straight and beautiful smile. A true smile makeover combines many dental treatments, should tailored to each individual’s dental condition, personal preference and budget.

Before you consider cosmetic dental treatment to improve smile, it is strongly recommended to address your oral health conditions. In other word, your mouth needs to be healthy enough for cosmetic treatment. Smile makeover is much like house renovation, before we plan to refurbish the house, it is important to ensure the house is termite free, with good plumber system, broken walls repaired, and leaking roof fixed.

Here are the most common treatment options to different cosmetic concerns.

If you have teeth discolouration-Teeth whitening

• Options range from take home whitening kit, custom-fitted teeth whitening trays, or in-office teeth whitening
• Pharmacy or supermarket sold self-whitening gel usually cannot produce safe and long-lasting effects.
• If is a low-cost option to brighten your smile.
• Whitening option only suitable if you have discoloured teeth with no front fillings or no intrinsic teeth discolorations such tetracycline stain.

If you have teeth discolouration caused by stained fillings or other reasons not suitable for whitening – Tooth coloured fillings / bonding

• It is a low-cost option
• It is a quick treatment that usually does not grind down your teeth structure. Dentist will simply clean your teeth, rub with a bonding solution, apply composite resin (white filling material) in few layers to mimic tooth colour and shape to match your smile.
• It is a quick, easy, conservative and reversable option, however the downside is that the white filling material may chip and require repair, just like other dental fillings.

If you have crooked front teeth – Invisalign treatment (or braces )

• Before improving teeth colour and shape, we should always to put teeth in correct position. Clear Invisalign treatment can be an inconspicuous way to straighten uneven and crooked front teeth.
• Try to correct crooked teeth by veneer or crown means you teeth need to be grinded away to fit, it is unhealthy and also can cause seriously damage to your teeth.
• Combining clear Invisalign teeth straightening, whitening and white tooth coloured bonding can give you straight/even looking teeth in a healthy way.
• However, it does takes at least 20 weeks to achieve the results
  • Moderate cost, approx.$6000 – 7000

Finally, Dental porcelain veneers/ crowns

• It is layered porcelain that placed on teeth.
• It looks like natural teeth
• It is more durable than tooth coloured filling, can brighten and strengthening your smile to perfection.
• It can be quite costly to achieve perfect result as usually 6-8 front teeth need to be done at once. Cost approx. $9000 – 10 000
• It is also slight invasive as the dentist need to grind down a thin layer of teeth to make space for the porcelain layer to fit. It can correct mild uneven teeth but not moderate to severe crowding. If you have severely crooked front teeth, to cut down too much of teeth to make the veneer work will result serious teeth damage.

In short, cosmetic dental treatment should tailored to each individual’s dental condition, treatment goals and budget. The best place to start is to discuss with your dentist to choose the options suit you the most.   Call John Street Dental on 3284 4281 for an appointment or Book Online