When we think of a dentist, we often think of incessant picking, poking, and prodding with oddly shaped tools and unsettling drills. Unfortunately, there is a whole other side of dentistry that is thrown by the wayside when the profession is brought up. This other side of dentistry is called cosmetic dentistry, and its purpose is to help patients get the smiles that they want through treatments and services. Here are a couple of the more popular things that these dentists help their patients achieve.

A Whiter Smile
There is no doubt that many of us do not have the whitest smiles that we can. Some of us are ritualistic coffee and soda drinkers, causing our smiles to yellow. Some of us just have bad genes or are facing the reality of old age. With that, smiles can also start to lose their color. Luckily, cosmetic dental work can help to correct this.

Bleaching is a very popular form used by dentists in order to whiten smiles. This works a lot like the whitening strips that you can find in your local drug store, but the effects are often longer lasting and safer with the supervision of a dentist. You often times only need to make one visit in order to see the effects of the work, which can be a relief to everyone with schedules far too busy for weekly appointments.

Replacements for Our Missing Teeth
Through the course of life, many of us will lose a few teeth. Whether they are lost because of cavities or because of a sports industry, a dentist can help us to replace them and return our smile to normal.

One way that this can be done is through the use of a bridge. A bridge is essentially a fake tooth made up of a variety of materials that is then hooked on to two of our real teeth. The tooth itself forms a “bridge” from one tooth to the next, and it fills in the gap where our missing tooth is. Another way that this can be done is with an implant. This procedure actually affixes a fake tooth to our jaw bone in order to fill in the gap created by our missing tooth.

A Straighter, More Aligned Smile
We all want a nice smile, and to have that we often have to have straight teeth. A dentist can help us with that. Braces are a very popular way to straighten out teeth. These can be done with the normal braces that we often see on teenagers, or through newer techniques, such as the invisible braces that we hear about. Straightening our smile can also be done through simple procedures, such as filling in gaps and placing veneers on our chipped teeth.

Dentists that work to improve the appearance of our teeth are no less important than those who help us fight cavities, and they are often the same people! This form of dentistry is an art, and whenever you want a straighter, whiter, and fuller smile, a cosmetic dentist is the place to go.