Aesthetic dentistry

In addition to chewing and producing sounds, teeth have an aesthetic function as they are one of the elements of human appearance. The perception of aesthetics is very individual and changes over time. Much depends on our own convictions and those of the people around us, but, if necessary, it is certainly possible to change the colour and shape of your teeth. Using modern technologies, our clinic can achieve a truly natural look for artificial teeth, but of course, maintaining this beauty requires constant effort from both doctors and patients.

If teeth are healthy and only need to be lightened a few shades, thorough cleaning of surface pigments and additional whitening with special medications are performed (see “Teeth whitening”).

The colour and shape of teeth can be changed radically by covering them with ceramic prostheses or composite (helium) fillings of the desired colour and shape. This is most often done when teeth are damaged by tooth decay or other diseases. Covering the surface of teeth with fillings is also called aesthetic filling. This is a quick way to adjust the colour and shape of teeth. However, over time, the negative properties of the filling material become apparent. With time, fillings change colour, turn grey, and attract plaque and pigments. Aesthetic filling is therefore best used to correct minor defects. If a larger area of the tooth surface needs to be covered, a more long-lasting and natural result can be achieved with ceramics.

If only the shape of the front tooth surface is unacceptable, but the tooth is not discoloured, only the front surface is covered with a pure ceramic laminate. If a larger part of the tooth surface is damaged, the entire crown is replaced. If we are looking for a lower-cost aesthetic restoration or need to mask a very dark tooth, metal-ceramic crowns without a metal rim on the front surface of the prosthesis near the gums are used. If the teeth are not discoloured, the most natural aesthetics are achieved by prosthetics using more transparent metal-free glass ceramic crowns. If teeth are missing and metal-free ceramic bridge prostheses need to be fabricated or a darker tooth needs to be masked, zirconium oxide metal-free ceramics are used. The optical properties of this material, and therefore its natural appearance, are inferior to those of glass ceramic prostheses (for more information, see “Dental prosthetics”).

The method of adjusting the colour and shape of teeth must therefore be chosen by a dentist who is highly knowledgeable about the properties of the materials used and who takes each individual case into account.