Recent studies have shown that a whopping one-third of American adults don’t love the look of their smiles.
As a dental professional, you do everything that you can to prevent things like cavities, tooth decay, and gum disease. But you’d also like to learn more about how you can offer cosmetic dental procedures to patients whose poor teeth make them feel insecure and even depressed.
But which cosmetic dentistry procedures should you offer?
That’s what this post is all about.
Read on to learn about some of the most popular cosmetic procedures that your practice should offer.
1. Invisalign
Invisalign is the perfect alternative to cosmetic teeth surgery.
Instead of having to get porcelain veneers or braces (which can be embarrassing for many adults), Invisalign allows your patients to straighten their teeth without anyone being the wiser.
Your practice will work to take a mold off the patient’s teeth and then will send it off to have transparent trays specifically made to gradually — but no less effectively — straighten the teeth.
These aligners are non-invasive, easy to wear and clean, and move teeth into their proper position with each set the patient graduates to.
See more about how the process works, the cost associated with the aligners, and what you’ll need to tell your patients about how to care for their Invisalign on the Damira dental website.
2. Teeth Whitening Services
Over 80% of Americans polled stated that they want to have whiter teeth.
In fact, teeth whitening is the most popular cosmetic dental care procedure that patients request when they meet with their dentists.
The takeaway here?
Not only will teeth whitening help your patients to feel better about themselves. It’s also the perfect way to bring some serious income into your practice.
There are several different types of teeth whitening that your practice can offer to patients.
First of all, as you’d do with Invisalign, you can create a mold of your patient’s teeth and provide them with at-home whitening trays. They’ll fill these molds with a whitening solution, and wear the trays for a few hours in the evening.
However, this type of teeth whitening can take a while to give the kinds of results many patients will want.
For those who are looking to dramatically whiten their teeth as quickly as possible, you can offer an in-office whitening treatment that uses concentrated peroxide, lasers, and more.
In some cases, you may even be able to whiten a patient’s teeth by up to 12 shades through an in-office whitening treatment.
3. Veneers
In some cases, your patients will have teeth that are so discolored and damaged, that the best cosmetic dental procedures for them will likely be veneers.
You have two options here: composite or porcelain, with the latter being the more natural-looking and popular option.
In a nutshell, the veneers are actually bonded to the patient’s natural tooth, to correct any cracks, chips, and severe brown spots or yellow stains on the teeth.
Veneers are a much more preferable option than dentures, as they don’t need to be removed and cleaned. Instead, they simply feel like a natural tooth.
They can even help those who have lots of gaps in between the teeth.
However, this is a much more expensive cosmetic dentistry procedure than whitening or other treatments you may offer. In some cases, let your patients know that their insurance may cover at least a portion of the cost of their veneers.
4. Dental Implants
Tooth loss is a problem that impacts everyone, but older patients especially are vulnerable to losing entire teeth.
This can make your patients feel insecure, embarrassed about smiling or laughing, and even make it hard for them to hold eye contact with others.
As a dental professional, we know that you want to be able to help them.
The solution?
Dental implants.
These implants are actually replacements for the tooth, and they go directly into the sockets of where the old teeth were. Then, over time, the jawbone will grow up and around the implant, locking it into place.
The artificial tooth will then function — and look — just as great as their real one did!
5. A Total Smile Makeover
Sometimes, your patients will want to completely transform the look of their mouths.
However, the state of their teeth and gums has deteriorated so much, that more than one piece of cosmetic dental work is needed to rectify the issue.
Enter the smile makeover, which combines several procedures. The makeover will usually include whitening, bonding, and in some cases, sculpting of existing teeth.
If the issues in the mouth are less cosmetic and more functional, then you may need to help to correct a patient’s but and even their overall bone structure. Often, a reconstruction procedure will need to take place over the course of several dental appointments.
Which of These Cosmetic Dental Procedures will you Offer?
We hope that this post has inspired you to offer at least a few of these five cosmetic dental procedures to your patients.
While things like proper oral hygiene and consistent dental check-ups are important, sometimes, the problem is already too great to remedy with a simple cleaning.
However, as you can see from the procedures in this post, it is possible to help your patients to avoid having to undergo surgery to correct their smiles.
Looking for more advice about how to grow your practice? Would you like to get information about continuing education so you can learn how to perform cosmetic dental work?
Be sure to check out our website to learn even more ways to make your practice the best it can be.