Cosmetic Dentistry in Bayonne and Jersey City, NJ and Staten Island, NY
Cosmetic dentistry is not only a specialization within dental medicine. Most of all it 's a philosophy which defines the way the dentist approaches every single procedure and the goals they set for success in each case. General dentistry aims to eliminate pain and discomfort, cure diseased tissue and restore function to damaged parts of the oral cavity. The cosmetic dentist takes it one step further and also aims for aesthetic effect.
The Philosophy
In short the philosophy behind cosmetic dentistry is: A great smile is crucial to a patient's well being.
This means that improving or conserving the way a patient looks is just as important as eliminating pain and disease. The reasoning behind this is very simple and sound. It is common knowledge that a person's mental health is directly linked to physical health. If one fails, the other soon follows and by improving one we can improve the other.
The smile has tremendous social and psychological importance. The so called social smile - a smile in response to seeing another person - is one of the first signs of correct brain development in infants. Later in life the smile serves as one of the basic nonverbal expressions, through which we communicate crucial emotions and social postures of joy, agreement, romantic interest, humor, friendliness and many more.
A person who is not happy with their smile becomes socially challenged. They cannot convey the same nonverbal information as the rest of society and they quickly become treated differently. Also, having to control one of the most basic social reflexes because of being unhappy with the way one looks is very straining on the psyche. All of this causes stress, which is a serious health risk.
By restoring or even improving a person's smile the cosmetic dentist contributes to healthy psychological development. We deeply believe that by helping to raise our patients' self esteem we not only improve their quality of life but we contribute to their total well being.
The Procedures
Aside from the philosophy and concentration on the aesthetic; most cosmetic dental procedures are basically the same general procedures used in every day dentistry.
Most commonly they are:
- tooth colored dental restorations
- fillings for drilled-out and weakened teeth,
- crowns and bridges for cracked, broken and missing teeth
- dental implants
- gum surgery
The cosmetic dentist will always perform these with the patient's health and the patient's looks in mind. This might mean taking more time to match the color of the filling or crown to the patient's natural tooth color. Sometimes it means fighting harder to save a tooth from extraction, where another dentist would simply remove it to save time. Mostly cosmetic dentistry boils down to choices made during treatment. It usually requires a little extra patience and work, but the results are well worth it.
There are also some elective dental procedures done specifically to improve the patient's looks.
These are exclusively the domain of cosmetic dentistry:
- teeth whitening
- porcelain veneers
- tooth bonding
- tooth contouring and reshaping
- cosmetic gum surgery
Dr.Zielinska is able to perform most of these procedures on site. Sometimes a patient needs to be referred to a specialist - an orthodontist or a surgeon. We will refer them to only the finest dental care providers in northern New Jersey.
If you are curious about the various dental procedures we perform - cosmetic and otherwise - please visit the SERVICES part of our website for more detailed information. For information on the tools we use you can visit the TECHNOLOGY section. Or just GIVE US A CALL and a member of our staff will gladly answer your questions.