Cosmetic Smile Simulation

Now you can see your new smile before any work is done!

How great would it be to know what you could look like through cosmetic dentistry before going through the whole procedure?

Not only is it possible, but we do it every day and our patients love it. New software for digital imaging has made it able for us to show you your new smile in just a few minutes.

It is really amazing to see how a smile

makes a difference in the overall facial features.

Our patient Becky had veneers that she wasn't happy with. They had

become crowded and weren't

the color she wanted them to be.

She wanted to fix them but wasn't sure if new veneers would make much of a difference.

So we took some pictures and designed a new smile. It may not be zoomed in enough to appreciate how much better it looks and how it improves the facial features.

What is even more exciting is that because of the amazing labs we use to create our veneers, we can reproduce what is shown in the simulation.

So it isn't just a picture to look at and think, "That would be nice if it could be like that." It can look like that. Or we can make any modifications you want.

Before we even start we go

through a sort of "catalogue" of teeth to pick out the shapes you want. Or you can bring in a picture of a celebrity and we can match their smile.

This is Becky's picture after treatment. She actually brought in pictures of Catherine Zeta-Jones' smile for us to create. With cosmetic dentistry these days, you can completely design your smile to look exactly how you want.

We always offer completely free cosmetic consults and we will even do smile simulations at no charge. We want anyone who is interested in enhancing their smile to see how they can look.

Give us a call any time if you are interested!

480-892-1711

You can also see other cases we've completed by clicking here: Gilbert Cosmetic Dentist

Invisalign - The Clear Revolution

By now I'm sure everyone has heard of Invisalign Clear Braces.

I just wanted to add my excitement to the mix. Our office has become one of the preferred Invisalign providers in Gilbert and Mesa because we love to offer this procedure so much.

We all have a little crowding, whether we already

had braces as a kid or not. And most of us would

love to fix it but there is no way your getting us

back into those metal wires again.

But now there is an incredible, clear way to restore our straight teeth to their former glory!

Invisalign straightens the teeth through a series of thin, clear, plastic trays that fit right over your teeth and are practically invisible.

Check out the special report I wrote on

"Invisalign - The 7 Amazing Benefits Your Orthodontist Isn't Telling You About"

Ask your dentist about Invisalign. Compared to metal braces

it is cheaper, faster, looks better, and removeable.

What more could you ask for?

Feel free to browse other special reports at

our website by following this link:

Lakeside Cosmetic Dentistry

Blog on Our Official Website

Hey there! Hope you enjoyed the "Dancing Molars" post. I started a blog on our official office website as well that covers some of the different questions that patients have had. Feel free to check it out or e-mail me if you have any questions you would like to have answered.

Thanks! Here's the link:

http://www.lakesidesmiles.com/blog/Blog.htm

Dancing Molars

   Sometimes teeth have roots that go every direction. Every once in a while we get what I call "dancing molars". Aren't they cute. They are so happy to have been removed from someone's mouth. If you send in money, I will tell them to do tricks for you!

Had Your Silvers Checked Lately?

Because I'm boring and can't come up with an original interesting blog on my own, I will just show some pictures of something we saw in the office this week.

So when we were kids, most of us got amalgam or "silver" fillings at some point. Silver fillings can last a really long time but when they decide to go, they go down in a blaze of glory.

Let's examine further...

Here is a tooth with a rather small silver filling. Our patient was complaining that it hurt when he chewed. Many older silver fillings break down around the edges and pull away from the tooth. This causes the filling to act like a wedge every time you bite down. The results are the fracture lines you see radiating from the angles of the filling towards the sides of the tooth. It doesn't look like much but many times these cracks run onto the root of the tooth which causes a lot of pain when you chew and the tooth flexes apart.

So when we started to remove the filling and see where the cracks went, the entire corner of the tooth literally fell off without any effort. The cracks had run across the floor of the tooth and to the other side. Luckily, the tooth fractured above the bone level and didn't involve the nerve so it can be repaired with a crown. Worst case scenario means the tooth needs to be removed or needs a root canal to save it.

The Finished Result

It's nice that we can repair these teeth with such a natural appearance and in a way that will last a long time. This is a porcelain crown that will bite and function just like the original tooth did.

The Moral of the Story

So make sure you have your dentist check your old silver fillings to see if you have any fractures. I see them in about 75% of teeth with silver fillings over 10 years old.

If you catch them on time, you can fix them with a filling or sometimes a crown. If you wait too long then you run the risk of needing a root canal or losing the tooth. And we don't want that!
Get them checked!

How to do a Smile Makeover at Home

So our favorite procedure in the office is the Smile Makeover. On "Smile Makeover Day" everybody in the office is giddy with joy and excitement. If you've ever seen the movie "Empire Records", it is kind of like Rex Manning Day.

Anyway, here is a photo/dialogue of how to do a smile makeover, in case you wanted to try it at home.

Warning: Some of the pictures of the prepared teeth may shock you but just look at the end result!

This is our patient "Robin" (name changed to protect the innocent.
She didn't like the color and shape of her existing crowns and natural teeth.

Step 1: We put her picture in the computer and design a smile simulation so she can see what she could look like with a new smile. I love how much younger patrients look!

Step 2: Recontour the teeth to make room for the new all-porcelain crowns and veneers. When we started taking off her crowns we found that one had a fracture through the root and so the entire tooth needed to be removed! We replaced the tooth with a porcelain bridge.

Step 3: Once the teeth have been recontoured enough to make room for the new porcelain crowns, we use color mapping to determine the shade of the teeth and how to blend the porcelain colors to give her the desired color she wants.

I know it doesn't look pretty at this stage. This is usually when patients ask to go to the bathroom and I tell them not to look in the mirror but they do anyway and then they come back all freaked out and start to wonder if I am legit or just some guy off the street with a drill.

Step 4: Next, we put on her temporaries that are roughly the shape her permanent crowns and veneers will be. This way she can get a preview and still make any changes she wants to. Some patients cry when they see their temporaries because they look way better than what they had.

Before: After:

Step 5: Two weeks later, we put in her new smile and, voila!, a happy patient! (No, the small band-aid is not from where I slipped with the drill.) Look at how much more natural and pretty her smile looks in the final picture.

So there you have it; the easy, at-home, do-it-yourself, step-by-step procedure manual for your very own smile makeover. Call your friends and have a smile makeover party. As you can see, it is an easy 5-step process.

Hate When People Don't Update

Don't you hate when people don't update their blog in forever. Ridiculous. Anyway, I need to get more on top of this so people with nothing better to do can see what goes on behind the scenes at our dental office.
I will have pictures to post this weekend...maybe...if I get around to it....