Your smile can be one of the first things a person notices about you. It is a great conversation starter when you are meeting someone new, presenting a client or customer, or simply hanging out with the people you know and love. In fact, feeling comfortable with your smile can make you feel at ease with yourself and your surroundings. When patients come to Stephens Dentistry to pursue cosmetic dentistry, we want to help them feel relaxed, comfortable, and confident about the way they look. Through customized treatment plans and modern cosmetic options, our office helps people in Evanston, IL achieve cosmetic results that appear natural and that will boost confidence for years to come.
Cosmetic Dentistry & Self-Confidence
Many patients are unhappy with the appearance of a stained or discolored tooth, chipped teeth, crooked teeth, missing teeth, uneven spacing between their teeth, worn enamel, or other dental issues that prevent them from looking or feeling their best. While these cosmetic issues can seem minor to a dentist, they can make patients feel insecure about their teeth in day-to-day living or when they meet new people. Many patients even avoid smiling, showing their teeth, or speaking out loudly in group settings for fear of how they look to the people around them.
Cosmetic dentistry helps patients to create the smile they want. A dentist uses cosmetic tools and techniques to improve the appearance of their patient’s teeth and gums so that they can feel comfortable, happy, and confident when they meet new people, speak out loud with friends and colleagues, or show off their smile in the mirror and in pictures.
The Connection Between Your Smile & Self-Confidence
Cosmetic improvements don’t always have to be drastic for patients to notice a difference. Even minor cosmetic treatments can lead to dramatic changes in the way a patient sees himself or herself. A whiter smile can make a person’s teeth appear much younger. The correction of minor chips in teeth can make teeth appear more symmetrical and attractive. Closing small spaces between teeth can make smiles look fuller and more complete. In many cases, small changes like this can add to a person’s happiness, health, and overall well-being.
The way others first judge a new person’s personality or attitude can be heavily influenced by that person’s smile. A person with a great-looking smile may come off as happy or outgoing, which can create a good first impression and lead to better social relationships. Of course, no dentist would ever strive to “perfect” a patient’s teeth through cosmetic means. Rather, the goal of cosmetic dentistry is to help a patient feel the best that they can with how they currently appear. That is why many of our patients come to our office seeking cosmetic treatment in preparation for:
- Major life moments (such as graduations, anniversaries, weddings, or birthdays)
- Special events (like family pictures or vacations)
- Major career or business decisions
- First job interviews
- Public speaking engagements
- Professional networking events
It may seem like cosmetic procedures have nothing to do with professional or business decisions, but it is all about being comfortable in your own skin. A patient may find that if they feel happy and relaxed in their own skin (and about their own appearance) they are better able to focus on other important matters than on their teeth or how they might look to a stranger.
What Your Cosmetic Goals Will Tell Your Dentist
Every patient who comes to our dental office is different, as is every person’s personal or professional life. That is why our treatment process begins by asking you what you would like to see happen in your smile, teeth, and gums. A few of our patients might come in looking for a dental whitening treatment to improve the brightness of their smile or someone with old fillings or crowns might want to have a dentist replace that dental work with newer products to create a brighter smile. Other people might want to straighten their teeth or close spaces between teeth to have a full and symmetrical look to their smile.
Once we’ve discussed the ways that you would like to improve your smile, our dentists can begin to work with you to create a treatment plan for you that best fits your goals and lifestyle.
Creating A Natural-Looking Smile
The end goal of a successful cosmetic treatment is to have people focus on your face and your smile rather than on the specific treatment that your dentist used to create your new look. By planning out exactly how much you want to change, you can make your smile look beautiful but still natural. We want your cosmetic improvements to look balanced, nice-looking, and natural so that you don’t end up looking like a total stranger. Our idea is for you to look like a better version of yourself. Some common cosmetic treatments you can consider include:
- Teeth whitening and smile brightening – If you drink coffee, tea, or wine, smoke, or are simply getting older, you may have years of buildup that make your teeth look darker. Brightening your smile could just be a quick trip to our office to make it look like a new smile and give you greater confidence.
- Porcelain veneers and smile refinement – These can help with problems including discoloration, chipped teeth, slightly large gaps, teeth that aren’t quite the right shape, and more. Veneers are just one option that can provide you with a nice-looking, natural smile makeover.
- Cosmetic bonding and minor corrections – Bonding can help with small chips, slightly large gaps, or teeth that need to look better. It requires very little alteration of your tooth and can produce great results.
- Alignment improvements – Your teeth usually look better when they are straighter. Straight teeth often look better than crooked teeth. Orthodontics can help correct your alignment problems and even improve your oral health and your bite in the process.
The Emotional Impact Of Loving Your Smile
It can really benefit you emotionally to feel good about your smile. Many patients say they love their smile more. They smile more in photos, are more comfortable when they are socializing, are more confident in their work life, feel more at ease when talking to people, and are generally happier about how they look. Cosmetic dentistry may not completely change the way you feel about yourself, but it can eliminate a nagging worry about your appearance that you have had for many years.
Maintaining Your Confidence With Regular Care
Maintaining your smile is important. If you visit your dentist regularly, get regular cleanings, follow through with your home care plan, and have a dentist who checks on your dental health promptly, you are doing what is needed to preserve your smile and your confidence. During those regular checkups, we may do things like dental x-rays and other diagnostic tests to check on the health of your teeth and gums. By taking good care of your teeth and by visiting your dentist regularly, you will be able to enjoy the results of your cosmetic dentistry for many years.
Choosing Stephens Dentistry For
Cosmetic Dentistry
Choosing to have cosmetic dentistry with us means finding a dentist that is able to really listen to your requests and understand the type of smile that you would like. We take care of our patients by listening to their problems and by helping them understand what dental treatments can best help them. We are dedicated to helping you achieve the dental work you want while protecting the long-term dental health and stability of your smile. If you are thinking about improving your smile, we would like to help. Please call to schedule a dental visit or to schedule a consultation in Evanston, IL.