Discolored, crooked, or uneven teeth can make you feel bad about your smile. Thankfully, there is a wide range of cosmetic dentistry treatment options to address your dental concerns and enhance the appearance of your smile.
Dr. S. Jeremy Tu and our team at Design Dental offer a full range of cosmetic dentistry treatments to help improve patients’ smiles, allowing them to smile confidently again. Whether you seek a dramatic or a subtle change in your smile, we have the tools, technology, and experience to help you reach your cosmetic goals.
Our dental care team believes every smile is unique, so we strive to deliver personalized smile makeovers in our North Liberty, IA dentist office. We invite you to visit Design Dental for your cosmetic consultation today. North Liberty cosmetic dentist Dr. Tu and our dental care team can work with you to get you one step closer to the smile of your dreams.
Is Cosmetic Dentistry Right For Me?
At its core, cosmetic dentistry aims to improve the appearance of the teeth, gums, and bite. This may involve addressing the smile’s alignment, shape, color, size, and overall appearance.
While everyone can receive cosmetic dentistry, it is important that the teeth are free of decay, gum disease, and any other issues before you receive your treatment. Dr. Tu offers various dental services if you have tooth or gum problems. At Design Dental, the health and function of your smile are just as important as the appearance. We offer a complete range of services to improve the health and beauty of your natural smile.
To determine which services are right for you, Dr. Tu will perform a full dental evaluation, discuss your needs and goals, and explore all viable treatment options during your consultation.
Cosmetic Dentistry in North Liberty, IA
Do you have stained, uneven, or damaged teeth?
Cosmetic dentistry can help restore beauty to your natural smile. Under the care of an experienced cosmetic dentist like Dr. Tu, you can rest assured that you’re in good hands. Dr. Tu takes a personalized approach to every aspect of dentistry. Your experience, goals, and expectations are important to our team here at Design Dental.
Your cosmetic consultation begins with a one-on-one conversation with Dr. Tu. We will discuss your goals, expectations, budget, and lifestyle during this time. Next, Dr. Tu will evaluate the condition of your teeth, gums, and jaw. We will determine if you need any treatment before your cosmetic procedure.
Once the evaluation is completed, we can begin to explore your treatment options. Depending on your needs, we may recommend one or more of the following cosmetic treatments to build your smile makeover plan:
Porcelain Veneers
These thin ceramic shells are adhered to the front and side of the teeth to create a more aesthetically pleasing smile. Dental Veneers can address stained, uneven, slightly misaligned, and chipped teeth.
Teeth Whitening
Professional teeth whitening gives dull, stained, and discolored teeth a whiter, brighter glow. You can achieve a whiter smile in just one visit to our North Liberty dental office.
Teeth Bonding
Dental bonding is a simple, quick cosmetic procedure that can address stained, chipped, even, and gapped teeth — this cosmetic solution is ideal for patients of all ages.
Botox
Dr. Tu has training in the placement of Botox injections. Complete a smile makeover or rejuvenate your appearance.
Cosmetic Dentistry Benefits
When patients come in for cosmetic dentistry, they don’t like something in the look of their smile. While cosmetic dentistry focuses on correcting the aesthetics of your smile, it comes with many other benefits.
Mental and Emotional Benefits
Your smile plays a big part in your self-confidence. It’s one of the first things people see when they meet someone. When you’re in public and talking to people, you should be focused on the conversation and enjoying yourself, not trying to hide your smile. A good smile boosts your self-esteem and confidence, changing how you present and project yourself publicly. Just smiling more gives your brain a little spike of serotonin.
Your smile can also impact your relationships, both personal and professional. It can contribute to better job prospects and interactions with coworkers and superiors. You project more confidence when interviewing for a new position or promotion. Personally, people are more likely to want to chat with someone who projects a happy, confident air. Relationships can improve in every aspect of your life.
Improved Oral Function
Not only does cosmetic dentistry fix aesthetics, but it can impact your oral function, too. Many cosmetic dental issues have underlying roots in oral health problems.
For example, evening out your smile with porcelain veneers improves your bite and can help avoid issues with TMJ. When you have an uneven bite, your jawbone doesn’t track correctly. It slowly breaks the jaw joint down when it doesn’t track smoothly. This can cause pain and tension throughout the face and head, cause your jaw to pop and click when moving it, or get stuck in certain positions. Correcting your bite makes the jaw joint balanced so that it tracks smoothly.
Dental bonding or porcelain veneers can help fortify weaker teeth. If your tooth has experienced extensive enamel erosion, a veneer’s thin layer of porcelain can strengthen the tooth and avoid further deterioration. Dental bonding fills out the area of a tooth that’s broken or chipped off. It strengthens the tooth but also ensures you don’t experience pain from exposed dental nerves.
Cosmetic Dentistry FAQs
Cosmetic dentistry transforms the appearance of your smile. Read the answers to these commonly asked questions to learn more.
What’s the difference between general and cosmetic dentistry?
General dentistry focuses on maintaining oral health. Regular preventative care reduces the likelihood of complex dental problems in the future. Cosmetic dentistry focuses on the aesthetics of your smile. We aim to give you a bright and symmetrical smile. Though it focuses on looks, cosmetic care can relieve oral health problems.
What’s the most popular cosmetic dentistry service?
Teeth whitening is the most popular. It’s a non-invasive treatment option that has drastic results. Professional teeth whitening in our office can brighten your teeth up to eight shades in just an hour at our office. It’s also one of the more affordable treatment options because it’s non-invasive and fast.
Is cosmetic dentistry permanent?
No cosmetic procedure is permanent. The time they last depends on the service, lifestyle habits, and genetics. On average, teeth whitening lasts anywhere from a few months to a year, while porcelain veneers are longer-lasting and last 10-15 years or more. When creating your personalized treatment plan, we’ll estimate how long your treatment should last.
Does cosmetic dentistry hurt?
No cosmetic procedure should be painful. We use a local anesthetic for almost every procedure to ensure your comfort throughout. The most you should feel is some sensitivity in the days after the procedure. With porcelain veneers, we remove a layer of tooth enamel, making your teeth more sensitive to hot and cold beverages and other triggers. If this doesn’t dissipate within a few days, or you have severe pain, call our office immediately.
Does dental insurance cover cosmetic dentistry?
No, insurance doesn’t usually cover cosmetic procedures. They’re seen as a want, not a need because they aren’t a treatment for oral health benefits. However, if you need dental bonding for restorative purposes, insurance may cover some of the procedure. We’ll always communicate with your insurance and help you get the best affordable care for your smile.
Am I a good candidate for cosmetic dentistry?
Many patients are good candidates for cosmetic dentistry. However, we must treat oral health issues before proceeding with cosmetic treatment. If you have conditions like tooth decay or gum disease, we must treat them first. Oral health problems can cause complications with cosmetic procedures. Patients also have to have an adequate budget or get financing to pay for treatment without insurance coverage.
Schedule A Cosmetic Dentistry Consult
If you are looking for an experienced cosmetic dentist in North Liberty, IA, visit Dr. Tu at Design Dental. Our team is committed to helping you reach your cosmetic goals through patient-focused, high-quality dentistry. To learn more about your cosmetic dentistry treatment options or to schedule a consultation, call (319) 284-4361 or request an appointment online. Dr. Tu also welcomes new cosmetic dentistry patients from Cedar Rapids, IA.