Seeing a Cosmetic Dentist: The Hidden Benefits of Treatment

When you talk about the subject of going to see a cosmetic dentist, most people fall into one of two camps. The first camp is gung-ho about the concept of doing anything that improves their appearance and sees absolutely nothing wrong with paying for procedures that do just that. The second camp considers vanity work to be superficial and misguided. There may be some in a third camp who would consider tooth whitening or crowns, but have an innate fear of dental work in the first place. If you fall into one of the two latter categories, here are some of the benefits you could be missing out on. -Improved Confidence Even those who consider going to see a cosmetic dentist to be a sign of unhealthy vanity and superficiality probably don't realize how much importance they put on their own appearance. Unless you leave the house with your hair in a rat's nest, wearing a dirty shirt, and have only a passing familiarity with a razor, you are already doing things to conform to society's idea of beauty. And there's nothing wrong with that. Cultural norms can be broken now and then, but to abandon appearance altogether is to join a counter-culture. You may as well go live in a commune. If you aren't quite ready to take that step, you may want to think about how tooth whitening differs from hairspray. -Improved Dental Health Any cosmetic dentist will tell you that his or her procedures are designed to improve a patient's appearance, and nothing more. For some procedures, such as whitening, this is true. For others, however, there are ancillary health benefits to having them done. Take dental implants, for instance. This is a procedure performed by many in the industry as a significant upgrade from dentures. They not only look and feel better, but they can also prevent bone deterioration and tooth shift. A crown can keep a cracked tooth from experiencing further damage and prevent pain to the patient. -Improving Hygiene If you're going to spend a lot of money getting a procedure from a cosmetic dentist, are you really going to undo that work by failing to keep up with your regular dental appointments and adhering to a strict dental hygiene regimen? Few would. So it's not a stretch to say that getting work done through a cosmetic dentist can improve your dental hygiene. This has long lasting impact and can ensure that you keep a healthy set of teeth and gums for a long time to come.