One of our top requests at Maniscalco Cosmetic & General Dentistry is for a complete smile design. What is a smile design you might ask? A smile design is a combination of treatments given to you to help you achieve your desired smile. We recommend smile designs for patients who have multiple problems with their teeth or just dislike their smile. During our smile design consultation, Dr. Maniscalco will evaluate your smile and ask you about your likes and dislikes to create the perfect plan to give you your new smile. This may include anywhere from two cosmetic dentistry treatments to several. It’s truly up to you, your budget, and how much work needs to be done. Discover what a smile design at our Birmingham dental office can do for you.
What is a Smile Design?
Going further in depth, a smile design is exactly what it sounds like. We give your smile a makeover! Whether you have stained, gapped, crooked, cracked, broken, misaligned teeth or even a gummy smile, if you dislike your smile, we can find a way to help you fall in love with it again. With a combination of treatments, our dentist will do everything in his power to give you your desired smile. This can include both cosmetic treatments like dental bonding, porcelain veneers, some sort of orthodontics, teeth whitening or even a restorative treatment like dental crowns to restore both function and cosmetics. Smile designs are not restorative makeovers, they are entirely for cosmetics. Therefore, if you don’t like the appearance of your smile, a smile design can help you change that.
Problems that Can Be Solved with a Smile Design
A lot of our patients wonder what types of problems can be helped with a smile design. Although any problems that make you dislike your smile are ones we can help, these are the most common types:
- Unsightly Fillings – If you have old metal fillings, we can remove these and replace them with tooth-colored or composite fillings. This will make your teeth look more natural and you won’t feel the need to hide your smile all the time.
- Chipped, Cracked or Uneven Teeth – It’s rare that teeth are naturally perfect. Overtime chips, cracks or uneven teeth can occur from accidents or from grinding or clenching your teeth at night. These issues can be fixed with porcelain veneers, dental bonding or even dental crowns.
- Spacing and Alignment – If you have serious spacing and alignment problems, we have 4 different orthodontic treatments to choose from. In less severe cases, we might be able to mask these problems with a simple dental bonding or porcelain veneers treatment.
- Missing Teeth – Having missing teeth is not only a functionality problem, it’s a cosmetic issue. With dental implants, bridges or dentures, our dentist can help you replace your missing teeth so that you can smile and chew like normal once again.
- Discolored Teeth – Over time, teeth can become stained from age, foods, drinks or even medications. We can help your teeth shine brightly once again with one of our whitening treatments or in more severe cases, with porcelain veneers or dental crowns.
Whatever the problem may be with your teeth, we most likely have a cosmetic or restorative treatment that can help you fall in love with your smile.
Smile Design Procedure
If you have decided that you are ready to commit to a brand-new smile, it’s time to schedule your consultation with Dr. Maniscalco. If you’re interested in having a smile design, Dr. Maniscalco will first give you a dental exam. This may also involve x-rays. After your exam, Dr. Maniscalco will discuss what procedures he thinks will be the best option for giving you the smile you deserve. If you are missing teeth and are interested in dental implants, this may involve a CT scan to see if you have sufficient bone mass to complete the treatment. He will listen to your concerns, likes, dislikes and present the different options to you that can help you achieve your new smile. If you are on a budget, let him know ahead of time so that he can come up with affordable options for you. If you’re worried about the financing side, you should know that we have different payment plan options available so patients can pay for the procedures they need.
After you and Dr. Maniscalco have discussed your different options and you have decided which treatments you will have done, the treatments will either begin that day or we will schedule a follow-up appointment where your procedures will take place. Each patient’s treatment plan will be a bit different since each plan is personalized for that patient. Some patients may have a longer healing time, while others are in and out and have their brand new smile in place. All patients interested in having a smile design must have healthy teeth and gums. If they do not, we will need to treat any underlying problems before the smile design can be completed. Although we want our patients to have beautiful smiles, we want them to also have healthy smiles!
Caring for Your New Smile
Once your smile design has been done, you will need to take proper care of your new smile so it stays looking great! Although all patients will have different procedures done, we can recommend these aftercare instructions to all patients. First, be sure to brush and floss your teeth regularly. This means brushing at least twice a day, once at night, once in the morning. Flossing should be done once a day. These simple tasks can help keep your teeth and gums free from decay and bacteria as well as bad breath and other dental problems.
Practicing good dental hygiene at home will keep your smile looking great and your teeth as healthy as possible. In addition, we recommend you continue seeing us every 6 months for your dental exam and cleaning. Our exam and cleaning will help us nip problems in the bud and keep your teeth from of stuck on plaque and tartar. Aftercare is the best way to help your smile stay looking beautiful for years to come.