Aesthetics in Dentistry

We can examine aesthetics in dentistry in two parts.
1- White aesthetic
2- Pink aesthetic

When we say ‘white’ aesthetics, we examine the color, size, order and shapes of the teeth. We need to understand whether the patients who apply to us for aesthetics are primarily unhappy with the color of the teeth or the shape or position of the teeth. 80% of our patients who come to our clinic for aesthetic purposes express their unhappiness due to the color of their teeth. Nowadays, with the bleaching system, problems related to tooth color can be eliminated. We can lighten the tooth color of our patients by one or two shades with this method. Bleaching, that is, whitening treatments consist of two types, the type that can be applied at the clinic, which we call the ‘office,’ and the type that can be applied at home, which we call ‘home.’ These two types of applications should definitely be applied under the recommendation of a physician. According to the expectations of our patients, we can sometimes recommend home bleaching in addition to office bleaching. The whitening we apply in the clinic can be applied with chemical agents under intense light called laser, or it can be done without the laser, by applying chemical agents directly on the tooth and waiting a certain period of time. These procedures can be applied for a couple of sessions until the expectations of our patient are met. Sometimes we can also support it with home bleaching. While carrying out the whitening process, we first investigate whether our patient and tooth structure are suitable. It should be thoroughly investigated whether our patient smokes, has enamel cracks in his/her teeth, whether he/she has colored white fillings, and whether he/she is sensitive to hot or cold. We don’t prefer applying whitening treatments because the recovery of the procedure is much quicker in smokers and worse tooth discoloration may be encountered than before.

While performing other aesthetic applications besides teeth whitening, we prefer to operate without damaging the anatomical structure of the tooth or with minimal damage. We recommend orthodontic treatment, which we call teeth brace treatment, primarily for aesthetic disorders in the rows of teeth. Orthodontic treatments are treatments that take a long time and should be performed by a specialist physician.

In the dimensional and structural defects of the teeth, aesthetic fillings (ray composite) or porcelain structures we call ‘lamina’ can only be applied to the outer surface of the tooth. Lamina porcelains give very good aesthetic results in sparse, short, crooked, and/or colored teeth that can’t be bleached by bleaching.
Aesthetic prostheses comprised of zirconium metal can be made in cases where laminate porcelain can’t be made, for example, if the tooth structure is too weak, when there’s a missing tooth in the mouth, when the old bad prostheses need to be found and replaced. The difference between normal and zirconium porcelains is the white structure of the metal that supports the porcelain. It provides a much more aesthetic appearance as it doesn’t reflect the metal. Moreover, one of the advantages of zirconium is that it’s more compatible with the gums and has less allergen structure. Lamina and zirconium porcelains are the most common aesthetic restorations today. But there may be cases where we can’t achieve aesthetics by just doing these restorations. In these cases, the second part, which we call pink aesthetic, also comes into play. The perfect harmony of the gums and teeth together with lip appearance reflects a good smile design to us. The lip appearance, face type, smile borders give us good information about the aesthetic prosthesis we will make for our patients who come to our clinic. When they come to the clinic, they say their gums are too visible and the teeth are short. In such patients, we can shorten the length of the gums and lengthen the teeth, which appear without bleeding and pain, by applying laser to the gums. After this process, we support it with zirconium or lamina prostheses and create a beautiful appearance by creating pink and white aesthetics together.

Aesthetics and Implants
Implants are titanium screws which are screwed into the jawbone to replace missing teeth in patients with tooth deficiency.

Implants are titanium screws that are imbedded in the jawbone of patients with missing teeth to replace them. Sometimes in patients with missing teeth, it’s the material that allows us to make a stationary prosthesis in patients with more than one missing tooth or who don’t have any teeth, as we can make teeth without damaging the structure of other teeth by applying a single implant instead of the prosthesis made by reducing the teeth in front and behind the tooth cavities called the ‘bridge.’ Today, it’s not enough just making nice implants. It’s important the prostheses are suitable to the aesthetics and function to be provided. The implant is not a goal, but rather, it’s a tool to make a beautiful and useful tooth.

Nowadays, implants can be made for everyone, except for those with uncontrollable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and heart failure.

Smoking has a negative effect on the success of the implant, as it is a factor in many things. The patient’s oral hygiene and whether the doctor fulfills his recommendations are also very important for the success of the implant. For the success of the implant, the physician should first take the patient’s anamnesis (information whether there is any other disease or not, whether there is a disability that hinders the implant) before applying the implant, and radiological and clinical examinations should be conducted well. Now, we can easily achieve more successful results with three-dimensional CTs. Correct diagnosis and planning constitute 80% of a successful treatment. Today, technology has advanced so far that we can implant grafts, which we call artificial bone, for patients who have insufficient bone for the implant.

A wide variety of quality implants are available, whereas the type of implants placed up to the bone level give an aesthetically natural tooth appearance. While applying the implant, a natural appearance should be captured without damaging the gums as much as possible so that we can achieve the pink aesthetic. We prefer our patients to be told how beautiful and natural teeth they have instead of how beautiful dentures they have. Everyone has the right to look beautiful and smile, however, while providing this, the main teeth and mouth structure of our patients should not be damaged.