Cosmetic Dentistry – Somerville, NJ
Your Cosmetic Dentist in Somerville, NJ Perfects Smiles
If you want to whiten, brighten, or completely transform your smile, Dr. DawnMarie DiGrazia and the Somerset Dental Arts team offer a variety of cosmetic dentistry services to give you the celebrity smile you’ve been dreaming of. From porcelain veneers to Invisalign orthodontics, we can give you the picture-perfect celebrity smile you want. Call our Somerville, NJ dental office to find out more or to schedule your cosmetic dentistry consultation. We are happy to provide treatment for patients from surrounding communities, including Middlesex and Manville.
Porcelain Veneers
Veneers are thin sheaths of dental-grade porcelain that are fixed to the front surfaces of teeth that show when you smile. These high quality, durable cosmetic restorations allow us to quickly and easily correct a number of cosmetic irregularities with a single solution.
Most patients are eligible for porcelain veneers. If we determine that the treatment is the best option for you, the process place over the course of two appointments. During your initial visit, we’ll remove a small amount of surface tooth enamel that will allow the veneer to lay flat within the natural smile line. Then, we capture bite impressions that are used by the dental lab to craft your custom veneer. Before you leave this initial appointment, we place temporary veneers that protect your prepared teeth. Once we receive the final restorations from our lab, you’ll need to return to exchange your temporary for custom veneers.
Metal-Free Dental Restorations
We offer dental restorations in a variety of materials including gold, porcelain bonded to metal, and metal-free BruxZir zirconia crowns. Each of these materials has unique advantages, but zirconia crowns are the ideal option for patients who have sensitivities or allergies to metal. Gold crowns offer the strongest solution, but they are the least natural looking restoration material. Porcelain bonded to metal crowns and bridges offer a more cosmetic appearance, but they increase the amount of wear against the opposing teeth. Additionally, porcelain bonded to metal crowns darken with age, as the porcelain layers of teeth are worn away revealing the metal beneath.
High-quality BruxZir restorations offer the best of both options. These restorations are durable and long-lasting, with minimal wear against opposing teeth. They also look more natural than other solutions. In addition to repairing damaged teeth, we can even use these natural looking restorations to repair or conceal purely cosmetic concerns.
Dental Bonding
If you’d like to conceal cosmetic flaws like chips, cracks, gaps, and stains in just one appointment, we may be able to correct your cosmetic irregularities with composite resin. It’s the same material used in tooth colored fillings, and it can be used for purely cosmetic improvements in a process known as direct bonding.
In addition to only requiring a single appointment, direct bonding is a more affordable treatment option — and we typically do not need to remove any natural tooth structure before completing the direct bonding procedure. Instead, we apply the putty-like composite resin directly to teeth. Once in place, the composite resin is hardened into position using a curing light. We then polish the treated tooth, leaving you with a flawless smile in a single visit.
Invisalign
If you’re looking to straighten your smile without the discomfort, inconvenience, and related stress of traditional braces, Invisalign may be the best option for you. Rather than using brackets and wires to shift teeth like traditional orthodontics, the Invisalign system uses a series of clear, plastic alignment trays. When worn for about two weeks, these aligners shift your teeth into this new position. Then you simply need to switch to the next set of alignment trays in the series. Each set of aligners represents one step closer to the desired alignment of your teeth!
The entire Invisalign process is typically completed within twelve months and requires much less frequent visits to our dental office than traditional braces. Most importantly, your daily life won’t be significantly impacted as the aligners are removable, allowing you to continue your typical diet and oral hygiene routines.
In-Office Teeth Whitening
If you’re looking for a brighter smile in just one appointment, we can help with the Opalescence Boost system. It’s an in dental office whitening treatment that brightens smiles up to ten shades in just one visit. We apply the Opalescence Boost whitening agent directly to teeth, and it works to brighten smiles in just about an hour. Opalescence incorporates fluoride and potassium nitrate in its whitening gel in order to reduce sensitivity.
Learn More About In-Office Teeth Whitening
At-Home Teeth Whitening
If you’d prefer to brighten your smile at home, don’t waste time and money on store-bought solutions that promise dramatic results they can’t deliver. Instead, let Dr. DiGrazia create a customized whitening plan to meet your unique goals. We will adjust the dosage of whitening agent and treatment times to offer you the best results. Additionally, we provide a customized application tray that keeps the whitening agent on your teeth and allows it to remain active longer than over the counter products.
Gum Recontouring
If you have a smile that looks gummy or teeth that appear stubby, you may need a procedure known as gum recontouring. This treatment removes a small amount of gum tissue to even out the gums and also creates a more appealing smile line. The procedure is quick and effective, and in some cases, we can complete the treatment using a soft tissue laser for decreased bleeding and discomfort, as well as a significantly accelerated healing time.
Understanding the Cost of Cosmetic Dentistry
If you’d like to learn more about the cost of cosmetic dentistry – from why it’s worth the investment to how to make your treatment more affordable – you’re in the right place. If you’d like to speak with our team directly, then you’re welcome to schedule a consultation so we can provide answers with your specific smile goals in mind. If, on the other hand, you want to simply learn more general information on the topic, then keep reading!
Which Cosmetic Dental Service Is Right for Me?
Before determining what the cost is and how we can make it more affordable, we need to determine which treatment (or treatments) you’re interested in! Typically, this starts with a discussion about your aesthetic concerns. For example, if you’re unhappy with your smile because of dental discoloration, then we will review the pros of professional teeth whitening, dental bonding, and veneers to help you decide which is best for you. Similarly, if you would like to fix the spaces between your teeth, then Invisalign or veneers can help.
Cosmetic Dentistry Can Be an Investment Worth Making
The positive impact on your confidence is significant on its own. However, many patients are looking for more than just cosmetic perks. Fortunately, there are quite a few! To start, having a smile you love can improve your oral health by motivating you to brush, floss, and visit your dentist consistently. Similarly, many treatments that fall under this umbrella, like Invisalign, improve the health and function of your smile. Lastly, countless studies have shown that investing in cosmetic dentistry can improve your success in the professional and dating world.
How to Make Cosmetic Dentistry Affordable
Once we’ve created your treatment plan and have an idea of the cost, we will then review all of the financial solutions available, including:
- Our In-House Membership Plan – This option comes with a multitude of perks, including that your benefits start immediately. Plus, you have an exclusive 20% discount on services outside of just preventive dentistry!
- Flexible Financing – CareCredit is a third-party financier that offers payment plans so you don’t have to pay for the entire cost of your smile transformation at once. Instead, you can space-out your payments into monthly installments.
- Periodic Special Offers – Finally, we offer periodic special offers, which are designed to help make any treatment you need significantly more affordable. If you’d like to learn about our latest ones, give us a call!
Cosmetic Dentistry FAQs
How Long Does Cosmetic Dentistry Last?
The lifetime of your cosmetic dentistry results will depend on the kind of treatment you undergo. While all of our options are effective, some services are naturally longer-lasting than other solutions. For instance, teeth whitening and direct bonding can typically be completed in a single visit, so you might expect the results to last a couple of years or more with proper care. Veneers are more comprehensive, and they can often last 15 years or more with good oral care. Then there’s Invisalign and gum recontouring, which can both result in lifelong improvements to your smile. Of course, with any cosmetic option, practicing good oral hygiene and visiting your dentist every six months can help you make the most of your enhanced pearly whites.
Is Cosmetic Dentistry Covered by Insurance?
Cosmetic dental services are not usually considered medically necessary, so it’s not likely that you’ll expect coverage from dental insurance. For this reason, you’ll want to look for alternative ways to make your treatment costs more manageable. Fortunately, our team offers an in-house membership plan to provide discounts on many of our services, and we’re also partnered with CareCredit so that you can make low-to-no-interest monthly payments. You’ll still want to double-check the details of your insurance benefits with your provider in case they can help cover cosmetic services designed to rebuild or protect your teeth.
Why Is Cosmetic Dentistry So Popular?
For decades, dentistry was mainly designed to help prevent dental issues or treat those who suffered from oral health problems. However, most people today tend to have much healthier smiles due to the advancements in dental technology, techniques, and extensive education. For this reason, people can have more freedom in prioritizing the appearance of their smiles instead of treating damage or infection. Additionally, cosmetic dentistry is much more affordable today, allowing the average person the opportunity to enhance their pearly whites while enjoying benefits to their quality of life, such as boosting their confidence and expanding their social/professional opportunities.
Is Cosmetic Dentistry Safe?
If you’re getting treatment from a trained professional, then you should expect your cosmetic dental procedure to be perfectly safe. Even so, we’ll need to thoroughly evaluate your oral health for your specific treatment, as some options can pose certain risks for some patients. For example, receiving a veneer when there’s a decayed or infected tooth can end up making the problem harder to fix later on. That’s why our team will assess your smile before moving forward with any treatment so that we can address underlying issues.