Willow Dental Toronto Cosmetic Dentistry Blog

A bright, white smile will improve your self-esteem, make you feel more confident, and make a great impression on everyone you meet. However, the lifestyle you lead, or even just aging, can make your teeth become dingy and discolored. Tooth whitening is a wonderful solution for those who have discolored teeth that are embarrassed by or ashamed of.

The many commercials we have all seen for at-home whitening kits are very tempting because of their convenience, however there are many advantages to obtaining professional teeth whitening. The fact that professional teeth whitening is performed by a dentist is an advantage in itself. A dentist can look at all of your teeth, assess your particular situation, and give you the best options to suit your own needs. In addition, a dentist will notice any other problems with your teeth that may need to be fixed before teeth whitening can be effective.

ZOOM! Whitening

The experienced dentists at Willow Dental Associates offer ZOOM! whitening. ZOOM! is a very safe, very effective way to whiten your teeth. After only one, short visit, you can have teeth up to eight shades whiter. The process is quite short, takes slightly over one hour, and is very safe. A hydrogen peroxide liquid is applied to the teeth, and then a special light is shined on your teeth. This whole process is repeated three times, each time lasting twenty minutes. The soft tissue in your mouth will be protected, and the procedure is pain free.

Professional tooth whitening is a much quicker, much more effective process than at-home whitening kits. There are no gels or guards to wear at night, and you will walk away with a smile you can be proud of.

If you live in the Mississauga, Ontario area, and would like to learn more about professional tooth whitening, please contact Willow Dental Associates for your initial consultation.

Most people do not have naturally perfect smiles. While some imperfections may be caused by damage or wear, others, such as gaps between teeth, may be natural issues, but do not necessarily require that you resign yourself to them.

If you have gaps between your teeth, they may be caused by a variety of reasons:

• Too-small teeth
• Crooked or misaligned teeth
• Missing teeth

How your gaps may be corrected will depend on the reason behind their existence. For example, if your gaps are caused by teeth that are too small and which "float" in a smile they do not fill, porcelain veneers can create an entirely new smile, with teeth that are not only wider, but may also be longer, as well. Porcelain veneers can be crafted in almost any shape to create a custom smile that can stand out or look naturally conservative. Porcelain veneers may also correct gaps between teeth that are caused by crooked or misaligned teeth.

Another option for gaps between teeth created by too-small teeth may be dental bonding, a process which layers composite onto the surface of teeth to build them up, reducing the space between them.

If you are missing one or more teeth, there are many replacement options, including dental bridges and dental implants.

If you would like to learn more about correcting gaps between teeth, please contact Willow Dental Associates serving the Mississauga and Toronto areas of Ontario.

We all know good oral hygiene is imperative for keeping our teeth and gums healthy. What we may not know is what "good oral hygiene" really means and how to make sure we have it. You almost certainly know that you should brush your teeth twice a day or more and that you should floss. What you may not know is that there is a best technique for tooth brushing and that there is more than a nice smile at steak when you decide to forego flossing.

Brushing

Brushing your teeth is important not only because it helps fight bad breath, but because it keeps down tartar and plaque buildup on your teeth and gums. (Yes, your gums are just as important as your teeth.) Brushing your teeth cannot completely remove plaque and tartar, but it can help keep them from reaching critical and destructive levels and promote good oral hygiene.

• Brush at least twice a day
• Brush your teeth thoroughly (make sure you get the back ones, too)
• Use dentist-recommended toothpaste
• Do not brush too hard – you could damage your enamel

Flossing

Flossing between your teeth is important to good oral hygiene because it removes food and build-up in the areas where they are most likely to damage the roots of your teeth and your gums through periodontal disease. Why is buildup between your teeth and on your gums bad? If you get enough buildup, it can begin to destroy the gum and bone tissue which holds your teeth in place.

• Floss at least once a day, or every time you brush your teeth
• Floss between all your teeth
• Work the floss between your teeth gently, by using a back-and-forth motion to move it down between tight-fitting teeth. (This can help protect sensitive gums.)

Dental Checkups

The last step to good oral hygiene is visiting your dentist every six months for a cleaning and a checkup. This removes the plaque and buildup that brushing and flossing cannot take care of on their own. In addition, a dentist may be able to identify problems in their early stages long before you ever get the first inklings of a toothache.

To learn more about oral hygiene or to make an appointment, please contact Willow Dental Associates today, serving Ontario in Toronto, Mississauga and the surrounding areas.

Most people are fascinated by the makeover of virtually anything, from a person’s appearance to an entire home. But some of the greatest skill is required for the smallest makeovers. A smile makeover requires skill not only in crafting a new smile, but in designing a smile that looks natural for your individual facial and mouth structure.

A smile makeover can correct many cosmetic dental issues. Some of those issues include:

• Crooked teeth
• Gaps in teeth
• Chemically discolored teeth
• Decaying teeth
• Chipped or cracked teeth
• Ground-down teeth

Most commonly, cosmetic dentists use porcelain veneers to correct many of these issues. Porcelain veneers are very thin pieces of porcelain which are shaped like healthy, beautiful teeth and applied to the façade of your teeth. Because porcelain veneers are individually designed and created for your mouth, they look completely natural.

Dental porcelain used to create porcelain veneers can be created in virtually any shape and in almost any shade in order to naturally fit in with your surrounding tooth color. In addition, porcelain veneers are extremely resilient, and can be cared for exactly like your natural teeth. This enables the dentists at Willow Dental Associates to create a natural-looking, beautiful smile to enhance your look.

To learn more about a smile makeover using porcelain veneers, please contact the experienced porcelain veneer dentists at Willow Dental Associates today, serving Mississauga and Toronto, Ontario and surrounding areas.

Not everyone is born with a set of perfect pearly whites, and those who are may see their teeth suffer from poor care, harsh chemicals, or regular wear and tear. However, whether you have never had the perfect smile, or if you just want to restore the natural beauty of your teeth, porcelain veneers may be the answer. Porcelain veneers may be the right treatment if your teeth are:

• Chipped
• Cracked
• Chemically stained
• Worn down
• Crooked
• Decayed

Porcelain veneers are simply very thin pieces of porcelain – about one-eighth of an inch – custom-designed to look like naturally beautiful teeth. They are applied through the following steps:

1. The porcelain veneers are designed by one of our cosmetic dentists based on your consultation and your desired outcome.
2. Your tooth or teeth are prepared by removing a very thin layer of the enamel. This allows the porcelain veneer, when applied, to look like a natural tooth.
3. The doctor a digital image of your prepared teeth from which the porcelain veneers will be created in by our ED4 system. This allows us to create and place your porcelain veneers in one day, rather than having to wait several days or weeks for them to be created in an outside lab.
4. Your porcelain veneers are then fitted on your teeth and fixed in place with dental cement.

If you are in the Toronto or Mississauga areas of Ontario and would like to learn more about porcelain veneers, please contact Willow Dental Associates today.

A beautiful, white smile can leave a lasting impression. A smile you can be proud of makes you feel more confident, and dramatically improve your self-esteem and self-image. Dental flaws can include gaps, cracks, missing teeth, tooth discoloration, or an abnormal gum line. If you have one or many of these imperfections, full mouth reconstruction may be your answer. Full mouth reconstruction, also referred to as full mouth rehabilitation, describes the rebuilding and restoring of all of your teeth on both your upper and lower jaw.

The full mouth reconstruction process can require many steps. At your initial consultation, one of the dentists at Willow Dental Associates will examine your mouth to see exactly what problems need to be addressed. They will look for cavities, cracks, holes, tooth wear, decay, short or long teeth, the health of your gums, the alignment of your bite, the color and shape of your teeth, among other things.

Once you have been thoroughly examined, a full mouth reconstruction may entail many different dental procedures, including:

• Teeth cleaning
• Surgery to reposition the jaw
• Contouring of the gum tissue
• The placement of dental crowns, porcelain veneers or dental bridges
• Soft tissue grafting
• Implant replacement

A full smile makeover may seem like a similar procedure, however the main difference is that a smile makeover is an elective, cosmetic procedure, whereas a full mouth reconstruction is usually done based on the need for both cosmetic and hygiene improvement.

If you would like to learn more about full mouth reconstruction and you live in the Mississauga, Ontario area, please contact Willow Dental Associates for your initial consultation today.