Cosmetic Dentistry – what’s it all about?

Written by the Dental Fear Central Web Team and Fraser Hendrie BDS
Last updated on January 17, 2021

Surfing the net is great fun… until you land on a website with before and after pictures of someone with perfect teeth after… AND perfect teeth before???

Especially if you live in the U.S., you may come across websites which offer cosmetic dentistry to people who already appear to be blessed with perfect teeth. No need to feel (totally) inadequate – here’s the low-down on what cosmetic dentistry is about!

A grinning horse

What is cosmetic dentistry?

Cosmetic dentistry is the branch of dentistry dealing with the appearance (rather than the health) of teeth. Of course, the two are not mutually exclusive. Cosmetic dentistry encompasses all dentistry that’s not strictly necessary for health reasons, and much of it is a matter of personal needs, preferences, and opinion.

Aesthetic vs. Cosmetic Dentistry

A distinction can be made between aesthetic dentistry, which implies restoring teeth to their normal appearance as found in nature, and cosmetic dentistry, which is improving the colour, shape or arrangement of teeth to make things look better to the eye of the beholder, which in some cases translates into “looks fake”. Ideally, all dentistry should be aesthetically pleasing, i.e. you should look as good as or better than before treatment, and the result should look natural, like real teeth (there are exceptions to this rule – for example, gold is an excellent material for dental restorations, especially for teeth that are not visible when smiling, so it can be a great choice depending on your personal preferences).

Regardless of whether or not you are in favour of cosmetic enhancements – if you suffer with dental phobia, all this talk about cosmetic dentistry can be a little spooky. Some websites might lead you to believe that dentists are out en masse trying to make big dollars (or pounds, or euros) by pushing people into “cosmetic dentistry”. And true enough, such dentists do exist:

The initial “we love you and want to help you” feeling is being erased by “new charges” and “future cosmetic work”. The cynic in me says that the treatment of dental phobics is an open door for $h!t schmooze artists.

Unfortunately, there is some truth in this statement which appeared on our forum. You may have noticed – while surfing the web especially for U.S. dental offices which cater to dental phobics – that a lot of them offer both sedation (touted as “the solution” to dental phobia rather than one of many tools) AND cosmetic dentistry. In fact, the two of them often seem to go hand-in-hand. Many of these sites will also use suggestive language to make you believe that you’re somehow inadequate, and will offer “smile assessments” along the lines of “Are you unhappy with ugly metal fillings showing when you laugh?” or “Are you embarrassed because your teeth are not white enough?”. It is easy to see what these “smile assessments” are trying to achieve: to make you think you have an embarrassing problem (which you may never have considered a problem before you read their questionnaire) and thereby attract more customers and make more money. In all fairness, these types of “cosmetic dentists” are in a minority. Most dentists who offer cosmetic dentistry do so as a service for those who are unhappy with their appearance and who specifically seek to improve their smile. Moreover, many dentists (both in the U.K. and in the U.S.) who advertise themselves as providing “cosmetic dentistry” mean that they are providing aesthetic dentistry.

So just because a dentist’s website mentions cosmetic dentistry doesn’t mean you should rule them out while searching for a dentist. In fact, the opposite can be true: most of us would want our dental restorations to look good!

Conservative Cosmetic Dentistry vs. Traditional/Aggressive Cosmetic Dentistry

Rather than categorising procedures into “cosmetic” vs. “aesthetic” (which are not clearly defined anyway), a better way is to distinguish between

  1. tooth friendly (minimally invasive / conservative) cosmetic dentistry and
  2. traditional (aggressive) cosmetic dentistry.

Tooth-friendly cosmetic dentistry generally does nothing irreversible to the teeth. This means treatments such as tooth whitening, resin bonding, or short-term orthodontics, where the results are to the greater extent reversible. Such treatment is unlikely to jeopardise one’s long-term dental health. Generally the aim is a big improvement but not true perfection. For some dentists, this approach celebrates our individuality, as this blog post from Fraser Hendrie, BDS illustrates:

As part of the day [at a cosmetic dentistry seminar] I was reminded of a very powerful 60 second video by the manufacturers of the Dove range of soaps and cosmetics, that I first saw a few years ago. I think it is as powerful today as when it was released in 2005. Take a look and see what you think…..

It serves as a timely reminder that in the field of cosmetic dentistry, aesthetic dentistry or whatever you actually want to call the process of enhancing and improving a smile that we need to keep our aims grounded in reality. More importantly it reminds us that almost every cover shot that we see on glossy magazines has been digitally manipulated in some way so these highly altered images are not the best benchmark by which to judge any part of ourselves. Don’t get me wrong I think that enhancing any aspect of ones self or situation with which we are unhappy can be a positive and life affirming thing to do, be it eating healthily, a new hairstyle, drinking less alcohol, exercising more or indeed improving a smile. I simply believe that chasing a false image of perfection may not be the route to happiness. So if we want to improve our smile (which is really the only area where I feel qualified to comment) what can we learn from this? I can only speak for myself but, for me the answer is that the media’s portrayal of perfection can be an illusion and I think it highlights the importance of realising that any cosmetic treatment is done for ourselves and not for others.

In contrast, “traditional” cosmetic dentistry can include porcelain veneers, crowns, bridges – or anything else that involves drilling away a significant volume of otherwise healthy tooth. These treatments carry with them a need to be re-done every so often and usually are also associated with an increased risk of the treated tooth requiring root treatment in future. The key factor here is once you have them, you are stuck with them for life.


Examples of Cosmetic Procedures

What’s the story with replacing amalgam fillings?

Replacing existing amalgam fillings with white fillings has its pros and cons. On the pro side, it looks more natural. Some cosmetic dentists would also argue that it reduces the chance of undetectable decay leading to a silent destruction of tooth structure until pain indicates the need for treatment, and that amalgam can expand over the years, possibly causing a tooth to crack. On the other hand, every time you remove a filling, you remove a bit more tooth substance, plus you insult the tooth with more trauma. Every time you remove a filling and put another in its place, you run the risk of killing the nerve of the tooth and then needing more complex treatment. A filling does not need to be replaced unless it is damaged, broken, or has decay around the edges or underneath. Amalgam fillings can last a very long time (some sources estimate 14 – 40 years or even longer – it’s not unusual for an amalgam filling to last a lifetime). So the very fact that you have a mouthful of them and haven’t seen a dentist in a while doesn’t mean they need to be changed. A dentist should never talk you into replacing fillings that don’t need to be replaced. If a dentist tells you that amalgam is toxic and should be removed, run. Martin Spiller DMD has a eight-page essay devoted to this topic if you’d like to find out more: Are amalgam fillings toxic?

Should I have my teeth whitened?

Teeth whitening has caught on big time, and doesn’t appear to carry any major health risks. The most common side effect is temporary sensitivity in some people – if you have sensitive teeth, tooth whitening may not be much fun. The lower the concentration of the bleaching agent is, the less likely it is that there will be sensitivity. This means you’ll have to do it over a longer period of time. Teeth whitening tends to work best with a custom tray made by a dental professional. Beware – teeth whitening or bleaching will not lighten existing dental work such as white fillings, bonding, crowns, or bridges! Also, the bleaching isn’t permanent and you’ll have to re-do it every so often. So if you have bleaching done and dental work which matches the whitened shade, you will need to keep up the bleaching. In this case, bleaching will be a long-term commitment.

What about veneers?

“Veneers” are waver-thin pieces of porcelain which can be glued over the front of the teeth, for example if teeth are misshapen or severely discoloured (not just on the surface). They can be a good choice in the right circumstances. However, some people have reported that they were not informed as to how much tooth structure would actually be removed and then were shocked and saddened when they found out.

Because veneers require the removal of tooth structure, the procedure carries some risk of doing damage to the tooth. They will also be need to replaced 10 or 20 years down the line. They are not reversible, so you’re stuck with having veneers for the rest of your life. So although veneers can be a life-changing improvement for some people, you need to be sure that you understand exactly what the procedure involves.


If you are considering cosmetic dentistry…

We asked dentist Fraser Hendrie what to look out for if you’re considering cosmetic dentistry. Here are his tips:

“If you’re considering appearance-improving dentistry, here are two questions to ask to help tell the difference between someone who is into tooth-friendly dentistry vs a more traditional approach:

1. If all other things were equal, would you prefer to improve an otherwise healthy smile with porcelain veneers, resin bonding or orthodontics?

The conservative/tooth-friendly dentist will usually answer:

  • first preference: orthodontics
  • second preference: resin bonding
  • third preference: porcelain veneers

(NB: there are some very good reasons why occasionally this order is changed but the dentist should be able to explain exactly why. For example, resin bonding does not hold up so well in the mouth of a heavy smoker.)

2. What do you consider to be a smile makeover?

A conservative / minimally invasive dentist will say: treating the least number of teeth to produce the result that you are happy with. A more aggressive dentist will talk about a minimum of 6 8 or even 10 units (teeth) of treatment to obtain an “ideal smile”.

Of course, a minimally invasive smile makeover may also produce a fake appearance, depending on both your own vision and the vision, skill and artistry of the dentist. But at least, this is not such a big issue if the treatment is largely reversible.”


Further Reading:

“I Have Had Enough” by Gordon Christensen – A disturbing look at dental overtreatment in the United States from one of the world’s most eminent dental educators and researchers.

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