Cosmetic Dentistry

Plancich Dental aims to restore your smile and your overall health by offering a variety of cosmetic dentistry services. We use state-of-the-art equipment to ensure long-lasting and natural results for our cosmetic dentistry services.

What is Cosmetic Dentistry?

Cosmetic dentistry is not just for esthetics, it can be required in order to maintain good oral health. Common esthetic dentistry procedures include, correcting misshapen, chipped or missing teeth as well as adjusting the shape of the teeth — teeth that are too long or short, have gaps or need reshaping. Cosmetic dentistry can also includes treating discolored teeth with professional whitening and correcting teeth misalignment with Invisalign’s invisible, removable, and comfortable aligners.

Cosmetic Dentistry Services

Dental Hygiene

After a comprehensive examination and determining our patient’s needs, Dr. Plancich’s hygienist will utilize the latest techniques, equipment, and knowledge to provide excellent preventative care. Our experienced hygiene team will work to improve your oral health, prevent gum disease, and increase the longevity of natural and reconstructed teeth. Together we can break the link between gum disease and other health problems.

Teeth Whitening

Whitening procedures effectively restore the smile of people with stained, dull, or discolored teeth. Professional whitening performed by our office is considered to be the most effective and safest method; done properly, tooth whitening can last as long as five years.

Veneers

Veneers are thin pieces of porcelain or plastic cemented over the front of your teeth to change their color or shape. Veneers are used on teeth with uneven surfaces or are chipped, discolored, oddly shaped, unevenly spaced or crooked. Veneers have a longer life expectancy and color stability than bonding, and they resist permanent staining from coffee, tea, or even cigarette smoking.

Typically, veneers require at least three appointments: diagnosis and treatment planning, preparation, and bonding. For certain patients no preparation of the teeth may be necessary. Please schedule an appointment to find out more information.

Bleaching

Bleaching works to whiten and brighten your teeth. Bleaching products work with a chemical called peroxide. Our bleaching process employs the use of a special gel that is placed inside a flexible device you wear around your teeth for a certain period of time. After you remove the device, you must use a second bleaching agent, followed by a special light to activate the chemical action. Mildly stained teeth usually only require one session of bleaching.

Chipped, Cracked, and Worn Teeth

Special thin laminates, called veneers, can often be used to correct discolored, worn down, cracked, and chipped teeth. Veneers can also be used to close unsightly gaps between teeth. Stronger types of veneers made of porcelain, also called composite veneers typically last longer because they are bonded to the tooth.

Another process, called bonding can accomplish some of the same things, but does not last as long. Material that looks much like the enamel on your teeth is used during a bonding procedure. The material is shaped to the tooth, and when it becomes hard it is polished. In addition, dental contouring and reshaping can correct chipped, cracked, crooked, or even overlapping teeth. This procedure can alter the shape, length, or position of teeth.

Dental Implants

Dental implants are synthetic structures that are placed in the area of the tooth normally occupied by the root. They are anchored to the jawbone or metal framework on the bone and act as a foundation for an artificial tooth or permanent bridge. In some cases, implants can be used to attach dentures.

Dental implants do require surgery for which patients are administered anesthesia, and if necessary, antibiotics to prevent infection following the procedure. Strict oral hygiene is required for dental implants to ensure their longevity.

Not everyone is a candidate for a dental implant. Schedule an appointment with Dr. Plancich to determine if dental implants can help you.

Grafts

Soft tissue grafts are sometimes performed to treat gum disease, or correct other abnormalities. The procedure involves taking gum tissue from the palate or another donor source to cover an exposed root in order to even the gum line and reduce sensitivity.

Old and Unsightly Fillings

Newer kinds of fillings made from composite resins and porcelain can restore unsightly fillings; many people are surprised how natural these kinds of filling materials can make a tooth once covered by the old-fashioned silver amalgams.

Crowns and Bridges

Bridges are natural-looking dental appliances that can replace a section of missing teeth. Because they are custom-made, bridges are barely noticeable and they can restore the natural contour of teeth, as well as the proper bite relationship between upper and lower teeth.

Crowns are synthetic caps, usually made of a material like porcelain, placed on the top of a tooth. Crowns are typically used to restore a tooth’s function and appearance following a restorative procedure such as a root canal. When decay in a tooth has become so advanced that large portions of the tooth must be removed, crowns are often used to restore the tooth.

Crowns are also used to attach bridges, cover implants, prevent a cracked tooth from becoming worse, or an existing filling is in jeopardy of becoming loose or dislocated. Crowns also serve an aesthetic use and are applied when a discolored or stained tooth needs to be restored to its natural appearance.

Invisalign

Invisalign’s® invisible, removable, and comfortable aligners will give you the beautiful straight teeth you’ve always wanted. And best of all, no one can tell you’re wearing them. Invisalign® is great for adults and teenagers.

The aligners are made through a combination of our expertise and 3-D computer imaging technology. Total treatment time averages 9 – 15 months and the average number of aligners during treatment is between 18 – 30, but both will vary from case to case. You’ll visit us about once every 6 weeks to ensure that your treatment is progressing as planned.

Ridge Augmentation

If you lose one or more permanent teeth, an indentation may result in the gums and jawbone where the tooth used to be. When no longer holding a tooth in place, the jawbone recedes and the resulting indentation looks unnatural. Ridge augmentation is a procedure that can recapture the natural contour of the gums and jaw. A new tooth can then be created that is natural looking and complements your smile.

Excessive or Uneven Gums

Many people inherit the problem of excessive or uneven gums. An aesthetic surgical procedure called a gum lift can be used to correct this problem.

Bonding

Bonding is a process in which an enamel-like material is applied to a tooth’s surface, sculpted to an ideal shape, hardened, and then polished for an ideal smile. Bonding is often performed in order to fill in gaps or change the color of your teeth. Although this only entails one office visit, the results last for several years. This procedure can usually be accomplished in a single visit.

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Our dental offices are located in Old Town Tacoma and Lakewood, WA.

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