Wilmington Cosmetic Dentist

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You Deserve a Beautiful Smile

If you’re uncomfortable with your smile or you find yourself covering your grin when you laugh, cosmetic dentistry options can boost your confidence and improve the appearance of your pearly whites. If imperfections like tooth stains, gaps, misshapen or crooked teeth are holding you back from a proud smile, our team of dentists and hygienists can offer life-changing cosmetic treatments. Call our dental office in Wilmington or visit us for an appointment.

Am I A Good Candidate For Cosmetic Dentistry?

What Are The Health Benefits Of Cosmetic Dentistry Procedures?

Are All Cosmetic Treatments Completely Aesthetic?

What Should I Look For In A Wilmington Cosmetic Dentist?

Will Insurance Cover My Cosmetic Dentistry Treatment?

Teeth whitening is a non-invasive, cost-effective solution to brighten your teeth if your smile is dull and yellow. Our powerful, professional-grade whitening treatment can reverse years of stains and yellowing caused by aging and the consumption of dark foods and beverages. We offer custom take-home kits that allow you to brighten your smile in the comfort of your own home. Dr. Friberg will take impressions of your teeth to create your custom-molded whitening trays and send you home with clinical-grade whitening agents. Once your treatment is finished (typically about 2-3 weeks) your smile will be up to 5-10 shades brighter.

Dental bonding is a great way to improve your smile if your teeth are misshapen, slightly crooked, gapped, or have small chips. Comparing dental bonding to sculptor’s clay is a good analogy to help patients understand the procedure. To start the process, Dr. Friberg applies a putty-like dental resin to your tooth, then molds and sculpts it into a more pleasing shape. The resin is hardened using UV light, and it is buffed and polished to give you a perfected, improved tooth. The treatment is non-invasive and fast, making it ideal if you would like to restore your smile without surgery or extended time in the dentist’s chair.

Veneers are made of a durable porcelain ceramic material, and they are sculpted to fit over your existing teeth perfectly. By doing so, veneers can cover up just about any cosmetic imperfection, from severe tooth stains to misshapen, gapped, and slightly crooked teeth. Placing veneers is a minimally-invasive process, and usually takes only two appointments at Thrive Family Dental. This means that with veneers, you can restore your smile quickly and feel great about how you look in no time.

If your mouth is healthy and free of issues like gum disease and cavities, you’re likely a good candidate for cosmetic dentistry from Dr. Ben Friberg at Thrive Family DentalIn addition, you must not have major orthodontic problems, such as seriously crooked teeth or bite problems.
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Cosmetic dentistry is only useful for correcting aesthetic flaws with your smile, such as very minor chips, gaps in your smile, uneven teeth, and tooth stains. It’s not a replacement for restorative dentistry, so you can’t get cosmetic care if you have one or more decayed or damaged teeth.
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In addition, gum disease may prevent you from undergoing cosmetic care. Typically, you will need to receive periodontal care to get your gum disease under control or eliminate the infection before you can improve your smile with cosmetic dentistry.
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Finally, major orthodontic issues can prevent you from having cosmetic dentistry procedures like veneers or dental bonding. This is because cosmetic dentistry can only correct very minor issues with your tooth alignment. If you have large gaps in your teeth or extremely crooked teeth, cosmetic dentistry is not appropriate, and you will need orthodontic correction with Invisalign or braces to correct your teeth alignment and jaw position.
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Not sure if cosmetic dentistry is a good option for you? The best way to find out is to contact Thrive Family Dental for a consultation at our office located at 8115 Market Street, Suite 204, Wilmington, NC 28411. Dr. Friberg can assess your oral health and cosmetic issues with your smile, and develop a custom treatment plan to provide you with the smile you’ve always wanted.

Cosmetic dentistry doesn’t just treat issues like stained and uneven teeth and improve your appearance. It can actually have health benefits for your smile, as well. For example, treatments like veneers and cosmetic crowns can strengthen your teeth and repair minor chips in the enamel.
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In addition, cosmetic dentistry provides you with a more even smile and consistent spacing between your teeth. This makes it easier to brush and floss, and clean between your teeth to remove food debris, plaque, and bacteria. This, in turn, helps reduce your risk of common oral health conditions like cavities and gum disease.
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Another benefit is that cosmetic dentistry helps you improve your oral health. After you invest in veneers, teeth whitening, or dental bonding, you’re more likely to take the time to properly brush and floss each day, and take care of your brand-new smile to ensure that it stays bright and beautiful in the future.
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Beyond this, cosmetic dentistry can also encourage you to break other bad habits that can affect your oral health and the appearance of your teeth. Cosmetic dentistry is often used to reverse the stains caused by tobacco use, for example, and many patients who smoke stop using tobacco products after they have their teeth restored by cosmetic dentistry. Ceasing the use of tobacco products reduces the risk of oral cancer, gum disease, and tooth decay.

Wilmington Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Friberg showing patient x-rays of teeth

Cosmetic treatments have many benefits besides pure aesthetics! In addition to improving the appearance of the teeth and smile, they also have many restorative properties to repair any damage, fill in chips and cracks, and rebuild the structure of the tooth. Many cosmetic treatments can be multipurpose as cosmetic and restorative treatments.

Dental bonding can alter the appearance of the teeth by covering up discoloration and altering the shape and size of the teeth. However, it can also be used to repair minor damage to the teeth such as chips, cracks, and worn-down enamel.

Veneers are porcelain shells bonded to the front surface of the teeth to create the appearance of pearly white, straight, uniform teeth. However, veneers also strengthen the teeth in the bonding process.

Dental crowns are sturdy and durable caps placed over the teeth to protect them from damage or hold a broken tooth together, but you can also select a tooth-colored porcelain crown to blend in with your natural teeth.

Composite fillings are also tooth-colored treatments for cavities that restore the structure of the teeth when they have holes or damage. Implants fill in gaps in the smile while preventing bone loss. With cosmetic dentistry, you can often hit two birds with one stone.

The most important qualities to look for in a cosmetic dentist are:

Expertise
Training
Education
Certification
Testimonials
Reviews
Technology

You want to make sure that the dentist you choose is qualified to perform the procedures you are looking for. You should ask questions like “Did you have to undergo additional years of training to learn this technique?” “How many years of experience do you have in performing this procedure?” and “What qualifications do you have as a cosmetic dentist?”.

Look for testimonials and reviews so you can get an idea of what to expect based on their previous work. Are patients happy with their results? Your best bet is to choose a dentist who is qualified, has many years of experience, uses advanced technology, and has glowing reviews and testimonials from previous patients.

Each insurance company and policy is different, so you would need to call up your insurance provider and ask them directly what treatments they will cover. Generally speaking, treatments that are performed purely for cosmetic reasons are not covered by insurance.

However, if you can prove that the treatment is medically necessary and serves a restorative purpose, insurance will likely cover it. However, they may only cover certain restorations such as silver amalgam fillings instead of composite fillings or metal crowns instead of porcelain or ceramic crowns.

If you come in for a consultation, we can give you a quote on what you can expect the procedure to cost and you can ask your insurance provider if they would cover a portion of the costs. If you don’t have insurance, we offer financing options through CareCredit and Comprehensive Finance.

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You Deserve a Beautiful Smile

cosmetic Dentistry in Wilmington