Smiling Faces 2019-20

SF www.ChsDentists.com | www.MountPleasantPhysicians.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com smiling faces Dr. Gregory went on to explain a few more common options. Let’s say you chipped your tooth: Using composite materials, a plastic material, she would reshape the tooth and build in the correct colors, making any imperfection invisible to the eye. This process is called “bonding.” Let’s say you lose a tooth (not a baby one, sans tooth fairy). Well, you’d need an implant. Dr. Gregory explained, “Implant dentistry replaces missing teeth, aesthetically. We know how to shape and preserve the gum tissue so that it gives a really aesthetic look with the replacement of missing teeth with implants.” In older or elderly patients, Dr. Gregory identifies who needs full-mouth reconstruction because of missing teeth or severe wear of the teeth. She uses the same porcelain materials used in veneers, but every tooth in the patient’s mouth is reconstructed. “Old crowns and old fillings are replaced. …We’re reconstructing the bite to be more comfortable, as well as enhancing the aesthetics of the smile,” said Dr. Gregory. Often in her reconstruction in older patients comes the “All-on-4” procedure. Do you recall the grandpa on Nickelodeon’s “Rugrats” who was always losing his dentures? Well, if he’d just had the All-on-4 procedure, he wouldn’t have had to eat so much jello (and his chin wouldn’t have protruded so much). Really, the All-on-4 is an amazing testament to the leaps the dental field has made. Who is All-on-4 for? “Patients who know they’re at the end of the road with their teeth and they know they need to get dentures,” Dr. Gregory explained. The patient will have all his or her teeth taken out, and four to five implants put in the top or bottom arch. The denture is then screwed into those implants and supported by those implants. So, as you can see, as I came to realize more upon talking to Dr. Gregory, there are really two branches of the smile makeover: one is more of a cosmetic-based smile makeover, and the other is helping older teeth to rejuvenate an entire mouth. Cosmetic dentistry is vast, and the reasons vary, but no matter your reason for enhancing or wanting to improve your smile — and no matter your age — the resources here in the Lowcountry are knowledgeable and ready to help create your most confident, most brilliant smile. Before and after porcelain veneers. Photos courtesy of Dr. Virginia Gregory. Before and after composite bonding. Before. After. Before. After. Photos courtesy of Dr. Virginia Gregory.