Hollywood celebrities are often admired for their perfect porcelain white teeth. But, if you go online, you will find that many of these famous personalities have a lot of amusing stories to tell about their original teeth.

Former Lizzie Maguire star, Hillary Duff, for instance, shared that she had broken her front tooth while singing. Meanwhile, comedian Amy Poehler relayed her story about her infamous chipped tooth during her start on SNL when she guested on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

The thing is both celebrities have great-looking smiles now. This is all thanks to the different restorative or cosmetic dental solutions available today. So, if you have damaged or missing teeth that prevent you from smiling confidently, don’t you worry. Help is available, and two of the most common solutions are discussed below.

Dental Veneers and Bridges

For missing teeth, dental bridges are highly recommended options. Dental bridges, Fort Lauderdale dentists say, can restore the appearance of your original set of teeth, and the even better thing about them is they are considerably affordable.

Bridges

It’s important to note, too, that they can last you for more than a decade. There are three main types of dental bridges:

1. Traditional: A traditional bridge is a comfortable and lightweight solution. It is known for providing chewing comfort by replacing a missing tooth with an artificial one that is attached to the crowns on reshaped or abutment teeth surrounding it.

2. Cantilever: A cantilever bridge, meanwhile, is a lot similar to the traditional bridge except that the artificial replacement tooth is only attached to one anchor tooth. Plus, it’s not as durable as a traditional bridge, which can be installed at the back of the mouth and absorb a lot of pressure from chewing. It is ideal, however, for molars located closer to the front of the mouth.

3. Maryland: As for the Maryland bridge, this is also called the “winged bridge.” In this case, the replacement tooth comes with a gum material that is strengthened by a metal frame shaped like wings.

It is a rather conservative approach to restoration because very minimal work is carried out on the abutment teeth to keep the bridge in place. However, this is often considered a short-term solution. Most of the people who get the Maryland bridge are just awaiting the full installation of a dental implant. Also, wearing a Maryland bridge is known for debonding and causing discoloration of the abutment teeth over time.

Dental veneers

Dental veneers, on the other hand, are ideal solutions for chipped or broken front teeth. What dental veneers do is they conceal the damage using custom-made, wafer-thin shells shaped like teeth. After some reshaping to the damaged teeth, the tooth-colored wafers are attached and they restore proper appearance.

But aside from chipped and broken teeth, dental veneers are also used to address other teeth issues such as:

1. Discolored teeth: Veneers can cover intrinsically stained chompers a teeth whitening procedure cannot correct. As most people already know, the typical teeth whitening treatment can only get rid of extrinsic stains. Therefore, discoloration due to a mouth injury or illness requires better cover-up, which is what veneers provide.

2. Oddly-shaped teeth: A lot of people whose front teeth shapes are too different from one another can achieve the look of uniformity with the help of custom-made dental veneers.

3. Slightly overlapping front teeth: Dental veneers are also a quick solution for front teeth that slightly overlap each other. The two front teeth are reshaped, so the veneers to be made will fit perfectly beside each other.

Oral Care for People with Dental Bridges and Veneers

To maintain the nice appearance of both bridges and dental veneers, Fort Lauderdale dental professionals offer the following tips:

1. Learn how to floss properly

Most people already know the best way to brush, but flossing always proves to be so much trickier. If you have a dental bridge, you’ll be quite prone to plaque, so flossing correctly is a must.

Food debris that develops into plaque can easily accumulate under the bridge. To get rid of that, floss by gently moving the flossing thread up and down and wiggling it slightly from side to snag hard-to-remove debris up the gum line.

To make flossing even more effective, use Superfloss, which also works well for people with braces. You may be keen on Airfloss as well, and it works in getting rid of small particles stuck between teeth and gums. However, the burst of water and air from this device is usually not enough for bigger food particles.

2. Use a mouth rinse

With a pH-balanced mouthwash, you can get rid of even more debris and mouth bacteria. Swish the mouth rinse around by working in more air. After 30 seconds, spit out the mouthwash.

3. Avoid teeth-staining food

The thing about the materials used for dental bridges and dental veneers is that they are more resistant to stains than your real teeth. Therefore, their color will stand out too much if you continue to consume staining food and beverages.

So, as much possible, if you can’t brush your teeth after every meal most of the time, stay away from the following staining food and drinks:

• Coffee
• Dark teas
• Colas
• Wine
• Beets
• Turmeric

4. Do not bite into food

Not a lot of people know that repairing damaged veneers either takes as long as or a much longer time than making new ones. Therefore, do not risk damaging them; the same applies to your bridges even if they are thicker and stronger.

Slice up your food into small bite-sized pieces instead. Doing this will not preserve your veneers and bridges better; it will aid digestion as well.

5. Have your original teeth professionally whitened

Prevent a stark contrast between the hue of your natural and artificial teeth with the help of a teeth whitening treatment. A highly experienced cosmetic dentist will make sure that the treatment will achieve a consistency of color with your original teeth, veneers, and dental bridge.

Bridges and veneers are just two of the many restorative treatments offered by dental offices these days, and they already address different teeth issues. If you wish to know more about other suitable restorative options for you, visit your dentist for a thorough consultation.