Monday, February 9, 2015

What You Should Know about Smile Makeovers

“Smile Makeover” is such a general term; it can be confusing to know how a dentist is going to treat your smile or what your choices may be. Smile Makeovers can include a variety of cosmetic and restorative dental treatments to help you meet your goal – whether that be having a “Hollywood smile”, or getting improved oral function.
As providers of smile makeovers for our dental patients, we think anyone seeking a smile overhaul should know the following:
Have a Goal in Mind – Setting up goals for your treatment will help guide you and our dentists on the best choices to make for best final outcome. If you have week teeth and want to restore function, or if you have aesthetic problems, your treatment plan can be designed to include the procedures that will target these issues and help you see the result you had in mind. 
Materials Used Affect Final Result – In dentistry, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to care. Dentists can use a variety of materials, including metal amalgam, porcelain, resin, ceramic, and zirconia to restore your smile. We offer natural-looking and strong dental restorations using porcelain, ceramic, and resin, based on your needs. Our dental treatments are made to mimic natural tooth enamel and seamlessly match existing teeth – meeting expectations for functional and cosmetic repair.
Do You Have Larger Oral Health Problems? – Before your smile can be restored, any outstanding dental problems will need to be addressed first. If you have signs of periodontal disease, we can help you manage symptoms and boost the health of this supporting tissue, allowing any other treatments to last longer and contribute to a healthy smile. A true smile makeover involves more than just making your teeth look good --- we want you to be healthy as well, to enjoy best results.
What Dental Technology Could Help You Most? – There are many ways to get the treatment you need, from advances in imaging and tools used during treatment. We offer patients the benefits of laser dentistry to help take care of issues related to soft tissue, such as reducing the appearance of gummy smiles. 
Little Details Add-Up in the Final Result – In order to get a natural-looking smile for your makeover, it’s important to seek help from a dentist who pays attention to detail. We help our patients get veneers, crowns, and other dental prosthetics that are made to match the right color depth, contour, and shape for your smile. These small touches are essential in providing smile enhancements that don’t look odd or fake, but are a complement to your existing teeth.

If you’re seeking a smile makeover in White Plains, NY the best way to start is by contacting Westchester Dental Group. We can answer any questions you may have about smile makeovers and help you pick the right treatments and materials.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Implants vs. Dentures

You find yourself without a tooth, or teeth, and with a decision.  What will you do to fill the void?  There are two clear options: dental implants or dentures.  There are some things you will need to know to help you make the choice that is best for you.

To start, dentures are removable, while dental implants are not.  That might seem like it would not be that big of a deal, but keep in mind that dentures can loosen when you don’t intend for them to, because they aren’t permanently attached. While this is often caused by eating, even the simplest activity, such as speaking, can be what causes your denture to slip.

Dental implants, however, are not removable.
They require oral surgery for placement, but are with your smile for the long haul -- through eating and talking and daily brushing and flossing.

Implants and dentures also mean different things for your long-term oral health. When you use removable dentures, your gums can shrink from the appliance moving around -- and your jawbone may weaken because you no longer have natural tooth roots to support bone health. 

An implant takes the place of your real tooth and revitalizes the jawbone, giving it the strength it needs to help your smile stay strong and healthy.

The care required to maintain a set of dentures is a more complicated process. While an implant requires nothing more than standard brushing and flossing, keeping care of dentures requires much more.  Not only do dentures need a special cleaning solution for over-night soaking, they have to be applied with an adhesive, which can be a hit-and-miss process. Dentures may also require many re-fittings throughout years of use. While getting a dental implant can initially be a bigger investment, the care required for dentures over their lifetime should be taken into consideration.

Dentures present further drawbacks for food and drink restrictions. Coffee and teas may stain dentures, and hot liquids may loosen the adhesive keeping false teeth in place.  Don’t even think about eating chewy candies or popcorn while enjoying a movie.  Even meats such as steak, that require a bit of chewing to break down, might prove too much for your denture.  Once your dental implants have been placed and have healed, you can keep your regular diet and enjoy all the foods you love.

While both dentures and dental implants will give you a full smile, their pros and cons should be considered seriously before moving forward with treatment. If you have questions about dental implants, call our office to speak with Drs. Teich and Langstein – we can help you map out all of your options and pick the treatment that’s right for you.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

What You Should Know About Whitening Your Teeth

Teeth whitening is one of the most common cosmetic dental procedures sought out by patients. Because of this, whitening has become a huge industry that has spawned numerous over-the-counter products, which claim to whiten teeth. However, over-the-counter whitening products leave people wanting.

If you've been thinking about whitening your teeth, consider the following:


  • Teeth whitening products depend on hydrogen peroxide to penetrate into the dentin in order to lift stains. When you choose whitening in a dental office, a special light is used to accelerate that process, so you get noticeable results almost instantly.

  • Teeth whitening can help lift most staining or discoloration caused by diet and lifestyle choices, but bleaching cannot change the color of dental prosthetics (such as crowns and veneers).

  • If your tooth enamel has thinned due to age and this is making your smile look discolored, teeth bleaching may not give you the results you’re looking for. Instead, choosing porcelain dental veneers allows your teeth to appear whiter and healthier.

  • Over-the-counter, at-home whitening products are one-size-fits-all packages that come with whitening trays which are not customized to fit your smile. This means that the bleaching agent isn't securely kept in place, and your results are not ideal.

  • When you seek whitening at a dental office, you’ll get customized treatment and touch-up kits, so you can achieve the results you want in a quicker and more effective manner. You’ll also be able to make your white smile last longer by using custom-made trays at home.  


If you've been looking for a way to get a whiter and brighter smile, contact our office for more information. We provide both in-office teeth whitening with Zoom! and customized take-home whitening trays. Best of all, your cosmetic treatment will be managed by a team of skilled cosmetic dentists, so you can trust that your results will be exactly what you’d hoped for.

Monday, January 12, 2015

Welcome to our blog!

We're excited to announce the official launch of our Westchester Dental Group blog.

We'll be posting helpful dental tips, news from the dental industry, news from our practice, and more about the latest in dentistry.

We built our practice on the notion that we're there for our patients when they need us and we want our online presence to be a reflection of that principle. We hope this blog provides an extra level of service to our current and future patients.

If you would like to stay up to date on the latest from Westchester Dental Group, simply click the RSS “Subscribe to feed” link located on our website and subscribe. Our subscribers will be updated when we make a new blog post. (Compatible with Windows Internet Explorer 7 and 8 or News Aggregator/RSS Reader only)

Here's to your best oral health ever!