Cosmetic & Restorative Dentistry Charlotte, NC
When you’re happy with your smile, you’re able to greet the world confidently, both personally and professionally. Concerns about your smile can undermine that confidence. If you’d like to correct imperfections in your smile, cosmetic or restorative dentistry treatments from Leo Uicker DDS can transform your look and help you achieve the smile you’ve always wanted.
Some of the reasons people are unhappy with their smiles include stained teeth, gaps, irregular gum lines, damaged or missing teeth, and misalignments. Dr. Leo Uicker DDS, your Charlotte, NC dentist, can help you achieve a healthy, aesthetically pleasing smile with a range of cosmetic and restorative treatment options. Read on to learn more about some of the treatments we offer or call our office today at (704) 540-1212 to schedule a consultation with Dr. Uicker.
Cosmetic & Restorative Services
Bonding
In this procedure, composite resin is shaped and bonded to the tooth’s surface to repair minor chips and cracks, cover discolored enamel, close small gaps between teeth, reshape undersized, crooked, or misshapen teeth, and rebuild areas where enamel erosion has taken place. Bonding is convenient, cost-effective, and minimally invasive.
Bridges
A bridge may be used to replace missing teeth, help maintain the shape of your face, and alleviate stress on your bite.
A bridge replaces missing teeth with artificial teeth, looks great, and literally bridges the gap where one or more teeth may have been. Your bridge can be made from gold, alloys, porcelain, or a combination of these materials and is bonded onto surrounding teeth for support.
The success of any bridge depends on its foundation: the other teeth, gums, or bone to which it is attached. Therefore, it’s very important to keep your existing teeth, gums, and jaw healthy and strong.
Crowns
Crowns are a restorative procedure used to improve your tooth’s shape or to strengthen a tooth. Crowns are most often used for teeth that are broken, worn, or have portions destroyed by tooth decay.
A crown is a “cap” cemented onto an existing tooth that usually covers the portion of your tooth above the gum line. In effect, the crown becomes your tooth’s new outer surface. Crowns can be made of porcelain, metal, or both. Porcelain crowns are most often preferred because they mimic the translucency of natural teeth and are very strong.
Crowns or onlays (partial crowns) are needed when there is insufficient tooth strength remaining to hold a filling. Unlike fillings, which apply the restorative material directly into your mouth, a crown is fabricated away from your mouth. Your crown is created in a lab from your unique tooth impression, and then sculpted just for you so that your bite and jaw movements function normally once the crown is placed.
At Leo Uicker DDS, we use CEREC technology to create dental crowns while you wait so they're finished and placed in one visit!
Dental Implant Dentistry
If you are missing teeth, it is crucial to replace them. Without all of your teeth, chewing and eating can destabilize your bite and cause you discomfort. When teeth are missing, your mouth can shift and even cause your face to look older. Leo Uicker DDS provides dental implants to patients in Charlotte, NC as natural-looking and functional replacements for lost teeth, If properly maintained, dental implants can last a lifetime!
An implant is a new tooth made of metal and porcelain that looks just like your natural tooth. It’s composed of two main parts: one part is the titanium implant body that takes the place of the missing root, and the second part is the tooth-colored crown that is cemented on top of the implant. With dental implant treatment, you can smile confidently knowing no one will ever suspect you have a replacement tooth.
In addition to tooth replacement, implants may be used to anchor dentures, especially lower dentures that tend to shift when you talk or chew. For patients with removable partial dentures, implants can replace missing teeth so you have a more natural-looking smile.
Dentures
If you’ve lost some or all of your teeth because of trauma, periodontal infection, or decay, dentures are one option which can offer you a healthier, more attractive smile. Full or partial dentures make it easier to eat, chew, and speak clearly, support the cheeks and lips for a more youthful appearance, prevent remaining teeth from shifting out of place, and restore self-confidence.
Conventional full dentures are created and placed after the gums have healed following any extractions. Immediate dentures are placed directly after extraction, and typically require regular adjustments for fit and comfort. Partial dentures are secured to adjacent teeth, and, unlike bridges, are removable. Implant-supported full and partial dentures are also an option.
Fillings
Traditional dental restoratives, or fillings, are most often made of silver amalgam. The strength and durability of this traditional dental material makes it useful for situations where restored teeth must withstand extreme forces that result from chewing, often in the back of the mouth.
Newer dental fillings include ceramic and plastic compounds that mimic the appearance of natural teeth. These compounds, often called composite resins, are usually used on the front teeth where a natural appearance is important, but they can also be used on the back teeth depending on the location and extent of the tooth decay.
There are two different kinds of fillings: direct and indirect. Direct fillings are fillings placed into a prepared cavity in a single visit. They include silver amalgam, glass ionomers, resin ionomers, and composite (resin) fillings. Indirect fillings generally require two or more visits. They include inlays, onlays, and veneers. They are used when a tooth has too much damage to support a filling but not enough to necessitate a crown.
Veneers
You no longer need to hide your smile because of gaps, chips, stains, or misshapen teeth. With veneers from Leo Uicker DDS, you can easily correct your teeth’s imperfections to help you have a more confident, beautiful smile. Veneers are natural in appearance, and they are a perfect option for patients wanting to make minor adjustments to the look and feel of their smile.
Veneers are thin, custom-made shells made from tooth-colored materials (such as porcelain), and they are designed to cover the front side of your teeth. To prepare for veneers, your Charlotte, NC dentist will create a unique model of your teeth. This model is sent to the dental technician to create your veneers. Before placing your new veneer, Dr. Uicker may need to conservatively prepare your tooth to achieve the desired aesthetic result.
When your veneers are placed, you’ll be pleased to see that they look like your natural teeth. While veneers are stain-resistant, your dentist may recommend that you avoid coffee, tea, red wine, and tobacco to maintain the beauty of your new smile.
