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              A smile can be the most eye-catching feature of your face. Even 
              a subtle change can make a big difference in the way you look and 
              feel. New techniques like whitening, 
              bonding, enamel 
              shaping, veneers, and white 
              fillings allow us to create a beautiful smile with, at times, 
            only minimal changes to existing teeth. 
             
               
             
             
             Teeth 
              Whitening is a very popular procedure in cosmetic dentistry. 
              It is a relatively easy and effective technique for obtaining a 
              dazzling, whiter smile, at home, in a matter of days. 
              
             
             Bonding 
              is a procedure where tooth-colored composite resin material is placed 
              to "fill in the blanks." One of the most frequent uses 
              of the bonding technique is to fill in a gap between front teeth. 
               
             
             
             Enamel 
              Shaping (Contouring) is the process of shaping natural teeth 
              to improve their appearance. Shaping can be used to correct minor 
              cases of crowded or overlapping teeth, smooth rough edges, or make 
              small adjustments to the shape of a tooth. 
             
             Veneers 
              are laboratory fabricated, porcelain facings that are bonded to 
              the front surfaces of teeth to whiten teeth, close spaces, straighten 
              teeth, or repair chipped or worn teeth. The veneers are only about 
              1 mm thick (the thickness of a fingernail). That same thickness 
              is "shaved" off the natural tooth surface so when the 
              veneer is bonded to the tooth, the tooth doesn't feel or look "thicker". 
             
             Caps 
              (Crowns) are rarely used for cosmetic correction any more, 
              since the advent of veneers, but in some cases a crown may be necessary 
              for a particular tooth. A tooth with a bad fracture 
              or a large filling that is breaking down, 
              or has decay around it, may be a candidate for a crown instead of 
              a veneer. This patient has veneers on top, but one of the front 
              teeth had a large filling and had to be crowned. 
             
             White 
              fillings replace silver or gold fillings with a more natural 
              looking tooth-colored material. Since teeth are translucent, dark 
              fillings cause the whole tooth to appear darker when viewed from 
              the side. Replacing older dark fillings with white fillings will 
              keep your smile glowing!             
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