I’ve been unhappy with my smile for years. They’re stained. I have a gap in my front teeth and a chip on two of them. I’ve always wanted porcelain veneers, but just can’t afford them. Is there a way to get a pretty smile without veneers?

Jullian S. – Arkansas

Jullian,

Yes! There are great ways to give you a gorgeous smile–even without using porcelain veneers. I’ll list them in the order they’d need to be done for best results.

The very first thing I’d do is teeth whitening. It’s inexpensive, it makes you look years younger, and depending on which teeth whitening procedure you decide on, you can have complete control of the level of whitening.

If you just want them as absolutely white as you can get them and you want it done quickly, KöR® Deep Bleaching™ is an in-office system that will give your teeth a blast of whitening. Although many dentists use Zoom Whitening, Dr. Cha prefers KöR because unlike Zoom, it doesn’t use a gel-activation light that dries out your teeth and make them sensitive.

If you want to control how white they get, take-home whitening is a fantastic option. You simply wear the take-home trays for a period of time every day and when you’ve reached the whitening you’d envisioned, you stop.  It’s that simple.

After you whiten, it’s time to address the gaps and chips.  The simplest thing to do is dental bonding. Though you want to make sure you go to a good cosmetic dentist for the procedure. It has to be done freehand.

It’s important that the whitening gets done first so you can match the dental bonding to your new sparkling, white teeth.

This blog is brought to you by Dr. Jerome Cha.