[HOW TO] Choose a Long-Lasting Dental Restoration to Match Your Smile

Here at the Knoxville Dentist office of Dr. James Erpenbach, we know that choosing a dental restoration that restores health, function, and aesthetics to your bite is critical.

To help our patients find the right solution for their smile, our practice works one-on-one with patients, making treatment plans that balance oral health needs with aesthetic goals.

When planning your dental restoration goals, we can help you consider the following factors:

Dental Restoration Needs

The best dental restorations are those that are tailored to you, the patient, while also preventing future issues from developing.

Excessive treatment of a cavity or minor tooth chipping with more invasive treatment than necessary can compromise your smile, which can lead to potential health issues and possible re-treatment in the future. Likewise, delaying restorative care until a condition worsens can also leave your smile vulnerable to more serious dental issues. With this in mind, minimally invasive dental restorations will preserve as much of your natural tooth as possible.

In instances where the tooth is seriously injured and cannot be saved, be sure to consider long-term replacement options such as dental implants.

Aesthetic Goals

Thanks to modern dentistry, most dental restorations are now designed to improve the aesthetics of the smile as well as its function. Fortunately, patients have a number of cosmetically-driven restoration options at their disposal. And for patients’ crowns, bridges, or veneers it may be worthwhile to also undergo cosmetic therapies for a more uniform result.

Treatment Longevity

Your ideal dental restoration should last for years. However, some restorations provide patients with a more long-term solution than others. For example, while dentures and partials may be an effective immediate solution for tooth loss, prolonged use of these temporary restorations can gradually deteriorate bone and gum tissue, leaving patients with more extensive dental problems. We recommend a more permanent solution: dental implants or implant-supported dental restorations.

At Knoxville Dentist, our goal is to provide our patients with all the information needed to choose the right dental treatment for their smile.