Everyone would like to have a perfect smile, but nature is rarely so accommodating. Even if you're one of the lucky ones who never needed braces, the rough-and-tumble of life, along with habits such as smoking or drinking coffee, invariably result in chips, stains, or an overall dingy appearance.
Until fairly recently, there wasn't a lot you could do to improve the appearance of your teeth beyond having them cleaned once or twice a year. In the last decade, however, improvements in dental materials and restorative techniques have made it possible for most of us to have close to model-perfect teeth that resist color changes and are almost as strong as the originals.
If you have been considering ways to brighten your smile or correct imperfections, there's never been a better time to do it. Demand for cosmetic dental procedures is greater than ever, in part because baby boomers with money to spend are looking for ways to feel and look younger.
One of the benefits of cosmetic dentistry is that the final results are easy to predict. Whether you decide to have a gap filled, a chip repaired, or a stain concealed, you're unlikely to have unpleasant surprises later. Dentists have many methods for repairing, restoring or otherwise changing the appearance of the teeth.