My son, Logan, just turned 6 years old a few days ago. You can see below that he was having a lot of fun at the zoo. 
Lots of fun at that age and lots of questions about school, sports, life, etc. This is one reason why I love Wikipedia. If he asks a question that I may not know the answer or wants a little more info then we can go there and then we can discuss. Well I’m sure all of you out there have heard the term “cosmetic dentist” because that term gets thrown around a lot in our world. So I thought I’d looked that up that term on Wikipedia and here is the first paragraph.
“Cosmetic dentistry is generally used to refer to any dental work that improves the appearance (though not necessarily the function) of a person’s teeth, gums and/or bite. Many dentists refer to themselves as “cosmetic dentists” regardless of their specific education, specialty, training, and experience in this field. This has been considered unethical with a predominant objective of marketing to patients. The American Dental Association does not recognize cosmetic dentistry as a formal specialty area of dentistry. However, there are still dentists that promote themselves as cosmetic dentists.”
While the term “cosmetic dentistry” is not in our logo or tagline, we strive everyday to improve a person’s appearance by providing dentistry that not only increases the strength and health of a person’s teeth, but also looks good. You can see some of the before and after pictures in our smile gallery which demonstrates how healthy teeth can also look better. At our preventative appointments, we look at the shade of the teeth and discuss if the patient is happy with their smile and we offer whitening, porcelain veneers, cosmetic bonding, Invisalign, Six Month Smiles, or even Botox and Juvederm.
The term “cosmetic dentistry” should really be considered a philosophy. I strive everyday to make a patient’s teeth healthier, but also make them look better at the same time with everything we do. Our philosophy also includes letting a patient know what is possible with their smile and their teeth then let them decide. For example, a lot of patients don’t know that we perform Botox and Juvederm procedures. Many times we use those procedures to frame a new, beautiful smile and sometimes we use them because a patient wants to feel younger or gain more self esteem. Or they want a solution that doesn’t require the expense of porcelain veneers so we discuss the pluses and minuses of cosmetic bonding.
Regardless, the staff and I decided to be trained to do these procedures because it gives the patient more options. So the next time you see us or any other dental professional and you are looking to improve your smile, make sure they give you some cosmetic options. A dental professional that only offers one or two solutions is not giving the full story. They’re your teeth and you should have all the information to make an informed decision.