From the Office

If you’re wondering whether you need a general or cosmetic dentist, don’t worry —our team possesses exceptional skills for both general and cosmetic services.

While general dentistry is concerned with keeping the teeth and gums healthy, cosmetic dentistry is focused more on combining aesthetic treatments while ensuring top functionality of teeth.

Dentists cannot be “cosmetic dentists” without being general dentists first and foremost. Also keep in mind that cosmetic dentistry is not an official specialization, and any dentist can call be deemed a cosmetic dentist if he or she performs tooth restoration or enhancement procedures. That’s why it’s extremely important that you ask questions before choosing a dentist, both to make sure they are skilled in both areas and experienced enough to meet your needs.

General Dentistry: A Foundation of Health

General dentistry involves a comprehensive understanding of the facets of oral health and the treatments that can protect teeth from harm. General dentistry services include dental hygiene (teeth cleaning) and education, in addition to treatments like periodontal therapy, root canals and tooth-colored fillings. These fundamental treatments are focused on prevention and improving pain and discomfort due to dental problems like cavities and tooth infection. If larger issues are discovered, such as TMJ/TMD or orthodontic problems, a general dentist can either address the issue if they have specialized training in that area or refer the patient to another dental professional who can help.

Most general dentists can perform some type of cosmetic dentistry, although the skill levels can vary greatly. That’s why it is important to ask questions and look at before and after photos before choosing a dentist for cosmetic enhancements.

Cosmetic Dentistry: A Strong, Beautiful Smile

Cosmetic dentistry is a focus of general dentistry that involves a wide range of treatments to improve the appearance of smiles as well as strengthen teeth. Cosmetic dentistry services include veneers, dental implants, dental bridges, ceramic crowns, bonding, laser gum surgery, and many others. Cosmetic treatments are not taught in dental school; it's up to the dentist to obtain adequate training on their own.

Although there is no official certification for cosmetic dentists, they will participate in specialized training to learn all of the intricate techniques involved with tooth restoration. If you have a cracked or chipped tooth, discolored teeth, or a missing tooth, you need cosmetic dentistry to restore strength and enhance appearance. A good cosmetic dentist will make sure to use the most advantageous dental materials and create results that look natural and are fully functional.

To simplify the comparison of general and cosmetic dentistry, you might think of your dental health as a house. While general dentistry represents the foundation, walls, and the internal systems like plumbing, cosmetic dentistry represents the strong siding that p

rotects the home and people inside, but also makes it look nice from the outside. Your ideal general and cosmetic dentist should make sure that any adjustments made to your smile are both good for you and good for your smile appearance.

If you’d like to discuss your general and cosmetic dentistry needs, my Boulder dentistry team and I are happy to meet with you. Please schedule an appointment at your convenience.

Dr. Ania

Comprehensive & Cosmetic Dentistry

Your smile is often the first thing people notice about you. In an instant, it can convey warmth, friendliness, comfort, and confidence. A beautiful smile is also a trait that invites people to interact with you and even trust you before a single word is spoken.

Just as a winning smile can provide many advantages in the social arena, a less-than-perfect smile can work against you. If there are things you don’t like about your smile, you may be hiding it without even realizing you’re holding back — and limiting your potential for interaction with others in the process.

Investing in Your Appearance

A smile makeover, or smile enhancement, is a wonderful gift you can give yourself with little time or financial sacrifice. An attractive smile will provide many social benefits, and improving tooth problems will enhance your overall dental health, as well.

At my Boulder, Colorado comprehensive dental practice, my team and I offer a variety of tooth restoration treatments to help you take your smile to the next level.

You can choose from smile makeover procedures like Invisalign braces for subtle smile straightening, porcelain veneers for flawless tooth repair, porcelain crowns to restore breaks and fractures, and dental implants to replace missing teeth.

Tooth whitening is one of the most requested smile enhancement treatments as it creates dramatic changes in a matter of minutes. Our cosmetic dentistry for men uses a targeted combination of tooth and gum treatments that are customized to enhance each patient’s smile and improve appearance.

To get an idea of the impact a smile enhancement can have, please visit our smile gallery.

Life After a Smile Makeover

Once your smile is perfected by our team, you’ll start to notice changes in the way others respond to you, as well as improved confidence in your day-to-day activities. Even a small cosmetic dentistry enhancement can improve others’ perception of you in business and personal situations. Many of our past smile makeover patients have reported improved self-perception and a more positive attitude after having smile enhancement treatments. 

Whether you are interested in cosmetic dentistry or simply due for a wellness care checkup, we would love to see you for a discussion of your smile enhancement. Please schedule a visit with our Boulder smile makeover team at your convenience.

Dr. Ania

Comprehensive & Cosmetic Dentistry

Cosmetic dentistry is a popular way for people with tooth and gum problems to finally have a smile they’ve always imagined. Smile enhancement has traditionally been more popular with women, but the dental field is seeing a rise in male patients as new and innovative smile repair techniques are being introduced and treatments are becoming more affordable and accessible.

Custom Smile Design

As a highly trained smile makeover artist, I have a deep understanding of the elements that make a man’s smile prominent and alluring. I will carefully calculate the optimal position, shape, and length of your teeth, along with the ideal height of your gum tissue, to design a well-balanced smile that accents your facial features. After a full mouth examination and discussion of your smile goals, we will review your options together and I’ll present my recommended treatment plan. You may require just one cosmetic dentistry treatment or a combination of several treatments, depending on the final result desired.

Tooth Repair

Our first priority is making sure your teeth are fully functional and aligned properly. If there are any structural issues that are affecting your bite, I may recommend a tooth restoration or TMJ procedure. Choosing to repair tooth breaks, chips, cracks, fractures, or misalignment can only improve your smile appearance and will help build a strong foundation for any additional cosmetic enhancements. Common restoration treatments include dental fillings, dental crowns, dental bridges, and Invisalign braces.

Cosmetic Improvement

Fillings, dental bonding, dental crowns, gum reshaping, and porcelain veneers are popular smile makeover procedures that can turn unattractive tooth features into admirable ones. Tooth whitening is perhaps the most requested cosmetic dentistry procedure due to its noninvasive nature, its affordability, and its dramatic results.

Benefits of Smile Enhancement

Smile enhancement can improve your self-confidence, which is invaluable in both personal and business situations. The smile improvements we perform are of the highest quality, ensuring long-lasting results that will benefit you for many years. Many of our male patients have reported feeling younger and more vibrant after cosmetic dentistry.

Remember to visit us every six months for your wellness care checks to keep your smile healthy and beautiful. If you would like to learn more about the cosmetic dentistry options available to men, please schedule a wellness visit with our Boulder, Colorado dental practice.

Dr. Ania

Comprehensive & Cosmetic Dentistry

A filling can last several years, depending on the material used, how well it was placed, and your eating and biting habits. At my Boulder, Colorado dental practice, we recommend filling replacements as soon as we see wear and tear or damage that could compromise your tooth.

Reasons for Filling Replacement

Most filling replacements I perform are due to old fillings that have become loose, caused cracks in the teeth, or are worn and can no longer provide adequate protection. If you have concerns about the effectiveness of a filling, it is best to schedule a visit soon to avoid further damage that could lead to a dental crown or other more substantial restoration.

Dental Filling Materials

We prefer metal-free ceramics for all fillings, regardless of placement location. In some dental practices, teams may offer the option of metal amalgam fillings on the back teeth as a cost-saver. We believe that high-grade ceramic fillings are the best and only options for filling patients for safety, attractiveness, durability, and longevity.

Your Appointment

If you are due for a checkup and cleaning, rest assured that my team and I will thoroughly evaluate your dental health, including the state of your current dental work, during your dental wellness visits. X-rays and physical examination helps us assess the viability and condition of past metal, ceramic, and porcelain fillings. Even if there is no sign of damage, you may choose to replace an old metal filling with a new ceramic one for a more natural appearance.

To schedule a personal appointment, please contact my Boulder comprehensive dental center.

Dr. Ania

Comprehensive & Cosmetic Dentistry

If you’ve got a tooth that is in trouble, a durable dental crown is a very effective rescue remedy that can perfectly restore damaged enamel. A crown or “cap” fits over the biting surface of a tooth once your natural enamel is reduced.

How Crowns Protect

A dental crown is like a protective armor, encapsulating precious enamel and providing an extra layer between the tooth and the elements that could potentially cause damage. The addition of a crown allows a patient to keep full use of a tooth by enhancing its strength and harboring the tooth root.

Dental Crown Uses

Think of a dental crown as a tooth restoration treatment that is used when fillings and inlays/onlays are insufficient. I often recommend a ceramic crown for patients who have significant physical damage such as breaks or cracks, large cavities, large old fillings that need to be removed, and major wear and tear due to an uneven bite.

Why Ceramics?

At my Boulder, Colorado dental practice, our dental crowns are constructed entirely of metal-free ceramics and handcrafted in a state-of-the-art lab. Through the use of Empress® and IPS e.max® crowns, we ensure a very natural appearance, without the dark band at the gumline typical of porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns. These ceramic compositions also provide incomparable strength when bonded tightly to enamel with a resin-based cement.

If you would like to see examples of dental crowns placed here at our office, please visit the smile gallery.

If you’d like to learn more about ceramic dental crowns and their impressive restoration abilities, please contact my Boulder comprehensive dental center. Our team is available to meet with you to evaluate your smile makeover needs and discuss the benefits of crown work. 

Dr. Ania

Comprehensive & Cosmetic Dentistry

Every tooth in your mouth has a specific purpose, from your front teeth to your back molars. It is remarkable how your daily life can be affected when one tooth becomes chipped or a toothache develops due to a cavity. You may find yourself biting down differently, perhaps with less pressure, or chewing your food only on one side of the mouth. If just one damaged tooth can upset your natural bite balance, imagine how much potential harm a missing tooth can do.

Cosmetic Dentistry Solutions

On the rare occasion that a decaying or damaged tooth is unable to be saved with a dental crown, root canal, or other tooth restoration, you will be strongly encouraged to replace the extracted tooth. At my Boulder, Colorado dental practice, we offer three options for tooth replacement — dentures, dental bridges, and dental implants. Dental implants are the most realistic, highest quality option, but the best treatment for you will depend on your current situation.

Tooth Replacement Benefits

A new false tooth provides much more than a cosmetic improvement. One missing tooth can lead to chewing, speaking, and neuromuscular problems. Tooth replacement ensures that you are able to maintain a balanced bite and to chew and speak normally.

Another negative of missing teeth is the lack of support. A replacement tooth provides needed structure for the teeth around it and prevents them from shifting out of place.

Finally, many people who experience tooth loss face the risk of degeneration of the jaw bone. Replacing your missing tooth with a dental implant prevents bone loss because the titanium tooth root is attached to the actual bone.

If you are wondering how much of a difference a false tooth can make, take a look at some of our tooth replacement results in our smile gallery.

Your Complete Smile

If you have not been in to visit a dentist lately, it is a good idea to schedule a dental wellness appointment to help prevent tooth loss and let us review what you should know about periodontal disease. If you have one or more missing teeth and you want to talk about a replacement solution, feel free to contact my Boulder comprehensive dental center any time.

Dr. Ania

Comprehensive & Cosmetic Dentistry

When you trust a dental professional to supervise your teeth and gums, you need to make sure he or she is expertly trained in both general and cosmetic dentistry. A seasoned dentist with many years of experience applying both specializations is your best bet for providing comprehensive care for your entire family.

At my Boulder, Colorado dental practice, our team is highly prepared to address any and all dental health issues that arise with a patient thanks to each team member’s extensive training and diverse background in the field of dentistry.

Understanding the Two Specializations

General dentistry involves preventative maintenance and dental health monitoring. Our wellness services include X-rays, deep cleanings with laser bacterial reduction, physical exams, diagnostic capabilities, and cavity treatments like fillings.

Cosmetic dentistry is the area of dentistry that uses advanced dental materials to create lifelike, strong restorations for the purpose of improving the form and function of a tooth. Once the general dentistry exam reveals dental issues, or a patient comes to us wanting to improve the look of their smile, we are able to recommend one or more cosmetic dentistry procedures as effective solutions.

Cooperative Dentistry

Let’s say you come in to see us for a regular checkup. X-rays reveal that you have a cavity in a tooth that is visible when you smile. The cavity is too large to repair with a filling, so we must use the principles of cosmetic dentistry to design a dental crown that will strengthen and protect this tooth and look natural as well. The result is a healthier and more attractive smile.

Cosmetic and general dentistry go hand in hand. I’ll do everything I can to make sure your teeth and gums get the full range of treatments for optimal dental health. Contact my Boulder comprehensive dental center to set up your appointment today.

Dr. Ania

Comprehensive & Cosmetic Dentistry

When you look for a general or cosmetic dentist to care for your teeth and gums, you ideally want a practice that values quality over quantity. You want your dentist to take the time necessary to get your restoration just right, and that means choosing the tools that will deliver the most attractive and most functional results.

The dental materials used for your restorations are of the utmost importance. During the many years I studied the principles of smile design, I learned that dental skill means nothing without the right materials.

When dentists cut corners by using inferior materials, it does not matter how good the tooth repair looks. Without a quality dental material, patients may experience breakage, chipping, neuromuscular problems, and accelerated wear and tear.

At my Boulder, Colorado dental practice, we use only the best for our patients. We prefer metal-free ceramics for the majority of our restorations, including zirconia ceramic. My team is committed to using high-grade brands like Empress® and IPS e.max®. All of these ceramic compositions mimic the qualities of glass, but are not as abrasive as porcelain. We also use a resin-based cement to bond our dental veneers, fillings, and dental crowns into place for maximum hold and strength.

We choose our dental materials because we feel they produce attractive, natural-looking results that outlast other types of materials. Before we place each restoration, we make sure the materials we use respect the four attributes of appearance, functionality, strength and safety.

Should you schedule a visit for a little hot or cold sensitivity? How about bleeding gums or a sore jaw? Can you skip an occasional 6-month visit if your teeth and gums aren’t causing problems? In this blog we answer these questions and help you determine when you should utilize the skills and training of your dental team and when you should be conservative.

To Go or Not to Go?

Obviously, anything that would be considered a dental emergency should be looked at right away. Pain or soreness is always good to have checked out. At my dental office in Boulder, Colorado, I generally like patients to err on the side of caution. If something is bothering you, it is best to have it evaluated. Things like occasional bleeding gums after flossing are often no cause for worry, but could potentially be an early indicator of gum disease.

If you have an issue you would like to discuss, our intake team members can help you decide if it warrants a visit or not. If you are unhappy with your smile appearance and you would like a change, we would be happy to explain our many cosmetic dentistry options and recommend smile restoration treatments to improve the look of teeth and gums. As far as your semi-annual checkups go, we highly recommend you never go longer than six months without a comprehensive X-ray evaluation and dental cleaning to maintain good dental health.

Personalized Dental Solutions

As a cosmetic and general dentist, I can repair a large range of tooth problems, from cavities and damaged fillings to broken teeth, loose crowns, and injured teeth. As a neuromuscular dentist, I can also help correct any symptoms that may be stemming from an imbalanced bite, such as jaw soreness, headaches, and clicking or popping sounds in the jaw. Whatever your dental needs are, you can trust my team to deliver personalized care and honest dental guidance.

Call Us With Questions

If you feel it is time to schedule a dental visit, my team and I would be honored to address your dental needs and provide you with exceptional treatment. Please schedule an appointment online for our Boulder office at your convenience.

Dr. Ania

Comprehensive & Cosmetic Dentistry