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BELLEVUE COSMETIC DENTIST TOOTH COLORED FILLINGS CREATE BEAUTIFUL SMILES

BELLEVUE COSMETIC DENTIST TOOTH COLORED FILLINGS

When you have a tooth filled or bonded at a Cosmetic Dentist office such as Brookside Dental, only non-metal, tooth colored materials are used to accomplish this type of naturally appearing tooth colored restoration. These tooth colored fillings are called composite restorations. Historically, two types of metal, Silver amalgam and Gold, have been used to restore decayed areas of teeth. Posterior metallic crowns, onlays, and inlays are generally made with gold alloy. However, the majority of metal fillings have been silver amalgam fillings, which are an alloy of silver, mercury and other metals. The dark metallic amalgam fillings in teeth are often referred to as silver fillings by patients and have been used in dentistry for over a hundred years. Metal fillings are used on posterior teeth but not on anterior teeth for obvious aesthetic reasons. Many dentists use silver fillings today, because they are less expensive than tooth colored fillings. This is the only advantage that metal fillings have when compared to composite or tooth colored fillings. Much of this cost savings has been driven historically by insurance companies that do not want to pay the higher price commanded by composite fillings. This attitude is changing and some insurance companies are paying the same percentage for both types of fillings, because consumers and their employers are demanding the higher quality composite fillings. Additionally, people want to look younger and more beautiful. Insurance payments are typically 80% of the fees for fillings that are submitted by dentists.

Tooth colored fillings have long been the standard when working on the front or anterior teeth. Quality dentistry has always been associated with beautiful anterior tooth colored fillings. More recently, there are several reasons for the shift toward posterior fillings that are tooth colored. The most obvious reason is that they look esthetically better than silver fillings. Silver amalgam fillings simply don’t look natural. The quality of these tooth colored materials used for fillings has become increasingly better each year with many scientific advances that maintain the color, resist fracture, and give natural translucent appearance. Quite honestly, amalgam is not aesthetically pleasing even in the lower posterior teeth which are exposed to view much of the time when talking. Patients should be informed of the discolored appearance that can occur to their teeth, particularly when the amalgam fillings are located in the more anterior and readily visible parts of the mouth. A major drawback to amalgam fillings is that preparation for the filling requires back cutting the tooth much like a pyramid so that when the metal hardens it will have good retention. This retention back cutting is required, because the metal does not actually bond to the tooth structure–it simply fills the cavity space and sits next to the normal tooth structure. The back cut areas of the tooth are thin, weak areas, which fracture easily. Amalgam filled teeth are highly susceptible to having cusps that fracture off. Posterior teeth with fractured cups require the placement of a more expensive crown on the tooth to preserve normal architecture and function. Bellevue Cosmetic Dentists, Dr Cynthia Pauley and Dr Patricia Pauley, only use tooth colored composite material to restore teeth, both posterior and anterior.

ADVANTAGES OF TOOTH COLORED FILLINGS

• Composite resin tooth colored fillings look natural with a translucent tooth-like appearance and can be mixed to match any color of the tooth by your dentist.
• Since �back-cutting� is not required, less of the natural tooth structure needs to be drilled away and removed by your Dentist, which maintains more of the strength and integrity of the natural tooth.
• Composite resin strengthens the tooth that is filled because the composite resin actually bonds within the tooth structure.
• Composite resin fillings rarely have areas of the tooth that are thin or weak, so that cusps rarely fracture off.
• Composite resin fillings do not conduct heat and therefore do not expand and contract with heat and cold in your mouth, which helps facilitate tooth fractures near metal fillings.
• Without back-cut areas or temperature movement, there is not any stress put upon weak areas of the composite filled tooth as occurs with metal fillings.
• Composite fillings do not have any unbounded area between tooth and filling to allow moisture and bacteria to enter and cause decay and aide fractures.

In Cosmetic Dentistry, composite resin is the material of choice for most fillings, including very large posterior ones. The Cosmetic Dentists at Brookside Dental have not used silver amalgam as tooth filling material since the early to mid 1990’s. In that time, we have never had a patient tell us that they would prefer amalgam fillings instead of the tooth-colored fillings. Tooth-colored fillings take much more time and artistry by your Cosmetic Dentist than do silver fillings and therefore have more expensive fees than amalgam fillings. The higher cost of materials and labor related to tooth-colored fillings may preclude them as an option for some people. However, at Brookside Dental, we only use composite resin tooth-colored material for fillings in both anterior and posterior teeth, because we think that from the patients’ perspective, both the long-term health of the tooth and the person are enhanced by the use of these natural appearing composite filling materials. For additional information on composite tooth-colored fillings and other cosmetic dentistry techniques, you can visit our main website or our cosmetic dental clinic in Bellevue, WA.

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PIERRE FAUCHARD ACADEMY HONORS SEVEN WASHINGTON STATE DENTISTS

The Pierre Fauchard Academy is an International Dental Honor Organization that recognizes outstanding dentists from around the world.� Dr Patricia Pauley DDS, Brookside Dental, Bellevue, WA, was inducted into the prestigious Pierre Fauchard Academy on July 13, 2006. Dr Pat Pauley was one of only seven new Dental Fellows from Washington State inducted into the Academy in 2006.� The Academy celebrates the achievements of its members at the time of induction.� There are only 132 Washington State dentists that are Dental Fellows in the Pierre Fauchard Academy.� This honor recognizes the many years of dedicated service to the community and to dentistry by Dr Pauley.� Dr Barry Feder, President, Washington State Section, Pierre Fauchard Academy, presented medals to the seven new Pierre Fauchard Washington State Dentists at the induction ceremony on July 13, 2006, in Seattle, WA.

The Academy seeks to support the highest ideals of dentistry throughout the world in both ethical and moral practice, through service to community, country and profession.� The Pierre Fauchard Academy, founded in 1936 is comprised of fellows from around the world who have distinguished themselves in their commitment and support of educational, community and research activities within the dental profession. Through its Foundation, the Academy provides grants for a range of academic and public health projects and programs, as well as financial encouragement to dental undergraduate students.

Dr Pierre Fauchard (1678-1761), the father of modern dentistry, styled himself as a chirurgien-dentiste (surgeon dentist), the first practitioner to use this title professionally.�� He was responsible for developing some new and ingenious designs for dental appliances, which greatly improved the outlook for those patients unfortunate enough to require them.� Patients traveled great distances to utilize his skills and services.� He was a surgeon in the French Navy, following which he began working as a dentist in Western France. He read widely and studied crafts such as watch-making and jewelry-making, from which he adapted techniques and instruments that he felt were useful to dentistry.^� His unprecedented competency and conscientiousness earned him an outstanding reputation as a dentist of unparalleled skill and acumen.� Dr Fauchard�s advice and talents were regularly in demand by some of the most accomplished surgeons of his time.

The practice of dentistry at that time had been stifled by jealousy, because dental knowledge and techniques were regarded as valuable property by the more competent and skilled practitioners, and were rarely shared with other dental colleagues. In a significant break with tradition, Dr Fauchard published a textbook in 1728 entitled Le Chriurgien Dentiste ou Trait� des Dent (The Surgeon Dentist or Treatise on the Teeth) in two volumes of over 800 pages, which included many illustrations.� In this way Dr Fauchard shared his considerable knowledge and wealth of observations with colleagues and students, describing his techniques with exceptional clarity and detail. Many of his suggestions were radical for dental practice in those days, but his practice of seating patients rather than having them lie down is still used today.� Additional information about the Pierre Fauchard Academy may be obtained at www.fauchard.org .

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Have you ever wondered why many successful people have beautiful smiles and exactly what is a beautiful smile? More than 92% of adults agree that an attractive smile is an important social asset. If you smile at people, it will encourage them to smile at you in return. There is strong evidence that attractive smiles enhance peoples� self-esteem, their business opportunities, and their social interactions.

As smile makeover experts, our goal as cosmetic dentists is to make your smile beautiful and functional! A good cosmetic dentist combines artistry and technology together to accomplish this goal and create the smile of your dreams. This result is accomplished by carefully examining all aspects of your smile to determine the right procedures that are needed for you individually to create your new smile. We use leading-edge dental technology, procedures, and materials to create the ideal smile for your face and one that makes you happy. We work with an onsite porcelain artist to produce a beautiful smile by combining anatomy, function, and esthetics. Correct form and function go hand in hand to establish the smile you want.

Healthy appearing teeth are the foundation of a knockout smile. Beautiful Smiles have the following characteristics:

1. Teeth that are straight and evenly spaced;
2. Teeth that are aligned in the center of your mouth;
3. White Teeth without any stains or discoloration;
4. Smooth and even gum-lines;
5. Correct contour relationships between the teeth, gums and lips during a smile;
6. Upper gums that do not show in a well balanced smile;
7. Biting edges of the top teeth that evenly follow the curve of the lower lip.

Additionally, the teeth should not appear too short, too wide or too long in a beautiful smile. However, the perfect size and length of the teeth will vary slightly for each person depending upon the characteristics of the person�s face and mouth.

Finally, don�t worry if your smile isn�t quite perfect now, because your cosmetic dentist can develop it to your satisfaction! That is what cosmetic dentists do is create beautiful smiles and keep smiles beautiful. For cosmetic smile enhancement or alteration, seek out a dentist that has had advanced training beyond their regular dental degree in the various aspects of cosmetic dentistry. This advanced training may include anterior tooth restorative cosmetics, posterior tooth restorative cosmetics, implant placement, limited tooth movement orthodontics and whole mouth cosmetic reconstruction. Whole mouth reconstruction is often called an extreme makeover because almost all of your teeth or a majority of them are altered or changed in some fashion.

Visit our Brookside Dental Testimonials to see what people have to say regarding their dental work done by Dr Patricia Pauley and Dr Cynthia Pauley. In this testimonial section people will discuss a variety of cosmetic dental procedures that have been performed by these two cosmetic dentists.

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Tooth Decay is Stopped When Dental Sealants are Used

Cosmetic Dentistry starts with healthy teeth. The reduction of tooth decay with modern Dental Sealants leads to more beautiful smiles and natural looking teeth. Dental Sealants allowed two young patients, Kai and India, on July 25, 2006, to say, Look, mom, no cavities after nine years, after a routine dental exam by Dr Cynthia Pauley! On June 3, 1997, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran a front-page feature article on Dental Sealants and Brookside Dental. The article pictured young Kai and India in the child Teddy Bear Room at Brookside Dental receiving their initial dental sealants. Preventive dentistry remains a remarkable success story in dental health and the use of dental sealants on children?s teeth has helped spearhead this amazing progress in the fight against tooth decay. Dental Sealants have definitely taken a huge bite out of tooth decay and contribute to nice healthy looking teeth.

You might have thought getting cavities was a fact of life, but thanks to fluoride, sealants and better dental habits, well over 55 percent of school-age children now have no cavities. This advance in the health of our teeth is as much marketing as medicine. We can credit successful communication campaigns and sound public policy – along with science – for the quantum leap improvement in our public health and in particular the drop in dental cavities. The percentage of school-aged children without cavities in their permanent teeth has decreased dramatically, according to findings by the National Institute of Dental Research. In the early 1970s, schoolchildren had, on average, seven cavities. Twenty years later, the average had fallen to 2.5, researchers reported. The use of Dental Sealants was largely responsible for this dramatic drop along with fluoride treatments. Because of these advances, dentists predict that as far as teeth go, the baby boomers – those people born before 1965 – will be the last generation to have a mouthful cavities that need fillings, crowns and bridges.

To understand the breadth of the achievement, consider the teeth worked on by Bellevue Cosmetic Dentist Patricia Pauley who immediately after graduating from dental school in 1978 put into practice the new dental technique of applying plastic sealants to the chewing surfaces of children?s back teeth. The plastic resin bonds into depressions and grooves, providing a barrier that seals out plaque and food where toothbrush bristles often can’t reach. Applying the sealant to young children’s teeth before they have cavities virtually prevents any possibility of decay in those teeth. Approximately, 99 percent of the child patients receiving dental sealants at Brookside Dental are still cavity-free after 20 years. So it is not surprising that Kai and India Richter had cavity-free mouths 9 years after the application of dental sealants to their teeth. The children of the baby boomers will not have many fillings if they have had the two-pronged treatment for decay prevention consisting of dental sealants and fluoride.

Even though significant progress is being made in the fight against tooth decay, much work remains to be done. Improved tooth care is not universal. Even though sealants are considered virtually decay-proof, large numbers of school-aged children still do not have sealants on any of their permanent teeth, according to the National Institute of Dental Research. Racial minorities, immigrants, and the poor are the least likely to have dental sealants available to them. Seeking to bridge this gap, teams of public-health workers, usually a dentist and three or four dental assistants – set up mobile dental labs in metropolitan areas such as Seattle, Washington, to provide dental sealants to students that are predominantly from low-income families. Dental sealants are one of the first steps toward healthy teeth, beautiful smiles, and increased self-esteem. Additional good news is that Dental Sealants are painless to apply, easily and rapidly applied, and have no harmful side effects. Dental Sealants also are relatively inexpensive, when compared to the cost of a filling or a crown. “Cutting Down on Cavities” is a review of dental sealants used on childern at Brookside Dental for approximately 25 years.

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