Modern Dentistry

I remember a conversation that I had with my parents when I was a teenager. I had decided to pursue a career as a professional musician after years of focusing on the fact that my goal was to become a medical doctor one day. Needless to say my parents were disappointed in my change of plans. In discussing possible options, my mother in her wisdom, suggested that I could become a dentist. To this I replied, "Dentist? How boring ... I can't imagine ever becoming a dentist!" Was I ever wrong ... not only did I become a dentist, but it is anything but boring, and it has become my hobby and passion. Modern dentistry is nothing like the dentistry that was practiced for the preceding hundred years. In the last 33 years since I graduated, the global explosion in technology has hit dentistry, and allowed us to expand our offerings, abilities, techniques, and therefore our satisfaction levels. There are very few procedures that I perform in the way that I was taught in dental school. That is how much things have changed. One of the most rewarding procedures we dentists can perform is a "smile makeover". This can be something as small as masking a discoloured tooth with a tooth coloured resin to make it match the colour of the other teeth, to Invisalign, Orthodontics, and combination of tooth movement and porcelain veneers, to full mouth reconstruction with porcelain restorations. The following photos can show you two rather dramatic improvements in smiles. The first set of photos shows two upper incisors which had fractured when the person tripped, fell, and fractured his teeth. The teeth were not able to be saved, and two dental implants were placed and restored with ceramic crowns. This was a young man and these restorations made it possible for him to smile with confidence at a time in his life when he was entering the work force and seeking employment.

In this second case, the person had inherited a condition in which some of the permanent teeth were absent and his bite did not develop properly. This resulted in excess wearing of the teeth that he did have, and this made him appear much older than his chronological age. Using a combination of dental implants, neuromuscular dental principles, and modern ceramics, we were able to achieve a beautiful smile and make him look 10 years younger.

These are just 2 examples of what is possible today. This type of dentistry can change people's lives. I plan to show you more interesting cases in future blogs. Yours for better health, Dr. Marty Frankel Smiles by Design 3080 Yonge Street, suite 3030, Toronto, Ontario M2N 1T7 416-770-8526