Cosmetic Dentist
Would you like to work with people to help them look and feel their best, so that they smile with dazzling confidence? Do you dream of a career where you can combine the fields of art and science, with the tools and technology to improve the lives of others? With the right training and education, you can have a rewarding career as a cosmetic dentist. This rapidly-growing field is perfect for the person who wants a career rooted in science and medicine, combined with the artistry of today’s modern dental-enhancing techniques. As a cosmetic dentist, you will be a complete dentist, with all the skills of basic dentistry, and the advanced techniques of esthetic and restorative dentistry too.
Getting started
You will begin on the road to a rewarding career as a cosmetic dentist by completing an accredited dental school program. Cosmetic dentistry is dentistry and more, and requires additional training as such. To enter this field, you will need 2-3 additional years of specialized training after finishing dental school. In cosmetic dentistry school, you will learn all about the advanced techniques and procedures which make this field so advanced.
As a cosmetic dentist, you will be taught to understand the smile itself. How do people smile? What role do their teeth play in having a beautiful smile? Tooth alignment, color, texture and shape are all key components of a person’s smile. These elements combine the science of dentistry with a specialized artistry. Formal training in cosmetic dentistry will give you the edge to understand and envision beautiful, healthy smiles for all of your patients. Offshoot fields in cosmetic dentistry include orthodontics, which involves the straightness of teeth, or treatment of malocclusions, and prosthodontics, or the replacement or repair of missing or damaged teeth.
Cosmetic dentistry is a specialized, competitive field, and as such, the American Society for Dental Aesthetics was conceived in 1976 to help prospective and current cosmetic dentists perfect and advance their craft through continued education. Cosmetic dentists can become members of this prestigious professional organization, and continue their educations with the most advanced professionals in the field.
Procedures and techniques
A cosmetic dentist provides care above and beyond basic dentistry to include advanced aesthetic procedures. Some procedures are designed to enhance the shape or quality of the teeth themselves, while others devote attention to the formation of the jaw, the patient’s bite, mechanics of the smile or straightness of the teeth.
Some techniques are rapidly gaining popularity among patients, and properly-trained cosmetic dentists can provide them. These techniques include tooth whitening, which is currently the most popular cosmetic dental procedure. Also popular is tooth reshaping, to give teeth a neater, more even appearance, making a patient’s bite more even as well. Patients can choose from other procedures such as bonding or veneer placement to enhance the shape and/or appearance of teeth. Other techniques include the creation of bridges or dentures to fill in for missing or malformed teeth, or appliances to help straighten malocclusions or jaw malformations.
Each of these techniques requires specialized training, and each will enhance patients’ appearance, giving them more confidence in themselves and something to smile about! Many cosmetic dentists also make the time to work with the underprivileged, to help repair teeth, and correct developmental or environmental deficiencies. As a cosmetic dentist, you can give this special gift to all of your patients, and know that you have helped to look better and feel better.
If you like what you’re reading, check out a cosmetic dentistry program. Take your dental training to the next level, and learn the specialized skills and techniques to help you become more than a dentist. You can a dental artist!
