Odontoplasty Treatment: Changing The Shape Of Your Teeth For The Better

Most types of cosmetic dentistry involve adding something to the tooth—whether this is tooth-colored resin to disguise a flaw, a veneer to cover the outward-facing surface of the tooth, or a dental crown to cover the whole tooth. However, if your cosmetic dentistry needs are minor, and a slightly misshapen tooth (or teeth) is all you're looking to address, you might be an ideal candidate for a procedure that takes something away from the tooth.

Reshaping

Odontoplasty is a type of tooth reshaping. It's recommended when teeth have improper spacing between them (with the gap being too narrow), or the biting cusps of your teeth are too sharp. Alternatively, the tooth may have some other irregularity, such as pits or indentations on its surface enamel. Whatever the problem may be, you've decided to seek treatment. Despite the transformative effects of tooth reshaping, the procedure is remarkably simple.

Sanding

A numbing agent can be applied if your teeth are especially sensitive, but this is only to compensate for any discomfort caused by the vibration of the required dental tools. Your dentist will only work on your tooth's surface enamel, which has no nerve endings of its own, and therefore can't feel pain. You can expect brief discomfort (at most) due to those vibrations. The vibrations are caused by the dental bur that will be used, which is a small handheld tool featuring a sanding disc that rotates at high speeds. 

Delicate

Manual sanding strips may also be used, but the results are quick and immediate with minimal side effects. Your teeth may feel slightly delicate after your odontoplasty, but this is only because the newly exposed layer of underlying tooth enamel has been exposed to the environment of your mouth for the very first time. Sensitivity (if noticed at all), shouldn't linger.

Permanent

Please remember that the results of odontoplasty treatment are permanent. Once any part of a tooth's structure is removed, it will not regenerate itself. If you're hesitant about the permanence of the procedure, have a talk with your cosmetic dentist. There are alternatives to tooth reshaping (composite resin, dental veneers, dental crowns), but these involve adding something to the tooth's structure—and this is likely to be more costly and time-consuming than reshaping.

Patients who undergo tooth reshaping walk out of the dental clinic with a new smile, and it can be remarkable that the issue that had bothered you for years can be quickly addressed in a single treatment session.

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