If you watch a lot of reality shows on TV, you could be forgiven for thinking that cosmetic dentistry is only for young people with buff bodies and a few wonky teeth. No, not at all. Cosmetic dentistry is the saviour of people who have lost teeth, or whose teeth have been reduced to ugly little stumps in their mouths, through decay, gum disease, and sheer old age. Everybody should be able to enjoy a lovely smile, not just the young and beautiful.

At Kings Dental Clinic in Hammersmith, cosmetic dentistry is giving people their dignity and self-respect back. If you take a look at our before and after pictures, you will see what we are talking about.

Not just aesthetics

You don’t need to wait until your teeth are truly worse for wear before getting them fixed. If you need to justify it to yourself, you will be pleased to know that, in general, cosmetic dentistry gives you better oral health. If you get your teeth straightened with what are considered to be cosmetic braces (or aligners), your teeth will have fewer nooks and crannies in which plaque can hide and turn into tartar, leading to tooth decay and gum disease.

Having teeth that you can chew properly on means that you can eat really good nutritious food, like fruit and raw vegetables. When you don’t have this capability, you can end up on a soft food diet, and this can lead to malnutrition.

Dental implants seem to fall into the category of cosmetic dentistry, but they are the only tooth restoration method that gives artificial teeth a solid anchor, which you can chew on.

Of course, there are some cosmetic dentistry treatments that are purely cosmetic, like teeth whitening. This does nothing for your ability to chew, or to keep your mouth healthy, but it can do a lot for your state of mind. If we can’t smile, we can’t release the natural chemicals that make us feel happy, and we can’t connect with other people. So, as you can see, cosmetic dentistry is about so much more than how you look.