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You may be wondering WHY you should see a cosmetic dentist as opposed to a “regular” dentist, when really the biggest difference is that traditional dentistry focuses on oral hygiene & disease, while we as cosmetic dentist do that PLUS focus on improving the appearance of the teeth, mouth, and smile. Just call us the artists of the dental world, because generally speaking, a cosmetic dentist is a restorative dentist who has extensively studied the concepts of smile design and dental materials to create what could best be described as works of art. (Pretty neat, right?) It’s not all about bright white smiles though, there’s a lot that’s covered under restorative dentistry – some that really is just cosmetic and designed to boost your self-confidence, some that can better your health, and some that will make your life easier.

Having a damaged smile may diminish eating or speaking capacity as well as shaking your self-confidence. And wanting a more beautiful smile isn’t just some beauty-obsessed desire; it’s an important investment in your social and career opportunities. Your smile is right there on your face and is one of the first things people notice about you and having damaged, crooked, or discolored teeth affects how you portray yourself to others. Without a doubt, it’s true that the more confident you feel, the more confident you appear to others. So how can a cosmetic dentist help you put forward your best smile and improve your quality of life? Well, here’s a few ways…

Dental implants are artificial tooth root replacements that are used in order to compensate for tooth loss. Usually made of titanium, an implant is used to replace the root portion of a missing tooth [...]

Did you know? We don’t just offer dental services at our office, we also offer botox cosmetic procedures and dermal fillers! Botox is used medically to treat certain muscular conditions and cosmetically remove wrinkles, while dermal fillers are soft tissue fillers injected into the skin to help fill in facial wrinkles, restoring a smoother appearance.

Why use Botox Cosmetic?
There are several types of dermal fillers available for cosmetic treatment, all of which are available at our Rutherford office.  With a few tiny injections, Botox Cosmetic blocks nerve impulses to the muscles in your forehead, thus reducing their movement. This decreased muscle activity helps lessen the appearance of moderate to severe frown lines between the eyes (glabellar or “H” lines), Crow’s feet found on the lateral border of the eyes, and the forehead.

Botox Cosmetic treatment is a quick and minimally invasive treatment at our Rutherford office. It is a 30-minute procedure that requires no downtime or recovery. It is often called a “lunchtime” procedure! In clinical trials, a majority of patients saw significant improvement in seven days and continued to improve for up to a month.
On the average, Botox lasts between four and five months. Patients often prefer to be maintained every four months, before the initial Botox regimen is metabolized.
Why Use Dermal Fillers?
Dermal fillers are injected under the skin with a fine needle. They are used to fill in facial wrinkle and folds, creating an immediate smooth appearance. Smoothing out folds and wrinkles by adding volume can make an enormous difference to a patient’s appearance.
The most common facial sites where dermal fillers are used are:
• Nasolabial folds, Marionette lines (folds at the corners of the mouth)
• Mandibular shaping [...]

Dental implants as we know them today were invented in 1952 by a Swedish orthopedic surgeon named Per-Ingvar Brånemark. Today, they are considered the standard of care for replacement of missing teeth. They can be used to replace a single tooth, several teeth, or all the teeth. The loss of a tooth has both aesthetic and functional consequences, and dental implants have the longest lifespan of any of the other tooth replacement options.

What exactly IS a dental implant? A surgical fixture that is placed into the jawbone and allowed to fuse with the bone over the span of a few months. The dental implant acts as a replacement for the root of a missing tooth. In turn, this “artificial tooth root” serves to hold a replacement tooth or bridge. The process of fusion between the dental implant and jawbone is called “osseointegration.” Most dental implants are made of titanium, which allows them to integrate with bone without being recognized as a foreign object in our body. The success rate for dental implants is 98%!

You’re probably thinking, “Well, what happens when I come to your office to get a dental implant then?”. Here’s how the process goes:

In preparing for a dental implant at Dr. Graber’s Rutherford Dental office, x-rays will need to be taken so that Dr. Steven Reff can check the shape and the thickness of the jawbone. These x-rays will also show the position of other structures in the mouth such as nerves and sinuses. This free consultation provides an opportunity to understand and ask questions about what will happen during the procedure. Risks and benefits will also be discussed.

In many cases, Dr. Reff surgically removes a tooth and places a dental implant [...]