Cosmetic dentistry at our dental office, located in Southpark Charlotte NC, includes a wide range of dental treatments, such as Teeth Whitening, Deep Bleaching (TM), Porcelain (laminate) Veneers, Porcelain crowns and bridges, Dental Implants. Dr. Charles Payet has extensive training and experience in providing patients beautiful Smile Makeovers for over 10 years.
Dental Discount Plan for Cosmetic Dentistry? You bet!
I've talked about our Smiles by Payet Dental Discount Plan several times, but something that may be overlooked is that this even covers Cosmetic Dentistry! Imagine you're looking for a Smile Makeover and want to get Porcelain Veneers [...]
Replacing Dental Crowns with Black Lines at the Gum
What's the Black Line Under Old Crowns? Here's a case from a few years ago where the patient was really unhappy with his old, yellow, ugly old Porcelain-to-Metal crowns, partially because of the dark grey line at the crowns' edges. That black line between the gum and crowns was from the metal inside the crowns showing through. He only had crowns on the top 6 front teeth (a bad idea), and he wanted all of his teeth bright white, and he'd gotten the crowns initially because of severe Tetracycline staining of his teeth. They were the darkest teeth I've EVER had to treat. I'll post something soon about how to create a beautiful smile despite tetracycline-stained teeth, but for this I simply want to show that dental crowns that are used to create a Smile Makeover can be just as beautiful and natural-looking as all-porcelain crowns. Replacing ugly old porcelain-and-metal crowns with a dark grey line at the gums with porcelain-to-gold crowns that look beautiful, natural, and white - to cover tetracycline-stained teeth. Most New Dental Crowns Have No Metal Especially with our Same-Day Porcelain Crowns, we almost never need crowns with metal inside them anymore, but there are occasions that it's still a good choice, as with tetracycline-stained teeth. If this is the kind of dentistry you'd like, Request an Appointment Online or call us at 704-364-7069. We'll look forward to meeting you soon!
Baby Boomers – get your teeth fixed before you retire when you still have dental insurance and flex plans to help pay
With more and more Baby Boomers approaching or entering retirement, an issue often not considered is their dental health. I think it is actually an important topic to discuss, even more so in today's economy. Will You Have Dental Insurance After Retirement? Many Baby Boomers - my parents included - have put retirement on hold, but it's still not all that far away, and with retirement usually comes the loss of dental insurance and the loss of medical/dental Flex plans that can help a lot with covering the cost of dental care. After that, it's all out-of-pocket. Ouch! So we always recommend a thorough re-evaluation of existing dental work for things that may be on the verge of going bad. Such things could be: Old silver fillings with cavities and cracks that could turn into root canals and crowns or extractions The teeth around the old silver fillings may have cracks that could lead to broken teeth Gum (periodontal) disease Ugly old crowns that could be replaced for a nicer smile in the golden years Replacing missing teeth with dental bridges or implants so you can eat the foods you want Etc etc etc...... Old Silver Fillings Might Need Replacing This gentleman hadn't been to the dentist in a number of years but knew that he was approaching retirement, so he wanted to come in, get a cleaning, and find out if he needed to take care of anything while he still had dental insurance. Turns out that many of his 30+ year old silver fillings were in really bad condition, with pieces chipping off, cavities forming around the edges, teeth cracking, and gum disease to boot. While the total treatment that he needed involved [...]
Dental Implant Bridge Smile Makeover in Charlotte
Some Smile Makeovers are easy, but some are complicated and require combining several techniques to get the best result. The following is an example of one that used 3 different procedures in our Charlotte dentist office: A bridge on 2 dental implants Six Month Braces NTI nightguard for migraine relief Cosmetic Dentistry with Dental Implants When Kat first came to us in August 2006, she was ready to improve her smile, and she had some major complicating factors. She knew about the significant gum recession, was unhappy about the dark metal lines around her dental bridge, and wanted to brighten/straighten her whole smile. But beyond that, she had some more problems: Crowded lower front teeth that were banging against the back of the upper dental bridge She clenched her teeth intensely, pushing the lower front teeth powerfully against the back of the upper dental bridge A history of chronic migraines that did not respond to conventional treatment, and as she'll tell you in a heartbeat, she tried EVERYTHING. The 2 teeth holding up the bridge had cracks in the roots A very high smile line, meaning that - when she smiles big - her lip rises way up high so that even the gums show (most people don't do this) Two Dental Implants for a Bridge We spent quite a while talking about how all these things fit together and all the possibilities to give her a beautiful smile she would love. We finally decided on the following: [...]
Porcelain Veneers Before and After
One of my very favorite people is a simply AMAZING woman named Terrie Reeves. We first met at the Charlotte Yoga studio near Park Rd. & Woodlawn Rd. about 5 years ago, when she was an instructor and I was a student. Shortly after that, we got to talking about her smile and that, while she liked it ok, she would like it brighter and to fix the chips in the front teeth, and she'd noticed that it seemed her front teeth were getting thinner and more see-through. So after a thorough dental exam and long consultations, we decided on a Total Smile Makeover for Terrie that would be completed with 16 porcelain veneers. The top veneers were completed first, then the lower ones made to match, and ever since then, Terrie has absolutely loved her smile! And if you've ever met Terrie (which I highly recommend), you will understand when I say that her smile truly matches HER. She is filled with more energy than any 10 people have a right to, and she has to be one of the happiest people I've ever met. If you've seen the portrait of her below before......don't be surprised! After Terrie saw her post-Smile Makeover Portrait Shoot (on the side, I am a professional photographer as well), she asked if she could use some in her Wellness Coalition of America promotional materials; how could I refuse? :-)
Lead in Crowns from China? Not in our office!
It's been reported by the media recently that some dental crowns, made in China, have been found to have excessively high lead content. Generally, these crowns come from very low-priced laboratories, but the full extent of the problem is not yet known. However, I want ALL of my patients (and potential patients) to know that we do not use any labs in China, and in fact, we rarely use crowns that have metal in them. That's not to say that we are a "metal-free" dental office; by no means! There are a number of very good reasons to use gold, silver, and mixed metals for different situations, but none of those require that we use cheap crowns from cheap labs that might put you at risk. In fact, my patients can be reassured that they aren't getting any metal the huge majority of the time because of our CEREC 3D CAD/CAM system that allows us to make incredibly strong, very natural-looking, beautiful crowns in just 1 appointment. You can literally watch your crown being made! In those instances that we do have to use a dental laboratory, we can still avoid metal most of the time, but even then......all the labs that we use are proud to say, "Our dental lab work is made in the USA!" Just so you know it's perfectly safe to make an appointment for a crown with us, knowing there's no chance of lead in your crowns or bridges.
New page on www.SmilesbyPayet.com – Dental photography
In our office, as I've demonstrated many times before, we use the power of digital dental photography to improve patient understanding of what's going on in their mouths. Truly, as the 2 sayings go: Seeing is Believing, and A Picture is worth 1000 words. I've added a new page to our website along these lines, and I hope you'll enjoy it: Smiles by Payet Dental Photography It's still a work in progress, so please bear with me - more to come!
A short video on Six-Month Braces
As I mentioned in a previous post on dental photography, I've been working to create Before/After videos of the different procedures we offer, and while they do take some time to put together, I am getting more of them completed. Here's one that describes a little more about the process of Six-Month Braces and what we can do for you to create a more beautiful smile. [wpvideo Zcw4pBY8]
Yes – single-visit crowns can be beautiful!
Obviously, the single biggest advantage for patients with our CEREC machine is the ability to have beautiful, all-porcelain restorations completed in a single visit. Here's an example of how nice that can be. This patient had 10 porcelain veneers done about 2 years ago; due to her grinding habit, she had knocked off and broken one of the veneers. Rather than make a yucky impression and send it to the lab, while she had to wait several weeks with a temporary veneer, we made it right in the office. One visit porcelain veneer, no temporary, no second visit, and her smile was back to beautiful! See if you can guess which one was done by us on CEREC and which were done by the lab? If you need any tooth fixed, not just if it's a porcelain veneer, CEREC CAD/CAM can do it for you. Call our office 704-364-7069 or Request an Appointment Online.
So I grind my teeth, Doc – what’s the big deal?
Many people grind their teeth. Many people clench their teeth. Many do both. The worst part is, though, that many have no idea that they do it, or how much damage they're doing to their teeth -- or how much it could cost to fix. Sadly, too, many dentists don't do anything about it either. Here are 2 examples of just how badly one can damage teeth by grinding/clenching. Common Myths About Teeth Grinding and Clenching Examples of Teeth Badly Damaged by Grinding and Clenching Look how uneven the teeth in the photos are. See the gum recession and the deep "notches" in the teeth? These things are NOT caused just by growing older and our mouths aging. It takes incredible force to wear down enamel, which is the hardest substance in your body. But once you wear through enamel into the second layer - dentin - that wears down much faster and the damage accelerates. How teeth can look after years of grinding and clenching. Teeth damaged by grinding & clenching become short, chipped, worn, jagged, sharp, and ugly Smile Reconstruction is Expensive - a Nightguard is Inexpensive Both of these gentleman wanted better-looking smiles. The second one was completed over 4 years ago; we are still in the process of completely rebuilding the mouth of the first gentleman. Needless to say, it is very expensive to rebuild teeth like this. Sadly, it could have been almost completely avoided if they had known about and used a nightguard years ago. So if you think you grind your teeth - call us today! Sure, your nightguard might cost several hundred dollars.........but what is that compared to thousands and thousands of [...]
