Wood, Spooner & Mills, Birmingham General & Cosmetic Dentists

The Art & Science of Your Smile Makeover:

How do you “Design” a Smile?

1. Consultation
   We begin by understanding your Smile Goals:
   • What do you like or dislike about your smile?
   • If you could wave a Magic Wand and have the Smile of Your Dreams, what would that look like?
2. Analysis
   We create a detailed map of your smile:
   • Including a thorough medical and dental history, study models, bite registration, tooth shade readings, gum measurements, oral exam, digital xrays and photos.
   • Our doctors evaluate each tooth and develop recommendations based their health and stability.
3. Design & Planning
   • We often take advantage of temporary materials that allow us to "try in" changes to your smile and make final selections of shade, shape and translucency.
   • Now we can customize a treatment plan that suits your budget and schedule.
4. Transformation
   Our doctors carefully craft your restorations with the support of our dental laboratory.
   • We only use high quality materials such as natural-looking porcelain, gold and sturdy semi-precious metal substructures to deliver a fully functional and gorgeous result.
   • A popular approach for many of our patients is to schedule a longer appointment and have most of their dental treatment completed in a single visit. We offer treatment sedation options.
5. You leave our office with Your New Smile!
   • Do you know what your options are for your smile challenges? Contact Us today to schedule a personal consultation with one of our restorative and cosmetic dentists.

Professional teeth whitening is a popular, safe and economical way to change a smile. Today’s whitening products allow you to easily whiten your teeth and “touch up” periodically to keep a brighter smile.

• Teeth naturally darken as we age, and dark beverages such as colas, tea, coffee or red wine can cause teeth staining. In some cases, tooth discoloration is related to childhood use of certain antibiotics during the developmental stages of permanent teeth. And, not only is smoking a health risk, it causes ugly brown and yellow staining of teeth.

Our home whitening system is a professional formula that is only available in dental offices. Special whitening gel is applied to teeth using custom acrylic trays that are worn for about an hour a day; the gel ingredients lift away removable stains from tooth enamel surfaces, making the teeth appear lighter as a result. In most cases, teeth become several shades whiter after about two weeks of continual wear.

For cases of deeply stained teeth related to medication use, our dentists may recommend a combination of whitening with other cosmetic dentistry procedures, such as porcelain veneers or bonding.

If you look closely at an attractive, bright smile, you will notice that the “white” color is actually a combination of several slightly different shades that reflect light in various ways. Dr. Wood, Dr. Spooner and Dr. Mills work closely with our dental laboratory to re-create these subtleties for your smile design with beautiful porcelain dental crowns or veneers.

Porcelain Veneers are thin custom-shaped facings that adhere to teeth to cosmetically enhance their appearance with smooth, highly polished porcelain. Veneers can usually be applied with minimal to no drilling or tooth preparation. They are frequently used to correct color discrepancies, reshape teeth, close spaces, conceal rotated or undersized teeth, or protect chipped and worn edges.

Porcelain Crowns. Depending on the amount of coverage required to properly restore the tooth, a crown may be used if substantial tooth structure has been lost due to decay, wear or trauma. Porcelain crowns are ideal for replacement of aged crown and bridge work - no metal means no grayed edges!

“Instant” orthodontics is not really orthodontics at all, this treatment refers to cosmetic procedures performed by a dentist to correct the appearance of teeth that are crooked, crowded or have undesirable spacing. In certain cases, these issues can be addressed without the time involved in wearing braces.

The flexibility of the design process of porcelain crowns and veneers gives our dentists the opportunity to re-shape a smile and create the appearance of ‘straight’ teeth to achieve the esthetic effects of orthodontic treatment. ‘Instant’ orthodontics with cosmetic dentistry is often more appealing to patients who have limited time that do not want to pursue long-term orthodontics.

Some conditions do require traditional orthodontics - if this is the case, we will work closely with an orthodontic specialist to complete your smile makeover.