My Blog
Posts for: October, 2015
While having a healthy, cavity-free smile is of the utmost importance, there is something about having an aesthetically pleasing smile that also goes a long way. Even if your oral health is pristine you may find that the look of your smile is nothing to brag about. Fortunately, your Cohasset, MA family dentists Dr. Kevin Thomas and Dr. Aaron Chenette can change all that with cosmetic dentistry.
Q. What cosmetic dentistry is right for someone with missing teeth?
A. There are several options for you and the treatment you choose will depend on how severe your tooth loss is and the state of your oral health. If you are in good health and aren’t a smoker then dental implants can be a great way to replace one, several or all of your teeth. Furthermore, dental implants can also support bridges and dentures to help anchor them into place.
However, for those looking to replace teeth a little more expediently, dental bridges and dentures may be a better option for you. Talk to your Cohasset, MA dentist to learn more.
Q. What can dental veneers do for my smile?
A. These thin porcelain shells are applied to the front portion of the tooth to hide imperfections. While dental veneers aren’t designed to fix functional issues, they can improve the overall appearance of your smile so that it looks straighter, whiter and free of chips. It can even fill gaps between teeth.
Q. Are there cosmetic dentistry services that are non-invasive and more conservative?
A. Some patients don’t like the idea of having to shave down healthy teeth enamel in order to accommodate their new look. Luckily there are other treatment options that can give you the smile you want without needles, anesthesia or an invasive procedure.
For those with small chips or stains, dental reshaping and bonding allows your Cohasset dentist to apply a tooth-colored dental resin over certain areas of your tooth to help reshape and improve the look of your smile. Even though the smallest bit of enamel may need to be removed for reshaping this is completely painless and won’t require anesthesia.
There is also teeth whitening for those patients looking to get a significantly brighter smile fast. In under an hour we can get some smiles up to eight shades whiter. While minor tooth sensitivity may arise during your treatment this procedure is also completely non-invasive.
Let you Cohasset dentists give you a smile to be proud of. Turn to Cohasset Dental for all of your smile needs.

When Entertainment Tonight host Nancy O’Dell set out to teach her young daughter Ashby how to brush her teeth, she knew the surest path to success would be to make it fun for the toddler.
“The best thing with kids is you have to make everything a game,” Nancy recently said in an interview with Dear Doctor TV. She bought Ashby a timer in the shape of a tooth that ticks for two minutes — the recommended amount of time that should be spent on brushing — and the little girl loved it. “She thought that was super fun, that she would turn the timer on and she would brush her teeth for that long,” Nancy said.
Ashby was also treated to a shopping trip for oral-hygiene supplies with Mom. “She got to go with me and choose the toothpaste that she wanted,” Nancy recalled. “They had some SpongeBob toothpaste that she really liked, so we made it into a fun activity.”
Seems like this savvy mom is on to something! Just because good oral hygiene is a must for your child’s health and dental development, that doesn’t mean it has to feel like a chore. Equally important to making oral-hygiene instruction fun is that it start as early as possible. It’s best to begin cleaning your child’s teeth as soon as they start to appear in infancy. Use a small, soft-bristled, child-sized brush or a clean, damp washcloth and just a thin smear of fluoride toothpaste, about the size of a grain of rice.
Once your child is old enough to hold the toothbrush and understand what the goal is, you can let him or her have a turn at brushing; but make sure you also take your turn, so that every tooth gets brushed — front, back and all chewing surfaces. After your child turns 3 and is capable of spitting out the toothpaste, you can increase the toothpaste amount to the size of a pea. Kids can usually take over the task of brushing by themselves around age 6, but may still need help with flossing.
Another great way to teach your children the best oral-hygiene practices is to model them yourself. If you brush and floss every day, and have regular cleanings and exams at the dental office, your child will come to understand what a normal, healthy and important routine this is. Ashby will certainly get this message from her mom.
“I’m very adamant about seeing the dentist regularly,” Nancy O’Dell said in her Dear Doctor interview. “I make sure that I go when I’m supposed to go.”
It’s no wonder that Nancy has such a beautiful, healthy-looking smile. And from the looks of things, her daughter is on track to have one, too. We would like to see every child get off to an equally good start!
If you have questions about your child’s oral health, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can learn more by reading the Dear Doctor magazine articles “Taking the Stress Out of Dentistry for Kids” and “Top 10 Oral Health Tips for Children.”

When you’re posting a profile photo on LinkedIn, Facebook, Match.com and other social media sites, which shot is likely to make the best impression in terms of “likeability,” “competence” and “influence”? One in which you’re smiling and showing some teeth, for starters, according to PhotoFeeler.com, a crowdsourcing website that helps people evaluate their head shots. If something about your teeth is holding you back from parting your lips when you smile for the camera, here are some tried-and-true options for doing something about it!
Picture-Perfect Color, Shape and Alignment
Improving the color of your teeth may be as easy as getting regular professional cleanings, which are necessary for removal of calculus — dark-yellow hardened buildup of bacterial plaque — and can polish out superficial staining caused by certain beverages and foods.
Actually changing the color of your teeth entails whitening/bleaching. Professional whitening achieves the fastest results because it uses the highest concentration of peroxide solution and custom-fitted trays. In-home whitening kits take longer to work but are less expensive. Results last anywhere from six months to two years.
For permanent whitening results, consider veneers or crowns. In addition to changing tooth color, they can also alter tooth shape, hide wear and even minimize gaps between teeth. Veneers are affixed to the front of teeth, while crowns cover the entire tooth.
Teeth that are chipped, cracked or have noticeable areas of decay, can be restored with bonding, in which a composite resin material is applied that is colored to match your natural teeth.
You can straighten misaligned teeth and no one even has to know you’re doing it. Barely visible and entirely invisible orthodontic appliances include clear braces, lingual braces (attached to the tongue-facing side of teeth) and clear aligners, which are removable for tooth brushing/flossing, cleaning the appliance, eating, and special occasions.
If you would like more information about enhancing your smile, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Beautiful Smiles by Design.”