It seems to be prevalent in that most dentists these days are calling themselves cosmetic dentists, but there is no cosmetic specialty in dentistry.
And quite frankly, all dentistry is cosmetic. I don’t know anyone who took the ‘ugly’ teeth class in dental school, because it doesn’t exist.
The American Dental Association (ADA) only has nine recognized post dental degree dental specialties and cosmetic dentisty is not one of them. These specialties range in one to six years of advance training beyond dental school. At the end of my post doctorate degree, I received additional certifications in this specialty, thus becoming what should be considered an expert within the specialty of prosthodontics.
The ADA specialties are:
Dental Public Heath, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Radiology and Surgery, Orthodontics, Endodontics, Pediatric Dentistry, Periodontics, and the rarest according Forbes Magazine, Prosthodontics.
Prosthodontics: (crown, bridge, and implants) A Prosthodontist has a dental specialty license pertaining to the diagnosis, treatment planning, rehabilitation and maintenance of the oral function, comfort, appearance and health of patients with clinical conditions associated with missing or deficient teeth and/or oral and maxillofacial tissues using biocompatible substitutes.
Most dentists are not trained prosthodontic graduates of a dental school – rather they take short continuing education and utilize trial and error experience to be able to understand how size, shape, color and symmetry all work together to create what a prosthodontists is trained in their post graduate work.
On the other hand, the I was trained at a university to create the smile that implements the use of veneers, crowns, bridges and the increasingly more common procedure of dental implants to ensure that the right smile is achieved, both functionally and aesthetically beautiful. And now I am training my two daughters with the same techniques. If anyone has a specialty in cosmetic dentistry, it would be the prosthodontist. So when you are seriously looking for a cosmetic dentist look for a prosthodontist.
Novy Scheinfeld, DDS, PC
ZoAnna Bock, MS, DMD
Hanna Orland, DMD
290 Carpenter Drive, 200A
Sandy Springs, GA 30328
404-256-3620
and
3781 Chamblee Dunwoody Road
Chamblee, GA 30341
770-455-6076
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