Louisville Cosmetic Dentistry | Ideal Dentistry

2008 Smile Makeover Contest! - Starts July 1st, 2008

Dr. Hahn — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:22:03 +0000

The Center for Ideal Dentistry is officially starting its second “IDEAL Smile Makeover” contest July 1st , 2008!

Dr. Vittitow and Dr. Hahn from The Center for Ideal Dentistry realize how essential a beautiful healthy smile is in today’s society. A wonderful smile can give you a leg up in almost every aspect in life! Yet, many of us are living with a smile we are not proud of, covering our mouth as we smile or laugh. Cosmetic dentistry is not just about “fixing teeth”, it is about confidence, success and a general feeling of self worth.

Last year Paula Gill won the Ideal Smile Makeover Contest. Her story and photos are available here. The transformation was nothing short of life changing for Paula. It was an honor to restore the smile of such a wonderful person.

The Center for Ideal Dentistry wants to make you SMILE! One select individual will WIN a smile makeover valued at $20,000.

Paula Gill, our 2007 smile makeover winner received a complete smile makeover which included two titanium implants and 10 porcelain veneers. Her journey was a long one as she required extensive rebuilding. After her first visit our smile makeover winner, Paula Gill, was given an outline of what we would do for her to give her a beautiful and functional smile.

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Louisville gets its first Accredited Cosmetic Dentist!

Hahn — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:39:36 +0000

Until now Louisville residents had to drive to Lexington to experience the benefits of advanced accredited cosmetic dentistry. All that has changed. Dr. Charles Vittitow and Dr. Christian Hahn have become accredited with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry after passing a rigorous 5 year process that only 278 dentist in the entire world have achieved. For more information on the accreditation process, visit www.AACD.com If you ever wanted to look younger, chew better, or just do not like your teeth, call or visit us here at The Center for Ideal Dentistry and experience the difference of world class dentistry! Why select us for your dental needs? Because experience matters!

Is it worth it? Acidic Beverages Lead to Enamel Erosion

Dr. Hahn — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 02:45:46 +0000

Soft drinks are everywhere, even in our children’s schools. As a society, we are consuming them in ever-increasing quantities. The result is a new and detrimental phenomenon: acid erosion is destroying the tooth enamel of entire generations- and once the protective coating of enamel on our teeth is lost or compromised, we are extremely susceptible to further erosion and decay.

Acidic beverages, like soft drinks, sports drinks and artificially flavored ice teas, have replaced water as our daily choice of liquid replenishment. The difference? Water has a pH of 6.7, making it relatively neutral. Some of today’s most frequently consumed beverages have pH’s of fewer than 3.0. Scientifically, this is even worse than it sounds because each unit of change towards a more acidic numeric value on the pH register is an exponential change, creating a huge difference in effects.

The table below shows the relative pH’s of some leading beverages. The lower the number, the more acidic and destructive the beverage.

Coca-Cola ® (bottle) 2.48
Diet Coca-Cola ® (bottle) 3.22
Pepsi-Cola ® (can) 2.60
Diet Pepsi-Cola ® (can) 2.94
Dr. Pepper ® (bottle) 2.90
Diet Dr. Pepper ® (bottle) 2.99
Mountain Dew ® (bottle) 3.14
Diet Mountain Dew ® (bottle) 3.27
Sprite ® (can) 3.27
Diet Sprite ® (can) 3.34
Canada Dry Ginger Ale ® (can) 2.94
A & W Root Beer ® (can) 4.80
Arizona Iced Tea ® (can) 2.94
Brewed Black Tea 5.36
Brewed Black Coffee 6.25
Tap Water (Control) 6.70

Fortunately, enamel is the hardest material that our body produces. It is far denser than bone and can endure consumption of controlled levels of dietary acids. However, drinking more than two or three servings of acidic beverages per day can cause enamel to be reduced to a detrimental level in time. In other words, the more you drink, the more you are literally dissolving away your teeth.

Unfortunately, as a society we have embraced mass consumption of acidic beverages. People see ads stating that a soft drink has only a few calories and feel that gives license to ingest large amounts without consequences. We keep a can of diet pop within arms reach throughout the day to "keep us going" and "decrease food cravings." We rejoice when, for a mere quarter, we get to refill a 48 oz. cup of soda as many times during the day as we’d like.

The impact of this trend goes beyond the erosion of tooth enamel. Health professionals who treat kidney disease recognize the correlation between increased consumption of soda pop and increased numbers of patients on dialysis.

Regardless, we have allowed the installation of pop machines in our schools, often as a way of generating funds for programs in need of revenue. Yet, by doing so, we have unknowingly yielded to the tactics of corporate entities bent on creating generations of soft drink addicts. Tough as it may seem, refusing to support school programs by refusing to purchase soft drinks would be doing your children a far greater service. Find a way to raise money for programs that is less costly to your children’s health.

The next time your school system asks for your permission to install soft drink machines and/or serve soft drinks during meals, ask yourself, "Is it worth it?"

Can a New Smile Make You Appear More Successful and Intelligent? New Research Says it Can.

Dr. Hahn — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 04:01:47 +0000

Previous consumer studies have proved that a beautiful smile will make you more attractive. But according to research conducted by Beall Research & Training of Chicago, a new smile will make you appear more intelligent, interesting, successful and wealthy to others as well.

Dr. Anne Beall, a social psychologist and market research professional carried out the independent study on behalf of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD). Pictures of eight individuals were shown to 528 Americans, a statistically valid cross section of the population. The respondents were asked to quickly judge the eight people as to how attractive, intelligent, happy, successful in their career, friendly, interesting, kind, wealthy, popular with the opposite sex and sensitive to other people they were.

Two sets of photos were created, with each set showing four individuals before undergoing cosmetic dentistry and four after treatment. Half the respondents viewed set A, the other half set B. The eight subjects viewed by respondents were evenly divided by gender. Two had mild improvements through cosmetic dentistry, two had moderate improvements and four had major improvements to their smiles, to give a wide range for respondents to view. None, however, had visibly rotten teeth, missing teeth or catastrophically bad dental health in the before shots. Respondents were not told that they were looking at dentistry, but were asked to make snap judgments rating each person for the ten characteristics, on a scale of one to ten, with “one” being “not at all,” and “ten” being “extremely.”

The results indicated that an attractive smile does have broad ranging benefits:

Characteristic Average “Before” rating Average “After” rating Increase

Attractive                                             4.6                                5.9                                1.3
Intelligent                                            5.9                                6.5                                .6
Happy                                                  6.2                                6.8                                .4
Successful in their career                     5.8                                6.7                                .9
Friendly                                               6.3                                6.8                                .5
Interesting                                            5.4                                6.1                                .7
Kind                                                     6.0                                6.4                                .4
Wealthy                                                4.9                                5.9                                1.0
Popular with the opposite sex               5.0                                6.2                                1.2
Sensitive to other people                      5.6                                6.1                                .5

While the change was most dramatic for attractive, popular with the opposite sex, wealthy and successful in their career, the change was statically significant in all areas.

“Based on a lot of interaction with happy patients, we were expecting this type of difference in attractiveness and popularity with the opposite sex,” said Dr. Christian W. Hahn, a Accredited AACD member. “To have large gains in how successful, intelligent, interesting and wealthy patients appeared after cosmetic dentistry caught even us by surprise. We’ve been telling people that a beautiful smile was a great investment in their futures. Now we have independent evidence.”

The full survey results by Beall Research can be viewed on the AACD Web site at www.aacd.com.

About the AACD
AACD is the world’s largest organization of cosmetic dental professionals with more than 7,500 members in over 60 countries around the globe. The AACD fulfills its mission by offering superior educational opportunities; promoting and supporting a respected Accreditation credential; serving as a user-friendly and inviting forum for the creative exchange of knowledge and ideas; and providing accurate and useful information to the public and the profession. To learn more about cosmetic dentistry visit www.aacd.com.

Dental Implants - As close to a real tooth as you can get.

Dr. Hahn — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 04:48:02 +0000

Is Implant Dentistry for You?

Dental Implants replace missing teeth without the negative side effects of other procedures that would solve the same problem. Your natural teeth are not damaged, and once the implant is completed you will probably forget you even have it. The success rate is in the 90% range.

Why chose us to have your implant placed?

The Center for Ideal Dentistry focuses on providing you with the most comfortable, convenient and successful dental experience possible. You do not need to see multiple dentists and offices anymore to have an implant placed – we do it all. From the day you have your private consultation where we listen to you and answer all your questions, to the day you walk out of the office with your new teeth ready to eat and chew anything, we cater to you and all your needs. Furthermore, Dr. Vittitow and Dr. Hahn have a reputation for providing excellent comprehensive and esthetic dentistry. Our experience in managing complex cases and consistently obtaining beautiful results ensures that your implant will also be a success. By us placing the implant we have more control over where it is placed and how it is restored. The end result is a more pleasant, convenient, esthetic and longer lasting implant.

Dr. Vittitow and Dr. Hahn exclusively place ASTRA implants for their superior properties. Please visit their very informative site for more detailed information:

http://www.astratechusa.com

Please feel free to call our office anytime with questions or comments. There is so much information available regarding implants that it can get confusing. We would be happy to discuss your unique situation, just call and make a quick look appointment.

Lumineers - The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Dr. Hahn — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 04:43:53 +0000

Lumineers are a brand of porcelain veneer that are made by Den-Mat. We all have seen the marketing campaign advertising the benefits of Lumineers. BUT, are they the solution for every patient? Of course not, Lumineers or other types of thin porcelain veneers work well for some patients but can have significant drawbacks for others. Only an experienced cosmetic dentist can evaluate your personal situation and determine if you would benefit from Lumineers.

The Good:
Lumineers are very strong, very thin, and sometimes can be placed over your teeth without drilling on them at all. Who would not prefer a cosmetic procedure that did not require drilling or anesthesia? That, of course, is the marketing campaign.

The Bad:
Cosmetic dentistry is not a slam-dunk. Looking good is only half the equation. Your teeth need to function properly and the gum tissue has to be healthy around your teeth. Imagine this: You go to the shoe store and want to buy these new sneakers that everybody wants. So, instead of taking off your old shoes you pick a size of sneakers that fits over your old shoes so that you do not have to remove your current ones. What would that feel like? What would that look like? This is often the scenario with Lumineers. Unless you have very small teeth with lots of spaces around them, you are essentially making the tooth larger than it was supposed to be. That just is not natural. The gum tissue gets irritated, the teeth become fatter, and cleaning your teeth becomes much more difficult. If you have to drill on the teeth to make Lumineers fit, then you are essentially placing what we call a conservative veneer, which can be made out of numerous types of materials.

The Ugly:
Cosmetic dentistry is supposed to make you look and feel good. How many people like the look of teeth that are too fat, too opaque, and overall just unnatural looking? I do not know very many myself. Just like the shoe example above, which also would look very strange, putting anything on top of natural looking teeth will look fat and fake. If your tooth is very dark, and the veneer/laminate is very thin, then it will essentially have to be extremely opaque to block out the dark color – like white out. That does not look natural! It is my personal opinion, and that of many other advanced cosmetic dentists, that to achieve a natural looking beautiful smile you have to design the smile so that the teeth are the ideal proportions to your face and fit on your teeth as if you were born with them. That is mostly impossible with Lumineers.

Do Lumineers have a place in cosmetic dentistry? They most certainly do. The idea behind Lumineers is wonderful, and when used appropriately they can be a great service to the patient. Unfortunately very few patients actually fit that narrow critera. Here at The Center for Ideal Dentistry we place many types of veneers, each designed to give you the best possible smile in the most conservative way. Properly designed veneers are inherently conservative, often only about half a millimeter thick. That is very thin, about the thickness of you finger nail. To achieve the most esthetic and healthy result it is necessary to adjust the tooth minimally so that the outcome looks great, feels great, and last a very long time. How does the dentist know what type of veneer to use? How does the dentist know how much tooth needs to be removed and where? How does the dentist know when he/she can use Lumineers? All these questions are a matter of experience and education! Nobody in Louisville has more experience or credentials for cosmetic dentistry than Dr. Vittitow and Dr. Hahn.

If you want to know if you are a candidate for Lumineers or other highly conservative types of veneers, please call The Center for Ideal Dentistry and let us show you what advanced cosmetic dentistry can do for you without negatively affecting your smile or health.

Your new Teeth Look Beautiful, but will they Last?!

Dr. Hahn — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 04:48:03 +0000

Cosmetic dentistry is wonderful. Often a beautiful smile makeover can take10 years or more off someone’s apparent age. Every dentist loves making their patients feel and look better. A new smile can change your entire life, why would you not want to have a beautiful, healthy smile? This is the point at which most patients ask me, “How long will the new teeth last?”

A beautiful smile is a combination of stunning looking teeth as well as highly functional teeth. As easy as this may sound, it is one of the most challenging aspects of dentistry today. Achieving perfect harmony between esthetics and function is the ultimate goal - I call this “Ideal Dentistry”. Even the most beautiful veneers won’t last very long if they are not designed with this concept in mind.

Would you build a beautiful home on swamp land? Of course not. Then apply the same concept to your mouth, where your gums and the underlying bone support the teeth, onto which you build all your dentistry. If one of the supporting structures such as the bone or the gum tissue is not healthy, then the teeth will not be able to support anything – not even themselves! Building a beautiful smile requires more than just a few veneers…it requires a healthy, functional mouth first.

Now to answer the question, “how long will the new teeth last?”… At this point you probably know that the answer is - it depends – did you have your new veneers built on swamp land? Or, did you and your dentist make sure everything else in your mouth is able to support these beautiful veneers? Are your gums healthy, and do you know how to properly care for your teeth? Do you grind your teeth, do you clench your teeth, or do you bite your nails with them? All these factors and many more are critical in determining how long any type of dentistry will last. Ideal dentistry takes all these factors into account, creating a treatment plan that is geared specifically towards your needs and habits. Prior to any smile makeover you should be free of gum disease and decay, and have a plan to control the habits that have worn down your teeth to the point they are at now. Once you have your new beautiful smile you need to have “engineering checks” on a yearly basis – this is where the dentist checks the function of your mouth and makes certain you are not causing harm to your teeth. A slight adjustment to your bite could extend the life of your teeth for years. Of course, regular visits to the hygienist to remove bacteria and deposits below the gum tissue, among other essential tasks, is a must.

At this point most people are looking at me and saying, “Yes, so how long will my new teeth last???” Here are a few numbers to make it more clear: If the new teeth were build according to the principals of ideal dentistry, and you follow up regularly as directed by your dentist, then you can expect to have an average of 10-15 years out of your new teeth. In my personal opinion, this is a low national average and it can be much higher. Yet insurance companies define success quite differently: Most insurance companies will pay again for a tooth that was treated 5 or 10 years ago. If a new tooth only lasts 5 years, then there was something wrong, in my opinion. The goal of ideal dentistry is to restore every mouth for the last time. I fully expect most of the dentistry that we place to last 20 plus years, if routine engineering checks and hygiene visits are maintained.

Dr. Christian W. Hahn founded The Center for Ideal Dentistry with Dr. Charles W. Vittitow. Dr. Hahn has been published internationally on the subject of cosmetic dentistry and has been featured on The Learning Channel (TLC) nationally performing a Smile Makeover. He has a passion for cosmetic dentistry with a focus on beautiful yet natural looking teeth.