SMILE POWER!!!

Your smile is one of your most important characteristics. It conveys volumes of information about who you are. Youthfulness, friendliness, trust, confidence and health are all magnified by a smile.


A survey by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry found that most people believe that an attractive smile makes a positive difference in how a person is perceived.



92% of adults agree that a beautiful smile is an important social asset.

88% say they remember a person with an exceptionally attractive smile.

85% say that an unattractive smile makes someone less appealing to others.

75% say that an unattractive smile can negatively influence a persons career.

A Good smile does make a difference. So does choosing a good cosmetic dentist.



Take a look at your smile and see what your smile says about you.  See more examples at www.aestheticdentaldesigns.com

New Technology to Dentistry...The Canary System

The ability to find tooth decay in teeth has come along way from visual inspection, using metal picks, to x-rays, to lasers and intraoral scanners.  One of the most recent technological advancements that has been FDA approved in the United States as of January 2013 is The Canary System.  The first system to be delivered to a private practicing dentist in the United States will go to Dr Todd Snyder of Aesthetic Dental Designs in Laguna Niguel, California.  

The system is an amazing new leap forward in diagnostic capabilities whereby dentists can detect and monitor tooth decay as small as 50 microns and have the ability to see around existing filling materials. The Canary system is a non-ionizing (no radiation) pain free, safe and non-invasive early detection system.  To date the industry has not had a device that could detect lesions this small. Furthermore traditional radiographs (x-rays) often cannot see decay around existing fillings due to the radiopacity of fillings masking part of the tooth and potentially decay.  In addition traditional x-rays cannot perceive tooth decay until a larger portion of tooth had been damaged or demineralized.

The Canary System can find decay earlier so that the decay can potentially be remineralized (reversed) and hopefully not necessitate traditional dental treatment that would require a filling.  The ability to quantify and monitor a lesion to see if it is healing is another aspect that is of great benefit to track over time.  If modern remineralization therapies are not being used properly by a patient or compliance is lacking, then traditional dental procedures can still be performed to eliminate the decay.
Dr Todd Snyder of Aesthetic Dental Designs can be reached at (949) 643-6733.

Potential risk factors associated with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders

Researchers have identified potential risk factors for temporomandibular joint disorders, referred to as TMD.  The study presented in the NYSDA News pointed out that individuals with symptoms such as:

• Pain in the chewing muscles or jaw joint
• Pain in the neck, jaw and face
• Stiff jaw muscles
• A jaw that locks or has limited movement
• Painful clicking, popping, or grating in the jaw joint
• Changes in the fit between upper and lower teeth
• Notches at the gumline on more than one tooth

• Excessive wear to teeth

Temporomandibular disorders are estimated to affect more than 10 million Americans; women more so than men, according to the National Institutes of Health.  If you have one or more of the symptoms listed above you should ask your health care professional more about the problem or ask for a referral to someone that does manage TMJ disorders (TMD).

At Aesthetic Dental Designs® we have extensive training on handling the various types of TMD.  Dr Todd Snyder, DDS completed an extensive 17 month training program on occlusion and TMJ disorders at the prestigious FACE Institute in Burlingame, CA.

Decrease your risk for a Stroke or Heart Attack

The American Heart Association recently presented a study showing that individuals receiving professional tooth scaling was associated with fewer strokes and heart attacks.  Of the 100,000 people that had their teeth scaled and cleaned, 24% had a lower risk of heart attack and 13% lower risk of stroke compared to those who had never received a cleaning.  The participants were followed for 7 years.

Professional teeth cleaning and scaling appeared to reduce inflammation causing bacterial growth that could lead to bacteria spreading to other parts of the body putting one at greater risk for heart disease and stroke.

Find out more about other new links in the Oral/Systemic Health Connection.
At Aesthetic Dental Designs®, we want everyone to be aware that regular cleanings 2-3x a year is recommended for healthy adults as bacterial buildup on the teeth and root systems at a toxic level at 90 days. Keeping that colonization from progressing and spreading throughout the mouth and body will have huge benefits in ones life and health care expenses.

Have you been checked?

Velscope Vx Oral Assessment Device

April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month.

Aesthetic Dental Designs® wants everyone to consider the life changing potential of having oral cancer.  Many people think it will never happen to them, but it can, it can happen to anyone at any age even if you are not a tobacco user or a consumer of alcohol.  Oral cancer is becoming more prevalent in our teenagers also due to the human papilloma virus.

Make sure you get an oral cancer screening once a year by your dentist.  Furthermore, a fairly recent device that is non-invasive and takes less than two minues that can provide early detection is the Velscope Vx.  We are using this device on every patient and have found early forms of cancer that are completely undetectable without its use on a few of our patients already.  Dont wait to find out and check yearly.  April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month and Dr. Snyder and his staff would like everyone to help spread the information so that other's can benefit.

Some amazing facts to consider: 30,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal cancer this year. It will cause over 8,000 deaths, killing roughly 1 person per hour, 24 hours per day. Of those 30,000 newly diagnosed individuals, only half will be alive in 5 years. Overall survival rate is 18% or less. This is a number which has not significantly improved in decades. The death rate for oral cancer is higher than that of cervical cancer, Hodgkin’s disease, cancer of the brain, liver, testes, kidney, ovary, or skin cancer (malignant melanoma).

Thinking about getting porcelain veneers?? Choose carefully.....



A new smile with porcelain veneers done
by Dr Todd Snyder (top photo),
replacing the poor quality veneers
that were done by a different dentist (bottom photo).



Everyone wants to look good and have an amazing smile, but if you are thinking about altering your smile with porcelain veneers there are some things you need to know, and the process is not reversible. First is that a veneer is a custom made piece of art hand crafted as a one of kind piece of glass. Every dentist does them differently, and every office uses a different ceramist to fabricate the veneer. Custom craftsmanship has lots of variables. Take extra time to talk about a doctor's previous cases when interviewing an office. Ask to see plenty of photographs demonstrating the quality of the work, make sure it is their work and not just stock photographs of someone else's work. Find out about how the veneer process works in each dental office you interview as it is not the same in all offices. Ask about how the teeth and gums will be handled during the procedure as well as any temporary restorations while waiting for the final veneers to be completed. Veneers can be done in many ways and on one tooth or many teeth. Veneers when done well can look every bit as natural as the tooth next to it. More importantly veneers need to look believable and unperceivable as shown here by Dr Todd Snyder's work at Aesthetic Dental Designs®, in Laguna Niguel, California where he has replaced six existing veneers with new ones. In replacing the bulky white veneers shown in the bottom photo, notice how the lip position was able to be enhanced as well as creating healthier gum tissues, and a more symmetric smile. To replace existing work that has damaged tooth structure and gum tissue can be a lot more costly and challenging, so take the time to interview and ask many questions. At Aesthetic Dental Designs® we always offer complementary consultations.

What are you Blowing??

Everytime you talk you are potentially offending someone.  It could be what you are saying, but more importantly its what your talking or blowing over.  Dr Todd Snyder, DDS of Aesthetic Dental Designs® in Orange County, California states that your tongue has millions of bacteria on it and when they digest food they give off a biproduct made of volatile sulfur compounds.  These compounds smell horrible!!  SO when you talk you are actually blowing the smelly waste product of these bacteria out of your mouth at people in your vacinity.