Spruce up your smile in White Bear Lake, MN with cosmetic dentistry! We offer an array of treatments to help you get the smile you've always dreamed of.

Woman with brown hair smiling l Dentist White Bear Lake

Could Cosmetic Dentistry Benefit You?

Call Our Dental Office

Cosmetic Dentist White Bear Lake MN

standing woman at work | Cosmetic Dentistry White Bear Lake MN | White Bear Smiles

Looking good is important in our society. This, of course, isn’t a huge secret. Another fact that probably isn’t a secret is that your smile is a key component of every first impression you make. How your smile looks – and whether you smile at all – speaks volumes about you.

Unfortunately, if you are struggling with chipped, discolored, or misaligned teeth, your smile might not be telling the truth about you. Additionally, if you are embarrassed about your smile and cover it up or avoid smiling altogether, you might give the impression that you are unfriendly or standoffish, even when that couldn’t be further from the truth.

At White Bear Smiles, we recognize that while functionality is crucial, aesthetics matter, too. There’s an artistry to good dentistry, and the truth is that you lead with your smile. If there’s something about your smile you’d like to change, we want to talk to you about that and determine the best way to help you.

Why Choose White Bear Smiles for Cosmetic Dentistry?

A beautiful smile can make a lasting impression. However, achieving your cosmetic goals depends on more than just advanced treatments. Choosing a dental team that takes the time to understand your goals, listen to your concerns, and create a truly personalized treatment plan is as important as the procedure itself. At White Bear Smiles, we’re dedicated to helping every patient achieve a natural-looking result that complements their facial features, strengthens their bite, and boosts their confidence.

Our caring and experienced team combines modern dental technology with a patient-centered approach to cosmetic care. Whether you're interested in professional teeth whitening, porcelain veneers, dental bonding, Invisalign® orthodontic treatment, or a complete smile makeover, we take the time to explain your options so that you can make an informed decision.

Determining Your Cosmetic Dentistry Options

When people think of cosmetic dentistry, what often comes to mind is a dazzling (and expensive) wall-to-wall porcelain Hollywood smile. While we can do that, in reality, most cases involve much smaller, subtler, more affordable changes that enhance your appearance. You might be surprised by the transformative power of a single strategically placed veneer or a simple tooth whitening treatment.

Our goal is to work with you and listen carefully to your concerns, hopes, and wishes. You do deserve to have a smile that you can feel proud of, and you shouldn’t have to break your budget to achieve it.

Different options are appropriate for different patients. Our first concern is ensuring your smile is healthy. If you have areas of active decay or are struggling with an active case of gum disease, these need to be addressed. Your hygienist will review your home care habits and ensure you are using proper technique when brushing and flossing. Patients are often surprised to find that simply improving their home care routine can make their teeth look much better!

The Surprising Benefits of Cosmetic Dentistry in White Bear Lake

Enhancing your smile with cosmetic dentistry offers surprising advantages you might not have considered.

Confidence Boost

A beautiful smile increases your confidence, opening doors so you can reach your goals.

Improved Nutrition

When your teeth are healthy and in good repair, you easily enjoy all the foods you love.

Better Oral Health

When your teeth are easier to brush and floss, it enhances your overall dental health.

Frequently Asked Questions

Dental veneers are tooth-shaped shells of ceramic customized to the fronts of cosmetically flawed teeth. This procedure creates a bright, uniform appearance that matches your smile and corrects discoloration, uneven spacing, and other tooth imperfections.

Veneers are long-lasting because we remove a layer of tooth enamel before securely bonding the restoration to your tooth. However, the way you treat your veneer will significantly impact its lifespan. Your good hygiene habits could help your veneers in White Bear Lake, MN, last as long as a decade.

Care and Maintenance Extends Veneer Life

In general, our doctors will recommend you maintain your veneers as you do your natural teeth. Brushing and flossing at least twice a day will keep them clean and protect the overall tooth. An advantage of veneers is that they also resist staining. But they can be damaged, so here is further guidance.

Don't grind your teeth – Ceramic may crack and chip under these forces, so you should wear a custom night guard if you have a teeth-grinding habit.
Wear mouth protection – Always use a proper mouthguard when playing sports or participating in activities with potential tooth impact.
Avoid biting hard substances – While it's tempting to use your teeth to untangle knots or tear at packaging, this is especially damaging to your veneers. So, take a moment and find the right tool before resorting to using your teeth.

Dental veneers are a popular, effective, and minimally invasive cosmetic solution for enhancing your smile. These thin shells, usually made of porcelain or composite resin, are bonded to the fronts of teeth to optimize their shape, size, and color.

Veneers are highly durable and designed to last many years. Porcelain veneers typically have a lifespan of between 10 and 15 years, while composite veneers usually last around 5 to 7 years.

The Veneer Placement Process

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how veneers are applied:

Consultation — A thorough assessment to determine whether veneers are right for you.
Dental prep — A thin layer of enamel is removed to create space and an effective surface for dental cement.
Impressions — Your dentist will take detailed impressions to ensure your custom veneers both fit and match the patient’s smile perfectly.
Temporaries — Temporary veneers are often placed for protection until permanent veneers are ready.
Bonding — Once they’re ready and their fit is confirmed, the permanent veneers are bonded to teeth using dental cement.

Are Dental Veneers Permanent?

Though durable, no one set of veneers is permanent. Factors like an individual’s oral hygiene habits, diet, and habits, staining, natural wear, or breakage due to habits like “bruxism,” or chronic teeth grinding, affect their longevity and necessitate periodic replacement.

It’s important to note that the procedure in which they’re placed is considered irreversible, as it requires the removal of a thin layer of tooth enamel, which does not regenerate. This means that any affected teeth will always need veneers or crowns for protection.

Smile Transformation with Dental Veneers in White Bear Lake, MN

If you’re looking for a White Bear Lake dentist with a track record of brilliant smile restoration with precisely placed dental veneers, contact Dr. Paul Anderson and the caring and helpful White Bear Smiles team to schedule a consultation!

While no individual set of dental veneers lasts forever, the fact that veneer placement requires the removal of a thin layer of tooth enamel (for a proper fit) makes the placement process itself irreversible.

Since tooth enamel does not regenerate and has no artificial replacement, the preparation for veneer placement is treated as permanent. In the absence of veneers, the alteration to the enamel elevates the risk of potentially dangerous decay and can threaten the original tooth structure. So, any time a set of porcelain veneers is removed due to chipping, cracking, or discoloration, a new set must be bonded in its place.

What Exactly Are Porcelain Veneers?

Porcelain veneers are dental prosthetics. They’re thin, tooth-shaped shells that are bonded to the front surfaces of teeth to restore a patient’s smile aesthetics. Veneer placement involves bonding these thin overlays to the fronts of chipped, discolored, misshapen, or misaligned teeth.

The Best Cosmetic Dentist Near Me in White Bear Lake, MN

If you’re in White Bear Lake and want to know more about porcelain veneers and how to maximize veneers’ lifespans once they’re placed, contact Dr. Ellen Swift, DDS, and the friendly and helpful White Bear Smiles team today to schedule a consultation!

You May Be At Risk of Losing Tooth Enamel Permanently

Bulimia and anorexia nervosa are two serious eating disorders. Each can cause problems in your mouth. Anorexia nervosa is an unnatural fear of gaining weight. Bulimia is a condition in which a person compulsively overeats and then induces vomiting to get rid of the food. Some anorectics also induce vomiting. The danger to teeth comes from the fact that the stomach acid generated by vomiting can severely erode tooth enamel. Adolescent and twenty- to thirty-year-old females are most at risk for developing an eating disorder, although males can be affected, too.

Many Symptoms Accompany an Eating Disorder

When the dentist in White Bear Lake notices unusual enamel erosion on the teeth of a person who appears to be otherwise healthy, he might be able to raise the issue of an eating disorder. Depression often accompanies an eating disorder and a person, whether bulimic or anorexic will often get lax about oral hygiene. Problems like gum disease can develop. While the dentist can treat the appearance of the teeth with cosmetic dentistry, he can't cure the underlying issue. Regular trips to the dentist in White Bear Lake should be part of your overall plan for maintaining your health.

Make A Great First Impression

At White Bear Smiles, we know a smile is one of the first things people notice about you. It does not have to be perfect or "Hollywood," but everyone wants theirs to be nice and to feel confident when using it without feeling ashamed of it.

A smile can light up a room and draw others in. Often, just a few small improvements can lead to an overall greatly enhanced smile.

There Are Options for Obtaining Your Dream Smile

A professional whitening
A few strategically placed cosmetic fillings
Contouring
Veneers
Short term braces

The key is that whatever you choose to be appropriate for you, your mouth, and your budget and not be some cookie-cutter approach.

Contact Our White Bear Lake Dental Office

Please feel free to contact us for a complimentary smile evaluation. It could be the start of a better future that will have you smiling!

Which Treatments Are Right for You?

man with straight smile | Cosmetic Dentistry in White Bear Lake MN | White Bear Smiles If you and one of our doctors determine that a change is needed, your cosmetic dentistry plan might include one or more of the following:

Teeth whitening – We use the BOOST teeth-whitening system, which delivers excellent results for our patients.
Bonding – We use tooth-colored filling material to build up damaged areas of your teeth or conceal areas of whitening-resistant discoloration.
Veneers – One or more of these thin porcelain shells can completely transform the appearance of a troublesome tooth.
Crowns – Using the CEREC system, we can create customized crowns that conceal and protect a damaged tooth.

Other options are available, and one of our doctors will be happy to review them with you to determine the most appropriate treatment plan.

Is Cosmetic Dentistry Affordable? Financing Options in White Bear Lake

Many patients arrive at our White Bear Lake dental office concerned that cosmetic dentistry is beyond their financial reach. Fortunately, in most cases, this is not the case. Depending on your goals and treatment plan, cosmetic improvements can often be completed in stages, allowing you to prioritize the procedures that matter most while managing costs comfortably. Also, modern payment solutions make treatment more accessible than ever.

White Bear Smiles offers several flexible payment options to help patients fit cosmetic dentistry into their budgets. In addition to accepting traditional payment methods, we offer financing through Cherry® and CareCredit®, which may allow qualified patients to spread treatment costs into manageable monthly payments. Patients can also take advantage of our membership plan, which includes valuable preventive care and savings on many dental services. During your consultation, our team will be happy to review available payment and financing options and help you find a solution that works for your needs!

Call to Schedule Your Consultation!

Every cosmetic dentistry case starts with a cosmetic consult. Call us today to schedule yours and get ready to have the smile you’ve always wanted.

Meet Our Doctors:

Ellen Swift DDS

Dr. Ellen Swift was raised in Mahtomedi, MN by her father, Dr. Paul Anderson, and mother, Mary, a dental hygienist. Inspired to pursue a dental career, Dr. Swift earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the ...

Dr. Paul Anderson | White Bear Smiles | White Bear Lake, MN

Paul Anderson DDS

After earning his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Anderson continued at U of MN Dental School, earning his DDS degree and graduating with honors. He then completed a select ...

Meet More of our Staff

Cosmetic Dentistry Smile Gallery

See the Smile Gallery

Another great visit to WB Smiles!

From the time I got there to the time I left nothing but friendly staff. It was a routine check up but they found a cavity. They were able to fix it in the same visit instead of me booking a separate appointment. Much appreciated!!

Andrew O.

See More Testimonials

Featured Blog Posts - Cosmetic Dentistry

June 16, 2026

Affordable Radiance: How to Get Your Dream Smile Without Breaking the Bank

Many people think of cosmetic dentistry as a luxury, meant primarily for the rich and famous. This is not the case.

In reality, modern cosmetic dentistry is more flexible, affordable, and accessible than ever before. Whether it’s stained teeth, minor chips, or uneven spacing, you’ve often got multiple paths for addressing ...

August 18, 2025

What to Expect After Getting Veneers

White Bear Lake MN patient smiling in dental chair

Dental veneers are a popular and effective aesthetic and functional solution for chipped, discolored, or misshapen teeth. Custom dental veneers protect your underlying teeth from further damage while restoring the visual appeal of your smile.

Made from long-lasting porcelain or composite resin, these thin shells are custom-made to cover the ...

May 20, 2025

Whitening Toothpaste vs. Professional Whitening: What's the Difference?

We all want a brighter smile, especially here in White Bear Lake, where our community’s as warm and welcoming as a sunny Minnesota morning. But when it comes to removing stains and lifting years of discoloration, not all whitening methods are created equal. If you’ve ever wondered whether whitening toothpaste ...