Smile with Confidence

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New-generation dentistry advances the field.

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The smile is a universal language, communicating the best of human feelings across all cultures. So it’s no wonder that making the smile sparkle has been the focus of advances in dental technologies.

While teeth whitening is among the most requested cosmetic dental procedures in Hawaii and for nearly a third of patients nationwide, it only makes up 6.5 percent of procedures performed in cosmetic dental practices across the country. Instead, more than 25 percent of cosmetic procedures nationally are actually classified as “preventative,” underscoring the important role cosmetic dentistry plays in overall oral health and, by extension, total body health.

“Research continues to support the beliefs I’ve held for over 20 years of practice of the important connections between a person’s oral health and their overall health,” says Dr. Cecile Sebastian, pointing out the recent findings on changes in oral health as indicators for heart disease and pancreatic cancer, among other ailments.

“One of the biggest mistakes a patient can make is to go straight to a cosmetic procedure without a healthy foundation,” she says. She recommends starting with good gum, bone and teeth health and bringing home care up to standards before embarking on cosmetic dental work. For example, “A bad bite can affect how well veneers will endure,” she notes.

New Products, New Procedures Keeping pace with the boom in cosmetic dentistry technologies, many of Hawaii’s dentists can offer a variety of options, providing patients with quicker procedures, greater comfort, less trauma and faster recovery. “The most common reaction I get from patients having implant surgery to replace lost teeth is: If I had known that was all, I would have done this sooner,” says Sebastian.

Providing a full-service dental practice in her state-of-the art office in downtown Honolulu, she can offer her patients, the majority of them Baby Boomers, the i-CAT 3-D CAT scan, a significantly lower radiation scan that provides a complete three-dimensional image of a patient’s mouth, face and jaw. This gives her greater accuracy for oral surgery, implants, orthodontics, extractions and treating temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ). Her other technological advancements include cavity detection and surgery using lasers and computerized charting.


New-generation veneers, which are now ultrathin, custom-made laminates bonded directly to the teeth to close gaps or disguise discolored teeth, are Dr. Sebastian’s most requested procedure. Veneers also make up a third of all cosmetic dental procedures annually for Dr. Robert Baysa of Dental Arts, LLC, in Mililani.

“Dentistry is increasingly as much art as it is science,” says Baysa, who has 22 years of experience and has done postgraduate study at the prestigiousLas Vegas Institute. “Everything in dentistry today is about options and the level of care a patient wants for him or herself. We believe in providing those options by explaining through digital photos and listening for a better understanding of concerns to encourage patients to participate in the level of care they want for themselves,” says Baysa, who finds that patients from 40 to 60 years old are more dental-conscious and value their health beyond insurance limitations.

“After all, prevention is less costly than restoring something that is damaged,” he explains. Among his popular offerings are the BriteSmile one-hour whitening system, The Wand-computerized painless anesthesia and natural tooth-colored fillings.

Baysa offers the only Mililani dental office providing one of the latest breakthroughs in dental services, the Cerec one-visit porcelain crowns. Dr. Kurt Nishiguchi is also among only 12 dentists on Oahu offering this revolutionary in-office, computer-assisted design and production of natural-looking crowns. His state-of-the-art cosmetic dental services include digital X-rays (with less radiation than traditional X-rays), BriteSmile teeth whitening (his most popular procedure), and veneers, in addition to traditional dental services.

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Nishiguchi’s new office, opened in 2001 in Kaimuki’s historic 3660 Waialae building, is one of the first in Honolulu to offer a family practice in a dental spa. It places him at the forefront in Hawaii of a small, but growing trend on the Mainland, with about 5 percent of American Dental Association members nationwide now offering spa services.

Among his free spa services are paraffin hand-wax treatments, massage chairs, DVD glasses to watch movies, iPod headphones and even lip balms. For Nishiguchi, such patient-friendly services are part of the personalized approach of his family practice, which caters to all age groups.

“We hope to relieve the anxiety many people have about going to the dentist with a warm, friendly setting,” he says. His new office was specially designed with the patient in mind, with dental instruments behind the patient, hidden from view to give the feeling of being in your own living room.

For dental patients shopping around for specialists for different cosmetic procedures, starting with a full-service, general-practice dentist like Dr. Keiko Watanabe can ensure optimal dental health as the foundation for any necessary or elective cosmetic procedure.

Starting a new family practice in Hawaii this year, Watanabe, a third generation dentist with more than 10 years of experience, offers a patient-centered approach. In addition to general dentistry services for patients of all ages, she also offers Invisalign teeth-straightening procedures, composite resin fillings and teeth whitening.

“Our office is like a hub in a wheel. Sometimes we are the center where people can find the help they want. For more specialized services, we make referrals to a network of specialists we know and trust,” says Watanabe, whose aim is to develop a long-term relationship with each of her patients by providing a high level of skills, ethical practices and lasting trust.

A graduate of the prestigious Osaka Dental University in Japan, where she earned a Ph.D. in dentistry, Dr. Watanabe, who is bilingual in English and Japanese, spent an additional two years earning a DDS in the U.S. as required of foreign-trained dentists by the American Dental Association.

Today’s dental services are best defined by the word “options,” driven by the phenomenal growth in dental procedures to provide a brighter and healthier smile for aging Baby Boomers as well as for the entire family.