Our practice can provide a wide range of dental services. We can typically provide every type of dental service without having to refer you to other specialties. This flexibility saves you time and keeps your total dental care within one practice. Our emphasis is on total preventive care for our patients. Total care begins with regular hygiene visits, regular check-ups and continued home oral health routines.

Our practice also provides the highest-quality services for restoring mouths that have been damaged by dental disease and injury and common problems that require cosmetic dentistry. Our primary goal for our patients is to achieve and maintain optimum oral health through advances in techniques, technologies and by maintaining their scheduled dental exams.

 

 

Teeth Cleanings  |  Fillings  |   Dentures  |  Tooth Extractions  |  Gum Treatments  |  Gum Surgeries  |  Digital X-rays

 

 

Teeth Cleanings

Twice a year, you should schedule a routine dental cleaning. During this visit, one of our dental hygienists will remove plaque from your teeth, especially from places where your brush can't reach, such as underneath the gum line and in-between teeth. We will then clean your teeth and apply fluoride to help protect your teeth once you leave the office.

Fluoride is a relatively recent but important advancement in dental and oral health. Studies consistently show that a moderate but consistent exposure of teeth to fluoride helps strengthen and rebuild tooth structure, and helps prevent future decay.

If you are due for your semi-annual dental cleaning, please call our office to schedule an appointment.

 

 

 

Fillings

The concept of a "filling" is replacing and restoring your tooth structure that is damaged due to decay or fracture with a material. We will replace old, broken-down amalgam/metal fillings that contain traces of mercury with white fillings (composites) to restore your smile and teeth to a more natural look and feel.

With today's advancements, no longer will you have to suffer the embarrassment of unsightly and unhealthy silver/mercury fillings or metal margins of the past. Eliminate the dark, black appearance in your teeth with new-age, state-of-the-art, tooth-colored resin or porcelain materials.

 

 

Dentures

Periodontal disease, injury and tooth decay can all cause a loss of your natural teeth. However, we can bring back the smile on your face with dentures to restore your missing teeth. With improved technology and updated materials, dentists can now make them appear more natural and more comfortable for the patient.

 

Types of Dentures

There are two types of dentures: complete and partial.

• Complete dentures cover the patient's entire jaw.

• Partial dentures, with their metal framework, replace multiple missing teeth.

To know which type is best for you, be sure to ask your doctor.

It may take some time to adjust to your dentures. Speaking and eating may feel different at first, but these regular activities will resume normally once you are accustomed to your dentures.

 

 

 

Tooth Extractions

An extraction is the complete removal of a tooth. Extractions are sometimes necessary if a primary tooth is preventing
the normal eruption of a permanent tooth, if the tooth has suffered extensive tooth decay or trauma that cannot be repaired, if the patient has gum disease, or if the tooth is impacted (usually the wisdom teeth). Depending on the complexity of the case, an extraction can be performed surgically or non-surgically. A mild anesthesia is used to
ensure your child is as comfortable as possible throughout the procedure.

 

Wisdom Teeth

Your third molars are more commonly called "wisdom teeth." Usually appearing in the late teens or early twenties, third molars often lack the proper space in the jaw to erupt fully or even at all. This common condition is called impaction. When any tooth lacks the space to come through or simply develops in the wrong place of your jaw and becomes impacted, problems can arise. Primarily, damage to adjacent teeth and crowding occur.

In certain cases, the wisdom tooth that cannot come through becomes inflamed under the gums and in the jawbone, causing a sac to develop around the root of the tooth that then fills with liquid. This can cause a cyst or an abscess if it becomes infected. If either of these situations goes untreated, serious damage to the underlying bone and surrounding teeth and tissues can result.

 

To potentially stave off this result, an extraction of one, several or all of the wisdom teeth may be advised. If that is the case, we have the equipment and training needed to perform such extractions, with an absolute minimum of discomfort. Ask our staff for more information regarding tooth extractions if you feel you may need one.

 

Gum Treatments

Even when periodontal disease is in a fairly advanced stage, it is possible to improve or even reverse the condition with non-surgical procedures. Depending on the type of disease and its severity, one of these approaches may be suggested by your doctor.

 

Scaling

This process can be done above or below the gum line and involves the scraping and removal of plaque and calculus (tartar) from the tooth. Scaling done at regular teeth cleanings usually involves the crown of the tooth. However, in more extreme circumstances, it is necessary to go further below the gum line to thoroughly remove disease-causing bacteria and its by-products on the root surface. In very advanced cases, flap surgery or gingivectomy may be necessary to allow the doctor free access to the infected tooth root.

 

Planing

After the thorough cleaning of the tooth surface has been completed above and below the gum line, the root of the tooth undergoes a process called planing. This is a process of smoothing the root of the tooth so that any remaining tartar is removed. This also serves two other purposes: it clears away any rough areas that bacteria below the gum line thrive in, and it makes it much easier for the gingival (gum) tissue to re-attach itself to the tooth, effectively reducing the size of the pockets that the plaque and bacteria hide in. This re-growth of tissue is key in stopping a recurrence of gum disease and happens very quickly once the calculus has been removed.

 

 

Gum Surgeries

 

Gum Grafting

Aggressive tooth brushing or periodontal disease can lead to gum recession, which ultimately results in exposed tooth roots. When tooth roots are exposed, teeth appear too long and can become sensitive to hot and cold liquids and foods. Also, the exposed roots are in danger of decay.

Soft tissue grafts are available to repair this problem as well as prevent further recession, bone loss or decay. The procedure covers the roots where excessive gum recession is present. Gum tissue is taken from your palate or from another donor source to cover the exposed root, thus, evening your gum line and reducing sensitivity levels.

 

Osseous Surgery

Periodontal disease destroys supporting tissue and bone around the teeth, forming deep pockets for bacteria to potentially live in. As bacteria develops around the teeth, they can accumulate and advance under the gum tissue. Once under the gum tissue, these bacteria can further bone and tissue loss. If too much bone is lost, teeth may need to be extracted.

 

Used to treat moderate to severe periodontal disease, osseous surgery is an effective procedure to reduce pockets and control infection. During osseous surgery, the gum tissue is folded back and the disease-causing bacteria is removed before the gum tissue is put back into place. In addition to bacteria removal, damaged bone may be smoothed to limit areas where bacteria can hide – allowing gum tissue to better reattach to healthy bone.

 

Osseous surgery is typically performed in the office under a local anesthetic. In most cases, patients are able to return to normal activity the following day.

 

 

Digital X-rays

We offer one of the latest technological advances in dentistry with digital radiography, also known as digital X-rays. A wireless sensor is placed in the mouth, and a computer generates an image in 30 seconds as opposed to the general
4-6 minute wait time for images taken on dental film. These X-rays can also be enhanced on the computer and enlarged.

Not only are they friendly to the environment, they are much safer than traditional X-rays. Digital radiographs reduce a patient's radiation exposure by 90 percent!