Dental Implants Are a Permanent Alternative to Dentures

If you are wearing dentures, dental implants are an alternative solution that look and feel like natural teeth. While dentures are practical and provide patients with the appearance of a full set of teeth, they never feel quite natural. Implants, on the other hand, feel the same as the rest of your teeth so there is no way to tell which teeth are natural and which teeth are replacements.

Over seventy percent of adults over the age of sixty-five experience some form of tooth loss. Even young adults suffer from this age old problem, with around thirty percent of those over thirty five suffering from tooth loss. If this happens to you, it is important to decide how you want to replace the missing tooth. An experienced cosmetic dentist can help you to determine which solution will best fit with your lifestyle and the goals you have for your appearance.

Dental implants are ideal for people that have an active lifestyle and don't want their teeth to slow them down. Once the implant is installed, patients can eat all of their favorite foods, speak normally, and care for the implant as they do the rest of their teeth. This is a brush and go solution because as long as remember to practice good oral hygiene at home, along with visiting the dentist twice a year, you will never have to think about your replacement tooth again.

How the Process Works

In order to receive dental implants, you need to schedule a consultation with an experienced dentist. Our staff are experts at using this technology and able to determine if your gums and jawbone are in good enough health to schedule the procedure. If they are not, there are specific dental treatments that can get them ready. During your examination, a mold will be taken of your mouth so that the lab can create a synthetic tooth, or teeth, that is the right size and shape to blend in with your other natural teeth. If you want to have your teeth whitened now is an excellent time to do so because the synthetic tooth will be made to match your natural ones.

The first step in the procedure is to have a titanium post implanted under the surface of your gums. This piece will be secured to your jawbone and eventually the two will fuse together, creating an extremely durable synthetic root system. An abutment will be attached at the surface of your gums. Once the gums are healed the new tooth will be attached and put into position. This allows a cosmetic dentist to create a perfectly straight beautiful smile that looks and feels amazing. The entire process takes several months since your gums and bone need to heal after the implant procedure. During that time, you may want to wear temporary or immediate dentures so that no one will know that you don't have a full set of teeth. To learn more about the process or to schedule an examination, call today.

General Dentistry  >  Cosmetic Dentist

As a General Dentist We Treat Athletes That Have Injured Their Teeth

If you are an athlete, a trip to the general dentist is in order before you start the game.  According to the American Dental Association, the majority of adult tooth injuries are due to playing sports.  Since most adults only play casually with friends, this means that even a pickup game of basketball or tossing a ball with your kids can lead to tooth damage.  In order to protect your teeth, you need to keep them in good health.

We recommend that you have your teeth cleaned twice a year so that we can remove the bacteria and plaque from your teeth that can lead to a tooth infection.  It is important to keep your teeth cavity free and to prevent gum disease because if a random ball hits your face and there is an infection, your tooth will be more likely to break or be knocked out.  Think of it like a pond that becomes frozen in the winter.  A solid sheet of ice can support kids playing on it for hours, but one small crack can cause the entire thing to shatter when someone steps on it.  Teeth that are infected are like a pond with a small crack.  They cannot withstand the impact of something hitting them.

It is also important to strengthen your teeth by brushing with a soft toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste.  Fluoride is a mineral that when placed onto your teeth will help them to be stronger.  You can further strengthen your teeth by eating a healthy diet that contains lean protein, nuts, cheese, yogurt, and green leafy vegetables.  This, combined with trips to our general dentist office can keep your teeth and gums in excellent health.

We also recommend that you wear a mouth guard while playing sports.  This prevents hundreds of thousands of injuries on an annual basis.  When considering high school and football players alone, the American Dental Association claims that over 200,000 injuries are prevented every year due to wearing a mouth guard.  When you consider how many different sports and age groups there are, it is clear that this simple device is a fantastic way to protect yourself from injury.

If you take these precautionary steps and still injure your teeth, we can restore them in our general dentist office.  If a tooth is cracked or chipped, we can use a dental veneer to correct it by placing the veneer onto the surface of the tooth.  It will look completely natural and make it possible to eat and speak like normal.  If the tooth is severely cracked or a lot of enamel is missing, we can use a dental crown to restore the tooth instead.  This provides a greater level of stability because it can surround the tooth entirely.  This is a durable procedure that can help your teeth to function as good as new after a serious injury.  If a tooth has been knocked out, we can replace it as well by using either dental implants or a dental bridge.

If your tooth has been injured, schedule a dental appointment right away.

Emergency Dentist  >  Dental Office

Get the Facts About Dental Veneers and How They Are Used

What are dental veneers?

Dental veneers are some of the most versatile tools we have when it comes to correcting defects in your teeth. Dental veneers, also known as ceramic or porcelain veneers, are extremely thin pieces of porcelain that we use to replace the damaged enamel on your teeth. The reason dental veneers are so effective is their thinness. Being paper thin, these veneers take on many of the same qualities as naturally occurring enamel. They are extremely hard, which gives you a long-term solution when your enamel has become damaged. They are also extremely brittle, just like enamel, and so you will need to protect your teeth the same way you would protect natural teeth. Being extremely malleable, veneers can be molded to fix a variety of problems with the teeth.

Do dental veneers work for everyone?
Dental veneers are an extremely versatile solution, and in most cases can be used by anyone. For us to make sure that you are an excellent candidate for dental veneers, we will schedule an initial consultation and also a first examination. During your examination, we will make sure that your mouth is in excellent condition and primed to replace your enamel with the veneers. If we find any issues that might become a problem later on in the process, we will work on solutions so that your dental veneers placement is seamless. On rare occasions, during this initial examination, we will find that there are people who cannot get dental veneers and for them we will explore other potential solutions to damaged teeth.

How are dental veneers attached?
As soon as we know that you are an excellent candidate to receive dental veneers, we can proceed to the next step. This step involves selecting the color and shade that you want for your veneers. We will have your veneers custom made to fit your needs, including the shade that you choose from.  That information will along with an impression of your teeth will be sent to a dental lab for the final veneers to be created.  In the meantime, we will prepare your tooth by removing a portion of your enamel to make sure that the veneers fit flat against the rest of your tooth. Typically this is only a few millimeters but it allows the veneer to fit flush with the tooth.  We will then place a temporary veneer on top of it.

Once we have the permanent veneers, we will fit them to your tooth. After making sure that the color is right, we will make any slight adjustments so that the veneer fits the tooth perfectly. We will also check to make sure that your bite is not affected, and once all the elements are perfectly in sync we will cement the dental veneers to your teeth.

What problems do dental veneers fix?
Dental veneers can fix a whole range of challenges. They are an extremely durable and versatile solution. We use them extensively to fix minor breaks, cracks, and chips in teeth. It is often preferable to use veneers over other procedures like dental crowns because veneers only require a small portion of your enamel to be removed. Veneers are also used for cosmetic fixes like making your teeth whiter, straightening them, and correcting minor bite and placement issues.

Teeth Whitening Service  >  Dental Implants

Dental Implants Are a Popular Solution for Tooth Loss

More people are getting dental implants than ever before.  This is because people around the country have discovered that they do not have to live with the stigma of tooth loss. Tooth loss can be extremely traumatic for some people, especially when the tooth loss happens at a young age. Dealing with the embarrassment is compounded by the fact that tooth loss forces people to make lifestyle changes, including how they eat and speak. With dental implants, you do not have to deal with those kinds of changes.

There are numerous technologies and methods for dealing with tooth loss. However, none are as advanced as dental implants. While dentures and bridges address the fundamental problem, which is a missing tooth, they do nothing to brace the tooth or to address the root of the problem. This means that these solutions have to be adhered to the surface of the mouth somehow, typically with wires or dental cement. On the other hand, dental implants focus their attention on the root. In fact, a dental implant is a tiny titanium screw that is placed into the jawbone, taking the place of a natural tooth's root. This provides a strong and stable platform under the gum line, which then allows us to place a dental crown, or tooth, on top of the abutment.

Getting dental implants is a lot simpler than it used to be a few years ago.  Simultaneously, science continues to dispel some of the popular myths that surround dental implants. For the longest time people have been looking at dental implants, and elsewhere around the country, as a purely aesthetic endeavor. This is an understandable misconception. When you get a dental implant, you are going to be getting a perfect tooth that is almost an identical replica of your original one. There are no wires holding it in place, so all you have is a new tooth. In fact, we can give you a tooth, or teeth, that look far better than your original ones.  Naturally this perfection has led to the idea that all we care about is the aesthetics. Nothing could be further from the truth, and science is starting to show this. We know, for example, that when you use a dental implant to replace a lost tooth, the implants acts like a naturally occurring root. It creates a symbiotic relationship with the jawbone, which in turn allows the jawbone to receive stimulation from the prosthetic. This helps the jaw to avoid resorption and also keeps the facial structure from a potential collapse.

There are already 3 million people across the nation that have gotten dental implants. What we know is that the rate of dental implants is increasing annually, but that there are a lot of people still using antiquated technology. In our dentist office, we encourage every one of the 15 million Americans that are using bridges or dentures to consider switching to get the best looking, most effective, longest lasting tooth replacement available today.

Teeth Whitening Service  >  Dental Veneers

Your Holiday Pictures Will Sparkle With Help From Our Teeth Whitening Procedure

As the holidays are approaching, call our office to schedule a teeth whitening procedure. This is one of the easiest ways to improve the appearance of your smile. It can turn your dull teeth into spectacular ones, restore your youthful appearance, and get you ready to smile for hours of family photos. If you are like most families, there's always that one family member capturing every moment. Each of these pictures and moments will be special, so it is important to look and feel your very best. After all, these are the images that will grace your hallway and photo albums for decades to come.
For most people, preparing for the holidays involves finding the right sweater or dress, finding that old family recipe, getting their hair done, and preparing for all of those interesting holiday moments. Taking care of your teeth should also be at the top of your list because your teeth make a major impact in your appearance. We suggest that you visit us for a teeth cleaning and dental exam so we can remove the plaque making your teeth appear dirty or stained. We can also ensure that you do not have any cavities or infections and treat them if you do. Afterward, we can whiten your teeth so the stains are removed, and they are transformed from a dull shade of yellow to brilliant white.

Our teeth whitening procedure is better than what you can buy in the store.

Once you decide to whiten your teeth, you should take steps to ensure the procedure is successful. While it is easy to walk down the drugstore aisle and select a whitening kit, there are risks involved with this. To start, this portion of the industry is unregulated. That means there is no set consistency among the products you can buy. You could try a whitening kit that barely brightens your teeth, one that works decently, or one that works well. The problem is, you may not know how it will work before you buy it. As a dentist, we are trained medical professionals, and all of our teeth whitening procedures produce dramatic results. There is no guesswork involved when visiting our office, and with limited time to prepare for the holidays, you can rest assured that your smile will be beautiful.
Another reason our procedure works better is because our solution is professional-grade. It is designed to penetrate the enamel so the process of oxidization begins. This is where the molecules inside of your teeth change to reflect less light and appear colorless. As a result, your smile will look bright and white. What you buy in the store will not work as well, because it is typically designed to remove surface stains only. This can help, but your teeth may still look yellow.

We can help you look amazing in time for the holidays, so call and schedule your teeth whitening today.

Dental Implants  >  Dental Veneers

General Dentistry Visits Are Helpful for Your Oral Health: Learn Why

Visits to our general dentistry office are the one that we often describe as routine visits. Typically these are scheduled six months apart so that we can keep a careful watch on your oral health and ensure that you do not have any unforeseen problems with your mouth. Luckily there is a growing segment of educated patients that see the importance of these visits, and we can get them scheduled easily. The question about why these visits are so important is actually an easy one to answer. Your mouth, teeth, and gums should be inspected every six months because they are the first step in your digestive process. Everything that goes in the mouth, or occurs naturally in the mouth, ultimately will end up in your digestive system and could, therefore, end up causing other health problems if an oral infection exists. Keeping your teeth and gums in perfect health is a good way to ensure that the rest of your body also has limited exposure to risks like oral infections.

Ironically the routine that we put you through when you come in for these visits are the very things that cause some patients to question if they really need to see their general dentist once every six months. From an outside perspective, we always seem to do the same things but there are important reasons why. First we will clean your teeth, which includes a polishing so that they are gleaming white. During the cleaning process, we will remove excess plaque from the teeth and the gums themselves. This helps to reduce the potential of erosion and decay. Next you may receive a fluoride treatment if necessary. Then the dentist will perform an oral examination. During this examination, we are looking for soft spots that may become cavities in the future and also active cavities that need to be filled. Sometimes x-rays may be in order to check on the inside of the tooth, the root, and the jawbone.
Finally, we will send you home with a brand new toothbrush and floss. Handing you, a toothbrush and floss is one of those subtle things that we do to keep your oral health in good condition. We know that most people forget to change their toothbrush once every six months, as is recommended. So when you come to our general dentistry office to get an examination we hand you a toothbrush as a reminder that the time has come to throw away the old one and replace it. We do not expect you to, necessarily, use the one we provide as long as you replace the old toothbrush at home.
Another thing we do but do not talk about, is give you a screening for oral cancer when we are examining your mouth. Oral cancer is a deadly disease that can, at times, go unnoticed. In order to combat this, we have made it a practice to examine your mouth, looking for signs of oral cancer every time you come in for a routine well visit. While your physician may be able to give you similar exam, when you visit our general dentistry office once every six months it is easier because nobody knows your teeth better than we do.

Dental Office  >  Family Dentist

Your Gorgeous Dental Veneers Can Last for Years to Come

Dental veneers have made their mark on the world of cosmetic dentistry by providing patients with a great way to replace tooth enamel that has become damaged, discolored, or otherwise unattractive. For many people, this is a long-term solution since the veneer will be cemented in place and hence is not something that can be removed very easily. As a result, many of our patients want to know how long dental veneers typically last without needing to be repaired or replaced. The answer to this question is usually at least 10 years, but there are a sufficient number of factors that come in to play, which can influence that number in either direction. There have been numerous studies on this exact issue as many cosmetic and other dentists want a clear answer on how long their patients can expect dental veneers to last. One study conducted on the longevity of dental veneers found the following. In 96 percent of the participants, we found the veneers lasted a minimum of five to six years. This group was overlapped with a second group of 93 percent, whose dental veneers lasted between 10 and 11 years. A third significant group found that their dental veneers lasted between 12 and 13 years, accounting for 91 percent of the studied population. After 13 years, we found a small drop off in longevity, with only 71 percent of the participants reporting that their dental veneers lasted between 15 and 16 years. Even with these kinds of odds, it is relatively safe to say that your dental veneers will last at least 10 years as long as you take good care of them.

When considering dental veneers, in terms of longevity, it is important to look at the whole picture. This means that you have to be willing to understand that there is a great deal of human interference that can cause the veneers to fail earlier than they should. The two leading causes of failure, as recorded in studies, have a direct correlation with how people treat their teeth. Teeth are not tools and should not be used as such, since treating them in this calloused manner can damage the enamel and cause the dental veneer to fracture or crack. We have found that in more than 45 percent of cases where the dental veneer failed, there was a fracture involved. This means that the person was doing something with their teeth that they should not have been or were placing undue pressure on the tooth. Additionally, there is 28 percent of dental veneers that failed because they had a crack, again a manifestation of some kind of physical trauma placed on the veneers. It is up to you, as the user, to ensure that you are not putting undue pressure on either your teeth or your dental veneers.

The other area where you can impact how long your dental veneers last is by making sure that you have great oral hygiene. In up to 20 percent of cases, we find that bad oral hygiene leads to veneer loss.

Teeth Whitening Service  >  Cosmetic Dentist