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.
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.
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Crowns and Bridges
Crowns
A crown is a permanent covering that fits over an original tooth that is either decayed, damaged, cracked or treated with a root canal. Crowns are made of a variety of different materials such as porcelain, gold, acrylic resin or a mix of these materials. Porcelain generally has the most natural appearance, although it is often less durable. Your dentist will create a crown that looks and feels comfortable by considering several factors such as the color/shade, occlusion (bite) and the shape/length of your natural teeth.
The treatment plan for a patient receiving a crown involves:
- Numbing the tooth to remove the decay in or around it.
- Re-sculpturing the tooth to provide an ideal fit for the crown.
- Making an impression of your teeth in order to create a custom-made crown (usually takes one to two weeks).
- Making a temporary crown out of acrylic resin and fitting it onto the tooth during the interim period when the permanent custom-made crown is being created.
- Applying the permanent crown (when received from the lab) by removing the temporary crown and fitting the permanent one onto the tooth.
- After ensuring that the crown has the proper look and fit, the dentist cements it into place.
This process generally consists of a minimum of 2-3 visits over a three to four week period.
Once the procedure is completed, proper dental hygiene, including daily brushing and flossing, is required to maintain healthy, bacteria-free teeth, gums and crowns. This helps in the prevention of gum disease. Given proper care, your crowns can last a lifetime.
Bridges
A bridge is a dental device that fills a space that a tooth previously occupied. A bridge may be necessary to prevent:
- Shifting of the teeth that can lead to bite problems (occlusion) and/or jaw problems and resultant periodontal disease.
- Bridges safeguard the integrity of existing teeth and help maintain a healthy, vibrant smile.
There are three main types of bridges, namely:
- Fixed bridge- this is the most popular and consists of a filler tooth that is attached to two crowns, which fit over the existing teeth and hold the bridge in place.
- The "Maryland" bridge is commonly used to replace missing front teeth and consists of a filler that is attached to metal bands that are bonded to the abutment teeth. The metal bands consist of a white-colored composite resin that matches existing tooth color.
- The Cantilever bridge is often used when there are teeth on only one side of the span. A typical three-unit cantilever bridge consists of two crowned teeth positioned next to each other on the same side of the missing tooth space. The filler tooth is then connected to the two crowned teeth, which extend into the missing tooth space or end.
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Full Mouth Rehabilitation
If your smile is just short of being perfect, then a full mouth restoration might be right for you. Full mouth restorations are ideal for enhancing the appearance of the smile by correcting imperfections in bite position. Whether your teeth are short, worn, chipped or broken, a full mouth restoration can give you the smile you deserve!
Combining the artistry of cosmetic dentistry with the science of neuromuscular dentistry, we can create a beautiful, functional and comfortable smile. We utilize the most advanced technology available to capture computerized images of the jaw's muscle function in both the relaxed and stressed positions allowing us to determine the best course of treatment for your specific case. We will work with you individually to create a customized treatment plan that will deliver optimal results. Our highly skilled team may use porcelain veneers, porcelain crowns, dental bonding, dental implants and/or tooth whitening to complete your full mouth restoration.
Results will be phenomenal – providing patients not only with a proper bite that will eliminate the sore jaw muscles and headaches, but a beautiful, healthy smile that will make heads turn! Contact our office to schedule your consultation to see if you are a good candidate for a full mouth restoration.
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Inlays & Onlays
Inlays and onlays are indirect restorations. They are a great alternative to traditional metal fillings, primarily because less of the tooth structure needs to be removed. Inlays and onlays are suitable for treating mild to moderate decay, and can be used to restore a cracked or fractured tooth if the damage is not extensive enough to require a crown.
Generally, inlays are small restorations that fit within the contours of the biting surface of a tooth, while onlays cover a portion or the entire chewing surface.
Inlays and onlays can be made from porcelain, gold or composite resin. Once fabricated, they are securely bonded to the tooth.
Advantages of inlays and onlays
- Since they can be fabricated from tooth-colored materials, inlays and onlays are aesthetically pleasing. Unlike traditional metal fillings, the restoration is virtually invisible.
- Less removal of the tooth structure is required to achieve optimal results.
- They do not cause excessive wear and tear to opposing tooth structures.
- Inlays and onlays prevent the need for more significant treatment in the future.
The process for placing inlays and onlays generally requires two or more office visits. Initially, once the decay is removed, your prosthodontist will take an impression of the tooth. A temporary restoration is placed until the custom made inlay/onlay is manufactured in a laboratory.
Following a proper oral hygiene regimen daily, ensures the success and longevity of your new restoration.
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Veneers
Veneers are a great alternative to otherwise painful dental procedures to improve the appearance of your smile. Veneers are thin, semi-translucent "shells" typically attached to your front teeth, usually with the use of little or no local anesthetic. They are customized from porcelain material and permanently bonded to your teeth.
Veneers are commonly used to correct:
- Spaces between the teeth
- Broken or chipped teeth
- Unsightly, stained or discolored teeth
- Permanently stained or discolored teeth
- Crooked or misshapen teeth
Veneers are a great aesthetic solution to your smile that may even help you avoid orthodontic treatment. Subtle changes to your smile, such as resurfacing the teeth to make them appear straighter, can be achieved with veneers. In most cases, veneer application is completed in only two office visits.
Please contact our office if you have any further questions about veneers.
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Implants
Dental implants are artificial tooth replacements that were first developed half a century ago by a Swedish scientist named Per-Ingvar Branemark. Implants arose from the patient's need to secure loose-fitting dentures. Since the advent of the implant, engineering and enhancements to the implant have enabled dentists to expand the implant's usefulness, including the replacement of missing or lost teeth. Today, implant techniques provide a wide range of tooth replacement solutions including:
- Single Tooth Replacement
- Anterior Replacement
- Posterior Replacement
- Full Upper Replacement
Types of Implants
There are three main types of implants:
- The root implant
- The plate form implant
- The subperiosteal implant
The root implant—by far, the most popular—is the most effective because it mirrors the size and shape of a patient's natural tooth. This implant is often as strong as the patient's original tooth. The implant or artificial root is placed into the jawbone under local anesthesia, then allowed to heal and integrate with the bone. Once the healing process is completed and the jawbone is attached to the implant, the patient returns to the dental office where the implant is fitted with the new tooth. This process generally takes anywhere from three to eight months.
The plate form implant is ideal in situations where the jawbone is not wide enough to properly support a root implant. The plate form implant is long and thin, unlike the root implant, and anchors into thin jawbones. It is inserted the same way as a root implant. In certain cases, the plate form implant is immediately fitted with the restoration without waiting for the healing process to run its course.
The subperiosteal implant is used when the jawbone has receded to the point where it can no longer support a permanent implant.
Implant As a Treatment Option
If the missing tooth space has no surrounding teeth, the dentist may decide an implant is the most appropriate treatment choice or option.
The treatment plan for a bridge usually requires two trips to your dentist. Specifically, it involves:
- Numbing the surrounding teeth with a local anesthetic and cleaning plaque or decay.
- Reducing the teeth so that the crowns can be fitted.
- Making a mold or impression of the teeth in order to create a customized permanent impression (this generally takes 1-2 weeks).
- Fitting the patient with a temporary bridge until the permanent bridge is ready for placement.
- Removing the temporary bridge and replacing it with the permanent one.
- Adjusting the bridge for the proper bite and fit and permanently bonding it into the mouth.
Post Implant Care
Although proper oral hygiene is always recommended for maintaining good dental health, it is especially important when a patient has received a dental implant. Bacteria can attack sensitive areas in the mouth when teeth and gums are not properly cleaned, thus causing gums to swell and jaw bones to gradually recede. Recession of the jawbone will weaken implants and eventually make it necessary for the implant to be removed. Patients are advised to visit their dentists at least twice a year to ensure the health of their teeth and implants. Dental implants can last for decades when given proper care.
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Dentures
TRADITIONAL DENTURES
A traditional denture is a removable replacement for missing teeth and adjacent tissues. It is made of acrylic resin, sometimes in combination with various metals. Complete dentures replace all the teeth in a jaw and fit directly on the gums and supporting bone. Partial dentures fill in the spaces created by missing teeth, resting partly on the gums and partly on the remaining teeth. Complet dentures are not attached to anything and simply rest on the gums. This means that the denture can get dislodged when chewing and often limits the realistic selection of food choices for the denture wearer.
Esthetic partial dentures can be made with new materials that allow us to disguise the clasps that hold the dentures to the teeth and make the dentures appear more natural.
Advantages:
Dentures allow for replacement of all missing teeth on one appliance and prevent the shifting of the remaining teeth.
Disadvantages:
The appliances are not permanently fixed and therefore must be taken out nightly to avoid infections in the mouth. In addition, movement of the dentures in the mouth during function may cause irritation and chafing of the tissues.
DENTURES & IMPLANTS
Fortunately, dentures can be attached to implants to help improve their fit and greatly increase chewing ability. As an added benefit, the implants prevent the steady bone loss caused by traditional dentures. Dentures attached to implants give support to the cheeks and lips creating a more youthful appearance. Speaking, chewing, swallowing and smiling are also improved due to the confidence that stems from having the dentures firmly secured in the mouth.