General Dentistry

Sedation Dentistry:

Sedation dentistry is “dentistry while you sleep”. All levels of sedation are available from lightly sedated to completely asleep. The level of sedation is dependent upon the patient’s needs, desires, extent of dental treatment needed, as well as the medical history of the patient. All sedation in our office is provided by a board certified anesthesiologist with over 25 years of clinical experience.

Who is a candidate?

• Patients in need of extensive dental work
• Phobic patient
• Patients with an overactive gag reflex
• Patients who have difficulty getting numb
• Patients who have an aversion to needles and injections
• Patients who dislike the sound of the drill or aromas found in a dental office setting
• Patients with significant medical conditions

What are the benefits?

• Eliminates unpleasant sensations typically associated with:
  • Injection
  • Drill sounds &
  • Dental material aromas
• Reduces stress creating a more relaxing and anxiety free dental experience
• Little or no memory of dental procedures performed
• A more efficient manner to have extensive work completed
• Removes obstacles that cause patients to avoid dental treatment

Crowns:

Crowns are dental restorations that cover an entire tooth or a dental implant. Crowns are necessary when too much tooth structure has been damaged due to existing fillings, decay, fracture or history of a root canal and it is impossible to restore the tooth to its proper form and function, by any other means.

Tooth supported crown

Implant supported crown

Crowns can be made from various materials: gold alone, porcelain fused to metal, or porcelain alone (porcelain jacket crowns). Porcelain fused to metal crowns and porcelain jacket crowns are more esthetic than full gold crowns because of the natural look of tooth colored porcelains. Porcelain jacket crowns are the most esthetic of the three types because there is no metal in them allowing for a more natural translucency and life like appearance to the restoration.

CEREC single-visit, dental crowns are all-ceramic, porcelain jacket crowns made out of pressed ceramic blocks of Empress or Emax. They are strong, highly esthetic and designed, milled and cemented all at the same visit. With CEREC all-ceramic crowns you avoid both the need to temporize the tooth after a crown preparation as well as a second visit for cementation of the crown because you get your permanent crown that same day.

Fixed Bridges:

Bridges can be used to replace a missing tooth or teeth. They require the placement of crowns on the teeth on either side of the missing tooth. This type of restoration is cemented into place and is non-removable. Alternatives to a bridge are implants or removable partial dentures.

Fillings:

Fillings are primarily used to repair teeth damaged by decay, fracture, or teeth in need of old, leaking (defective) fillings being replaced. Fillings restore the tooth to its proper form and function while sealing the internal portion of the tooth from the oral environment. Fillings can be silver amalgam or tooth colored (composite bonded restorations).

Removable Appliances

Partial dentures and full dentures are an option to replace missing teeth. When patients lose all their teeth full dentures are sometimes used to restore a patient to proper form, function, tissue support, and esthetics. Full dentures are made of acrylic and porcelain or plastic teeth. Because there are no teeth to help stabilize and support the appliance patients sometimes complain that full dentures feel loose, that they move when they eat or talk, and are uncomfortable. Since full dentures cover a large area of the oral tissues the sensation to food and temperatures is altered too. In order to help a patient overcome these problems implants can be used to stabilize the denture, making for a more comfortable and more normal bite.

Removable partial dentures are part metal and part acrylic. They are less expensive than fixed bridges or implants when replacing multiple missing teeth. Other options to replace multiple missing teeth are fixed bridges and implants. Removable partial dentures use the remaining teeth to support and stabilize the appliance. Clasps or attachments are placed around or in teeth in order to hold the partial into place. Clasps can lead to acceleration of bone loss and mobility around the teeth they clip onto. Most patients find bridges and implants much more comfortable, stable, cleansable, and more like their own teeth than these removable appliances.

Root Canal Therapy

Root canal therapy involves the treatment of a damaged nerve. A nerve may be damaged due to decay, trauma or prolonged grinding. A damaged nerve may cause spontaneous pain, swelling, temperature and bite sensitivity as well as infection. Sometimes a patient doesn’t have any of these symptoms and doesn’t even know a problem exists until a routine dental radiograph during a check-up visit reveals the problem. Once a nerve is irreversibly damaged it needs to be removed from the tooth and root canal therapy performed in order to keep the tooth.

During root canal therapy the nerve of the tooth is removed and the remaining canal walls are cleaned, shaped, and disinfected. Once these steps have been completed the canals are sealed in order to help prevent recontamination of the canals in the future.

After root canal therapy is completed a tooth often times requires a crown be placed over it in order to protect it from potentially fracturing.

Hygiene Cleanings

Regular maintenance visits help to ensure long term dental health. By seeing a dentist on a regular basis you are able to reduce your risk for gum problems and extensive tooth decay.

Everybody has bacteria in their mouth. This bacteria, when it colonizes on the teeth, is called plaque. Plaque, when left on the teeth too long, can cause an infection called gingivitis and also turn into calculus (tarter). Calculus is a hard substance adhered to the tooth above and/or below the gumline and it can not be removed with brushing or flossing. It can only be removed by a dental professional.

Gingivitis if left untreated can eventually result in Periodontitis, a disease of the oral cavity that can cause increased gingival redness and tenderness, recession of gingival tissues, loss of bone, increased mobility of teeth, temperature hypersensitivity, swellings, infection, pain and loss of teeth.

A periodontal evaluation of each patient should be part of any new patient or recall maintenance visit. Our hygienist’s motto is “we like pink gums” - and so do our patients.