Why You Should Bring Your Child to Our Kids Dentist Office

As a kids dentist, we have to help cure some of the same ailments that plague adult patients. While there are certain oral health problems that are more apt to impact a child, in our day to day practice, much of what we treat would also be found in adults. The challenge with being a kid's dentist is that it is much harder to get to the root of the problem.

Typically kids are much more relative. For example, if you were to ask an adult patient where the pain was, they could give you an exact place. The same holds true for questions like how long ago the pain started and how acute it is. For a child, the irritation is in their mouth, and that is often all they can tell you. Answers to questions like when the pain started depend on the parents ability to answer much of the time. Also, there is the intimidation factor. When it comes to children, there is often a fear associated with going to the dentist. Being in a strange place, surrounded by people in white coats, and with all of the unknown dental equipment, is enough to worry a child who was already nervous. As someone specializing in treating children, we know how to help them to relax so that they can enjoy their visit and tell us what is wrong in the first place.

Cavities in Children
At a kids dentist, the number one thing we treat is cavities. This is because children love sweets, and the bacteria that causes decay loves sugar and starch. For parents, you should know how cavities work and more importantly how you can prevent them.

Bacteria, of all kinds, lives in the human mouth. This bacteria will attempt to colonize the teeth, and in the process will cover your or your child's teeth with a thin film that is known as plaque. Left without cleaning, plaque quickly builds up and can do extensive damage to young teeth. The bacteria inside of the plaque secrete acid. The flow of this acid increases when the bacteria are exposed to its favorite foods, sugar and starch. These acids then wash over the teeth, gradually eating away at the enamel until they form a hole. This is a cavity, which will lead to your child needing an appointment with our kids dentist office. Unchecked cavities can cause discomfort, will grow larger, spread, and even lead to some gum diseases. It is important that you come in and have your child's cavity filled as soon as you know it is there. Often, we will catch a cavity during a routine, twice yearly, examination that you bring your children in for.

The most common way that you can tell that there is something wrong with your child's teeth is sensitivity. Children experience sensitivity in their teeth before anything major happens. When your child starts to complain about not being able to bite into hot, cold, or sweet, you may want to start considering bringing them in for an examination, as tooth sensitivity in children is often an indicator of a deeper underlying problem.

Family Dentist  >  Dentist

A Veneers Dentist Can Improve Your Teeth With a Simple Process

If you are trying to find a way to improve your teeth, a veneers dentist can provide you with a whiter, straighter, and more attractive smile. Veneers are a thin layer of porcelain sometimes referred to as dental ceramic that is adhered to the fronts of your teeth to provide coverage of flaws. The results of veneers are instant and provide you with the smile you have always wanted with the least amount of inconvenient dental work.

About Our Veneers
Our veneers are very natural looking and improve the appearance of your teeth with only two appointments in our veneers dentist office. They are customized and created just for your teeth to improve the imperfections you want to be covered.

Who is a Candidate for Our Dental Veneers
If you have healthy, fully developed teeth, dental veneers are a great option for your improvements. We do not advise people whose gums are infected to have veneers applied until after this problems are taken care of. Veneers are not meant to protect your teeth from bacteria and decay, they are meant to be used as an attractive cosmetic improvement.  

What Flaws Veneers Can Cover
Our veneers dentist office can place veneers on teeth that need shaping and contouring improvements, lengthening adjustments, gap coverage, and whitening and straightening help. Veneers will look beautiful when applied to properly prepared teeth, and the best part is, no one will even realize it is a dental restoration rather than your natural teeth.

Needed Preparation for Veneers
In order to prepare your teeth, our team will gently etch or buff the layer of enamel on the fronts of your teeth to create a proper base for the veneers. After this is accomplished, temporary and permanent veneers can be securely bonded to your teeth for long-lasting coverage.

Side Effects of Veneers
Our veneers dentist office can assure you that side effects are limited to slight sensitivity to hot and cold temperatures directly following veneers placement. The cause of this is the enamel alteration that takes place during application. Sensitivities will subside within a few days.

How Long Dental Veneers Last
How long your veneers last will depend on your treatment and care of them. In most cases, our veneers last for 15-20 years. With age, your dental structure can shift, and your gums can recede. This will cause your veneers to be more vulnerable to damage. If your veneers are damaged or need to be replaced for any other reason, it is simple and easy for our veneers dentist office to provide you with newer and better looking veneers as needed.

We hope our breakdown of the veneers process has helped you understand how effective, simple, and quick our dental veneers service is. We want to help you attain the straighter, whiter, and more attractive smile you have always desired. Your first step to a beautiful smile makeover is visiting our office as soon as you can.

Teeth Whitening  >  Cosmetic Dentist

A Teeth Whitening Procedure Can Get You Ready for Graduation Day

Get ready for the camera with a teeth whitening procedure.  After four years of hard work, it is time for graduation and your photo-worthy moment.  As your family descends upon the school with their smartphone and digital camera in hand, you will be spending the day smiling and posing.  Whitening your teeth ahead of time will help you to enjoy your pictures a little more. We understand that this is a busy few months with turning in final homework, preparing your resume, packing up your student housing, etc.  Fortunately, you can improve your smile with an appointment to our office, without taking a lot of time away.  A teeth whitening procedure is easy to complete, the results are stunning, and you can do it in time for graduation.

Why so many college students need a teeth whitening treatment.
Graduating with a college degree is hard work.  That work is often fueled by late-night study sessions where jugs of coffee and energy drinks are consumed, and candy bars opened.  Sugar, caffeine, and energy products may be necessary to help you to stay awake, study, and get the grades you need.  However, they are not good for your teeth.  These products can leave your teeth stained and yellow, something that will age you.  As a result, many college students leave for school with healthy and white teeth, only to graduate with plaque buildup and stains.  We want to clean and whiten your teeth right away so that you can walk into the next phase of life with a beautiful smile.

Plan for your future and schedule a teeth whitening procedure.
To fully understand why you should whiten your teeth, you should know about recent studies.  To determine the impact of a beautiful smile on a persons' career, studies have been completed.  It turns out that people with a beautiful smile are more likely to be hired by a prospective employer.  Granted, this is if all other things are equal so whitening your teeth doesn't mean that you should apply for the CEO job.  It does mean, however, that if you were going after the same job as a college grad with a similar resume, the person with the more attractive smile is more likely to be hired.  Once the job is yours, people with a more attractive smile are more likely to get a raise as well.

Once you have decided to whiten your teeth, you must determine how you will do so.  We recommend that you skip the store –bought whitening products because they don't work very well. They can do a good job at removing the surface stains, but most people have deep stains that are below the surface of the enamel.  In order to remove them, you need a professional grade solution – our solution.  When the whitening gel is applied to your teeth, it will penetrate below the surface of the enamel and start the process of oxidization.  This is where the molecules change to reflect less light, appearing colorless and giving you a stunning smile.

Dental Implants  >  Cosmetic Dentist

How Dental Implants are Placed in the Jawbone

Most people know dental implants are tiny prosthetics that are used to create a new fake tooth. Few people, outside of patients who have received one, are aware of just how great a dental implant can be. For starters, dental implants are based on a simple grounding philosophy. Since the root of the tooth is the grounding for the tooth, the dental implants we use provide the same level of strength and security to the new dental crown that we place over them. Additionally the root has a very important and symbiotic relationship with your jawbone, which works to help in stabilizing the tooth itself. Our tiny titanium implants mimic this relationship perfectly. What this does for you is it creates a circumstance where your new fake tooth is strongly grounded in an implant that is literally a perfect non-biological imitation of your root. As such you can eat anything that you would normally eat, without fear of causing unnecessary damage to your new implant or crown. This also means that you do not have to engage in special cleaning activities. Simply brush your teeth, and floss, like you would normally do and the new tooth will also get clean.

Did you know that dental implants come in two different types? Most people, even those who have dental implants, are usually not aware of this fact. There are two types of dental implants because in order for a traditional dental implant to be successful there is a prerequisite for the jawbone to be healthy. The jawbone and the dental implant have a symbiotic relationship, which means the jawbone has to have sufficient density, or bone mass, to sustain and support the implant. We will typically find this out during our initial consultations and examinations, where we will take x-rays. If your jawbone can sustain an implant, we will use the traditional implant. Also known as an Endosteal implant, this implant is a cylindrical shaped device, often a screw, made of titanium. It is inserted directly into the jawbone for maximum stability and to ensure the relationship between the two.

For other patients, however, they may not have the jaw bone density that is required to place an Endosteal implant. In cases like this the patient, you, have one of the two choices. You can have reconstructive surgery on the jaw to make it stronger and able to withstand and support the implant. The other option, for those that do not want to or cannot undergo reconstructive surgery, is to use an implant known as a Subperiosteal implant. A Subperiosteal implant functions much the same way as an Endosteal implant, with one notable exception. A Subperiosteal implant is placed into the gum but not into the jawbone. It is placed on top of, or slightly above the jawbone itself. This provides the security and stability that the dental crown needs, without putting added pressure on the already weakened jawbone. The initial examination will tell us what kind of implant you need, and we can make sure you have all the information you need to make a decision.

Teeth Whitening  >  Cosmetic Dentist

Visit Our Dental Office to Replace Missing Teeth

In our dental office, we know that tooth loss and dentures are not something any of us think about every day. Very few people actually consider that they might someday need to wear dentures. Recent studies have shown that, among adults, more than 60% have never given any serious thought to the idea that they might someday need a dental prosthetic device for lost teeth. It is not because our teeth are getting stronger, or that the improved technology is helping people keep their teeth longer. Rather it is because tooth loss is seen as a problem for tomorrow, never really thought of today.

Ironically the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry found that by the year 2020, over 37.6 million Americans will probably be wearing a full set of dentures. This did not look at partial dentures. Those are impressive numbers when you consider that just 15 years ago only 33.6 million people were in need of a full set of dentures. With an aging population and the same problems that have always existed, dentures are very much a reality for many of our futures. When you consider that among women of the age of 40 or older, 19% are already wearing dentures, the future may not be quite as far off as one would like to imagine.

In our dental office, dentures and implants are directly related to tooth loss. This means that you have a better chance of avoiding needing dentures if you take good care of your teeth, and if you make it a habit to visit the dentist at least twice per year. Neither one of these is guaranteed since there are two main causes of tooth loss, which leads to needing dentures.

The first is gum disease. Gum disease gives you plenty of forewarning, making it easier for you to get the treatment you need. Typically, however, there is a short window in which to seek treatment before the disease damages the teeth and leads to tooth loss. If you are part of the 53% of Americans that are currently visiting the dentist twice a year, chances are we will catch any infections early, and address them. If you are part of the 47% that does not visit the dentist regularly, you should consider switching sides.

Another important way to avoid dentures is to brush your teeth twice per day, carefully removing any plaque buildup. Currently, only around 69% of us are brushing our teeth twice a day; the rest are taking a risk with tooth loss. Great hygiene, visiting the dentist and being careful what you eat are great ways to start offsetting the likelihood that you will need dentures later in life.

There are numerous small things that can happen that should lead you to be concerned about tooth loss. Diseases like gingivitis can cause you to lose your teeth and require you to get dentures or some other prosthetic replacement. One of the leading signs of gingivitis is bleeding from the gums. However, gum bleeding is experienced by 70% of all people at some point during their life so it is hard to know the difference, and you should visit our dental office so that we can determine if you have gum disease.  Our goal is to keep you in excellent oral health but if you do lose any teeth, we can replace them with dentures or dental implants in order to give you a natural looking smile again.

Dental Implants  >  Sedation Dentist

The Difference Between a Sedation Dentist and Traditional Dentistry

The difference between a sedation dentist and traditional dentistry could result in a far better dental experience for you. Everyone knows what traditional dentistry involves, including visits that can often end up in physical discomfort for the patient. Discomfort is the main reason that so many people let important dentist visits fall to the back burner. Discomfort can cause anxiety, fear, and general unrest when the thought of visiting a traditional dentist comes up. This is often referred to as dental phobia. You don't have to let yourself fall prey to uncomfortable dentist visits or no dental care at all. With a sedation dentist, you will see a huge turn around in your attitude toward visiting the dentist and your comfort level during the appointment. We can help relieve your worries and fears with sedation dentistry. 

Get ready to relax.
Sedation dentistry uses different forms of anesthesia to cause relaxation and contentment during your visit. No matter your level of anxiety or pain, we can provide an effective remedy. Through our calming sedation techniques, you will achieve more confidence and overall happiness during your dental appointments.

Our controlled outcomes of sedation range from light to deep. We help you attain a tranquil mindset with a few different simple techniques, whereas traditional dentistry does not offer any way to ease your nerves. For a light sedation, we can administer Nitrous Oxide, also known as laughing gas, through a mask that covers your nose. This will ease you into a relaxed, peaceful level of sedation while also allowing you to be aware of your surroundings in a less apprehensive way. Oral benzodiazepines are other forms of light or medium sedation. These will be provided to you before your appointment. You will normally take them 20 minutes to one hour before you sit down in our dentist chair. They provide a peaceful environment that will allow you to be aware of what is going on. If your anxiety needs are great, we can offer you a deeper level of sedation through an IV. This is normally reserved for serious anxiety cases or oral surgery. All of our techniques provide you with a peace of mind, and they have very little to zero side effects. The most common side effect is a slight memory loss from your time in the dentist chair, which many people view as a perk.

We can ensure your safety during any sedation practice. As a sedation dentist, we can offer you a worry-free dental visit. Take advantage of these amazing anxiety relievers; doing so will result in better overall health of your teeth and gums. We can get your teeth in tip-top shape, meaning you won't have to visit the dentist as often. We still encourage bi-annual or annual visits to keep your teeth clean and healthy. Let us, as a sedation dentist, provide you with what traditional dentistry can't, the calming and effective dental experience you deserve. To get started, call and schedule your dental exam today.

Dental Implants  >  Family Dentist

Call Our Family Dentist Office If You Have Bad Breath

At our family dentist office, we want to hear from you if you are suffering from bad breath.  This can be a sign of a greater health condition so while it may be easy to blame your morning latte, we want to get to the bottom of what is causing the odor protruding from your mouth.  Yes, there are times where breath stinks as a direct result of what you have eaten.  This, however, is easy to identify and after brushing your teeth, your breath will typically smell better.  What concerns us, is breath that continues to smell bad even after you brush your teeth or is persistently getting worse.  If you aren't sure, ask your family since they are likely to be honest with you.

One of the common causes for bad breath is teeth that haven't been professionally cleaned for a long time.  There are certain areas within every mouth that are difficult to reach with at-home care.  Even those that are fastidious about brushing and flossing, may be unable to reach every area, and this is where we come in.  We can clean your teeth and remove the plaque and bacteria from hard to reach places.  This is good for your health and may also improve how your breath smells.

During these teeth cleanings and dental exams, we will also look for signs of an infection.  An infected tooth can cause irritation and sensitivity when you bite down but in many cases, you may not notice it until the infection requires immediate care.  We prefer, however, to treat the tooth before it reaches this point.  Your breath can be an early sign of the infection so if you come in right away, we can remove the infection and restore the tooth before you are bothered by it.  Depending on the severity of the infection, we may need to perform a root canal.  Given modern dental technology, this can be done while you remain completely comfortable in our family dentist office.

Another condition that we will look for is gum disease.  In its most extreme state, gum disease can cause  your gums to recede and pockets to form in the gum tissue.  This can lead to bone loss and future tooth loss.  However, if we catch the condition early enough you may not even know that you have it.  Gingivitis can make your gums red and swollen but the irritation is minor, and we can treat the gums by simply removing the plaque and tartar from under the surface of the gum tissue.  Once done, the gums will begin to return to good health.  Early detection allows us to prevent damage to your teeth and helps you to avoid discomfort.

In our family dentist office, we want to know about changes in your breath due to these primary health concerns.  It is our goal to help our patients avoid discomfort, and early detection and treatment makes this possible.  Therefore, if you notice that your breath stinks even after brushing, give us a call.

General Dentist  >  Dental

Get Questions Answered About Side Effects From a Sedation Dentist

As a sedation dentist, we are pleased to make it possible for people to receive the dental care that they need.  Given that millions of people suffer from mild to severe dental anxiety, we know that a lot of people skip out on important dental care due to their own fears.  This can only exasperate the problem and very often causes dental issues to become worse.  By offering sedation, we can eliminate these anxieties so that you can receive the care that you need.

During the initial exam and consultation, we will determine what your oral health challenges are and discuss the best way of treating them. We will also discuss your options for sedation.  There are several ways to help you to relax and discussing them in detail allows you to make an informed decision as to how to proceed. One of the questions we are regularly asked during these consultations is whether or not there are any real side effects associated with sedation.

Whenever you have dental work done or any type of procedure, you need to let your doctor know if you have any other health issues.  We want to know, for example, if you are a diabetic and if you have had a recent diabetic episode. This can make it difficult to recover from any type of procedure and may influence our recommendation for when you should receive treatment.  As a sedation dentist, we also need to know about any medications that you are taking before determining which type of sedation to give you.

You can expect to feel tired after experiencing sedation dentistry.  If you have only received nitrous oxide, this may be minor, and many people can bounce back immediately. If, however, you have been put to sleep or had deeper sedation, you will probably feel very tired afterwards.  Since being drowsy can be dangerous when driving, we recommend that you have someone else drive you home.  The risk of getting into a car wreck is high if you are drowsy so don't take the chance.   When you do get home, we recommend that you rest for twelve hours.  This can be sleeping, watching movies, reading a book, etc. Just take it easy and rest so that you can recover faster and so that your drowsiness wears away.

As a sedation dentist, we have also found that our patients tend to be extraordinarily thirsty after sedation.  This is an easy fix, simply buy a nice water bottle with a straw and drink plenty of water that day and the next.  Staying hydrated is good for you anyway so drinking water can be important, regardless of what you have going on.

If you have more questions about sedation and how it can be used to improve your dental experience, we invite you to schedule a consultation with our office.  We will be happy to answer any questions that you have.

Dentist  >  Dental Implants

How a TMJ Dentist Treats Jaw Pain and How The OPPERA Findings Relate

As a TMJ dentist, we are asked on a frequent basis what causes TMJ.  In our experience, patients that are going through a stressful situation are more likely to experience the condition as are those that regularly eat things that are difficult to chew.  In the case of high stress, people tend to clench their jaw and grind their teeth while sleeping.  This puts enormous amounts of pressure on the temporomandibular joint, resulting in irritation or pain in the morning.  In its most basic instances, this may cause a headache or sore jaw but as the condition worsens some people are not able to open their mouth in the morning.  Since TMJ doesn’t happen overnight, there are clear warning signs so if you are aware of basic discomfort, we recommend visiting our office for early treatment.

Medical science has been unable to identify all of the causes of TMJ and, as a result, a study is ongoing titled OPPERA.  The study was launched in 2006 by Dr. William Maixner and Dr. Gary Slade and has followed 2,737 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 44.  In this study, they have followed up with participants to monitor how many have since experienced the condition.  The results have found an average of four percent of participants start experiencing TMJ on an annual basis.  This ranges from mild to severe cases, and they have found that those with mild TMJ don’t necessary go on to experience acute levels.   As a TMJ dentist, we prefer to treat the condition immediately because we have seen how clearly it works in preventing escalation.

Researchers are still looking into what all of the causes of TMJ are and one interesting finding is that those with heightened somatic awareness are more likely to suffer from the condition.  Somatic awareness is what scientist have labeled as an awareness of both internal and external factors.  For example, those that are more aware of smells, hot, cold, wind, etc. may have a heightened somatic awareness. This also applies to people that are more aware of internal irritations like a stomach ache or joint pain, in general.  Dr. Slade stated that it "is probably capturing some basic survival sensations.”  As a TMJ dentist, this was intriguing to us because it provides some information that our patients can take action on.  If, for example, you are more sensitive to environmental factors or find that a regular headache is more intense for you than a family member – you should visit us on the first onset of jaw pain.  Since those with heightened somatic awareness appear to be more aware of everything, failing to treat TMJ early may result in unnecessary discomfort.

If you do have TMJ, we will treat it by making an impression of your mouth and having a removable oral appliance created in a dental lab.  This device will surround both the upper and lower teeth, connecting them and preventing grinding and clenching at night.  This provides relief from pressure that can in turn reduce or eliminate your symptoms.

Dentist  >  Cosmetic Dentist

As a Veneers Dentist, We Love Porcelain Veneers!

As a veneers dentist, we look for solutions that are simple and efficient - dental veneers meet both of these criteria. Made of the finest, thinnest strip of porcelain the veneers fit onto the teeth, or over the teeth, as a replacement to enamel that has been worn away, chipped, or broken. Often a small fraction of the enamel will need to be stripped away in order to make room for the dental veneer to fit flush with the rest of the teeth. Since the dental veneer has to take the place of enamel, the thin strip of porcelain has to have many of the same qualities as the enamel itself. As such, the veneer is extremely hard. This allows it to withstand the rigors of a eating a regular diet. At the same time, like enamel, the porcelain is brittle and is not designed to do things like opening bottles which can crack the veneer in much the same way as it can damage a natural tooth.

Not only do dental veneers have some of the qualities of enamel, but the veneer is also designed to serve a very important duality of functions. First they look and feel like the real thing, meaning you will never have a tooth that is different from the surrounding teeth. This is very important for the esthetic appeal of the teeth. Secondly dental veneers can give the tooth protection. This is especially important when there is some level of decay, and the tooth needs to be bolstered against further infection. The veneer takes the place of the enamel in blocking the damage from spreading further and in many cases can actually help to save the tooth itself.

Dental veneers can have a very long lifecycle. With the proper care and maintenance, the dental veneers can last anywhere from seven to thirty years. Naturally there is no real way to predict how long one of these devices will last with any sense of certainty. Each mouth is different, and additionally each person will take care of their mouth, and by extension their veneers, differently. As the mouth changes, and faced with additional complications like diseases, there is always a possibility that your veneers may need replacing. However, like teeth, veneers can last longer if you have regular checkups with a veneers dentist.

It is important to note that dental veneers won't really impact your overall quality of life. This is because they are designed specifically to ensure that they blend in and behave like a natural tooth. The veneers fit snugly into the tooth itself, so they do not stand out. Maintenance of the veneers is no different from keeping you regular teeth clean and as long as you follow a routine of brushing, flossing, and seeing the dentist for regular professional cleanings, the veneers require no additional care. The only area where we advise a difference in your lifestyle is in the things that you eat and drink. Veneers do not stain, but the teeth around them do. Eating and drinking foods that could stain your teeth could result in your veneers being whiter than the teeth around them. If, however, you need to whiten your natural teeth, we can perform a whitening procedure in our veneers dentist office.

Teeth Whitening  >  Cosmetic Dentist

A Kids' Dentist Can Be Your Partner in Oral Health

Being a kids' dentist can be greatly rewarding. It also comes with its own unique set of challenges, mostly springing from the fact that a children’s dentist works with young, wiggly patients. Though often more compliant than their adult counterparts, children have an intrinsic fear of the things they do not understand, making it even more important that we take the time to explain each step of the process to them. Additionally, parents can be overly frightened of having their children's teeth worked on, making for a sometimes tense situation. All of this is challenging enough but is made even more complex by the fact that children’s teeth are unique from a biological perspective. Children are still growing and developing, which includes their teeth. As such, it takes special attention and care to help the teeth while being aware that the jaw bone is yet to solidify fully. In a sense, we have a special opportunity, with children’s dentistry, to make an impact while the mouth is still developing. 

A children’s dentist is not just a practitioner who specializes in small teeth. The largest part of our job is to educate the children and parents with regard to great oral health and habits. As difficult as it may be for some people to believe, we would actually prefer to see you less. If, as your child’s dentist, we could only have the pleasure of seeing you twice a year for teeth cleanings, we would consider it a job well done. In order to get there, however, we need to help you create healthy habits in your children. These habits, once developed, will carry over into adulthood and ensure that your child has extremely healthy teeth for the rest of their life. 

Of all the habits we discuss, perhaps the most difficult to change are eating habits. Recently a comprehensive study was performed that found some alarming statistics when it comes to children’s access to sugar. Most children love sugar and left to their own devices would consume far too many snacks with a high sugar content. This is why parental supervision is so important. This study found that only 25% of parents follow the recommendation dietary limits on sugary snacks. These parents followed the guidelines of not allowing their children high sugar content snacks more than twice a week. On the opposite end of the spectrum, at around 14%, were parents who allowed their children to snack on these kinds of snacks three or four times in a given day. The majority of parents, around 60%, were in the middle by allowing this kind of snacking at least once per day.  As a kids dentist, we can help you by providing ideas for how to replace sugary snacks with healthy ones. 

We know that working together can produce positive results and that you as a parent, have your child’s best interest at heart. As a kids' dentist, we have seen dentist/parent partnerships work in the past and believe that this is the best solution for addressing the snacking challenge.  Given that over 93% of parents, according to the study, brush their children’s teeth at least once per day, we have a lot of encouragement that new habits can be formed and children can start eating healthier foods again. 

The Process a Veneers Dentist Uses to Restore Teeth

As a veneers dentist, we can restore teeth that have been damaged while simultaneously improving their appearance.  Made of porcelain, dental veneers have become a powerful tool for correcting numerous dental challenges. When you consider the array of dental problems that can be fixed with dental veneers it is easy to forget that they are, in fact, a wafer-thin strip of porcelain which is incredibly brittle in its unattached state. One the veneer is attached to the tooth, replacing some of the enamel, it takes on the strength of a normal tooth and is almost as durable as a naturally occurring tooth would be. It is due to the veneers strength and ability to blend in with the natural teeth that we use if for repairing chipped teeth, correcting unsightly spaces between teeth, adjusting misaligned teeth, and even to improve the color or size of your teeth. 

While dental veneers are an incredible solution to many minor problems, they are also able to solve these problems while blending seamlessly into your mouth. Once a veneer is in place, no one will be able to tell the difference between your regular teeth and the one that is repaired using the dental veneer. To do this, we will need to see you at least twice. The first time is to consult and give you an idea of what to expect. Following this we will prepare the tooth to receive the dental veneer. On the second visit, we will actually place the veneer and make sure that it is a perfect fit. 

Dental veneers, visit one:
During the first visit, we will give you a lot of information, after which we will focus on making sure the tooth is ready for the veneer. To do this, we will get an exact color match, by comparing your teeth with a shade card. This allows us to pick, not just the coloring, but, the shading to match your mouth. If all of your visible teeth are getting veneers, you can simply select the shade that you like.  During this visit, two important procedures will take place. First, our veneers dentist will trim the enamel on the tooth. A minimal amount of enamel, as low as between 0.5 and 0.7 millimeters, will be removed. This, quite simply, is to make room for the dental veneer to take the place of this enamel. Once the enamel has been trimmed, we will take an implant of the area. This gives us the measurements we need to create your veneers. Before you leave we will also place a temporary veneer onto your tooth in order to protect it from sensitivity. 

Dental veneers, visit two:
Once the veneers have returned from the lab, it is time to fit them. During this visit, our veneers dentist will be fitting the veneers and working to ensure that they are a match. To that end, we will place them, remove them, trim them, and replace them multiple times until we are satisfied that the fit is perfect and has no adverse effect on your bite patterns. We will also check the shading to ensure the dental veneer fits in with the rest of your teeth. Once this is completed, we can cement the veneer in place and complete the restoration for you.

A TMJ Dentist Can Treat Your Jaw Pain Using These Procedures

As a TMJ dentist, there are several procedures we can recommend to help alleviate any pain or discomfort you feel in your jaw.  TMJ will affect somewhere between twenty and thirty percent of the entire population of the United States. While there have not been any comprehensive nationwide studies done, smaller studies show that only chronic back pain causes more distress on a national scale. As a matter of fact, tooth pain is the only condition that causes more facial distress than TMJ. Over 15% of all TMJ cases that go untreated and will become chronic, which often requires surgical intervention to correct. Considering that only about two-thirds of all people who have TMJ seek out the medical attention they need, this is a large gap in education that must be provided to the general public about this condition. 

Understanding TMJ is a little bit harder than understanding a single condition diseases. This is because TMJ is a symptom complex, meaning that it is a series or group of symptoms that may have multiple causes and unfortunately multiple ways of treating those causes. All of this has lead to a level of confusion about the condition and how to best treat it. What is not in dispute is the importance of treating TMJ before it escalates and becomes chronic, a condition that could affect a person’s jaw movement and hence hinder chewing, yawning, and talking. 

As a TMJ dentist, we prefer to treat the condition right away using a non-surgical, non-invasive method.  One of the main causes of TMJ is grinding and clenching teeth at night.  We make it impossible for teeth to touch so that they cannot clench.  This is done by wearing a removable oral appliance that looks like a full retainer.  It is connected and prevents the teeth from clenching.  It is a simple step to take because you only need to wear it before going to bed and take it out again in the morning.  While easy to do, this should alleviate many of your symptoms and soreness.  Once chronic TMJ sets in, there are three main options for treatment. 

Arthrocentesis is the most minor of the procedures that a TMJ dentist can use to clean the damaged tissue and treat TMJ. Usually, this treatment is recommended when a patient has no prior history of TMJ and is suffering from locked jaw as a result of the condition. The needle can be inserted into the joint to flush or clean out the joint. Any damaged tissue can then be removed with a special tool, and ultimately unstick the joint. All of this is done under general anesthesia, but the procedure has minimal recovery time and no risk of scarring or nerve damage. 

Arthroscopic surgery is a little more complex and involves making a small incision under the ear of the patient. Arthroscopic surgery relies on specialized tools, with a camera and flashlight attached that are inserted into the patient and give the orthodontist a clear view of the jaw. Seeing the areas of damage magnified on a video screen, allows the surgeon to remove any damaged tissue and align the disc as necessary. This surgery is also performed under general anesthesia and is considered to be minimally invasive. The risk of infection, scarring, and nerve damage are also greatly reduced as is the amount of time recommended for recovery. 

If you are currently experiencing jaw or joint pain, call and schedule an appointment with a TMJ dentist. 

Learn How a Sedation Dentist Can Help You to Stay Comfortable

As a sedation dentist, we make it possible for people to get dental work done that have been unable to visit the dentist. For a number of Americans, sedation dentistry, is the answer to a life-long fear of the dentist chair. Studies have shown that somewhere between 5% and 8% of Americans have never visited the dentist because they are afraid of the experience. There is no doubt that the fear is a legitimate one, and there are a number of theories why people are so afraid of oral procedures. One theory, that makes a lot of sense, is the helplessness many people feel while in the chair. Having a person hovering over you, with your mouth open to the point of being barely able to speak, can cause a great deal of anxiety for some people. 

Luckily a sedation dentist has a solution to help ease some of the anxiety. By allowing our patients to select the level of sedation they want, we can provide them with an experience that is stress-free and still gets the dental work they need to be done. It is inaccurate to refer to sedation dentistry as “sleep dentistry”, a term that is relatively popular, because it is only in some cases that the patient is actually asleep. Much of the time the sedation is at the minimal levels, which allows us to take the edge off and ensure that you are comfortable. 

You will need to make a number of decisions with regard to the level of sedation, you want, and need, and also the method of delivery. We will then advise you on the benefits and risks of each of the options, so that you have a complete understanding of sedation and how it works with dentistry. There are four levels of sedation that you can elect for. We will give advice and recommendations for each of these in conjunction with the procedure you are going to be getting. 

Mild sedation is the most moderate form of sedation, typically administered using inhalation. A mask is placed over your nose and mouth, following which you will be asked to breathe normally. A solution of nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, will be administered. Nitrous oxide causes you to relax and let go of excess anxiety during the procedure. 

Moderate or conscious sedation is typically given using a pill. The sedation dentist can determine what level of sedation, you require, and work with an anesthesiologist to get you a pill that has the right level of anesthesia. Typically this kind of sedation does leave you with a heavy tongue and slightly drowsy. 

Deep sedation sits somewhere between moderate sedation and full general anesthesia. Deep sedation puts you into a light sleep, from which you could easily be awakened. This allows you to be relatively unaware of the activity around you as we perform the oral work you need. 

General anesthesia is the heaviest form of sedation and is typically associated with surgical procedures. Given through an IV, general anesthesia is monitored throughout the surgery and the levels can be adjusted constantly to ensure that patients remain asleep and comfortable. 

If you want to learn more about the ways we can help you to relax, schedule an appointment at our sedation dentist office. 

Learn How to Properly Brush Your Teeth from a General Dentist

In our general dentist office, we treat patients of all ages and show both kids and adults how to brush their teeth correctly.  If you only brush your teeth occasionally and try to rush through it, you probably aren’t getting the best clean.  While your intentions are good, if you don’t brush correctly you may be wasting your time.  Make the most of your efforts by changing your routine and incorporating these simple tips:

• Timing matters.  The faster you can get sugar off of your teeth, the better.  Carry a soft travel toothbrush with you and use it throughout the day.  As an added bonus, your teeth will be less likely to stain, and your breath will smell fresher without the need for gum. No matter what you should brush your teeth at least every night and every morning. 
• Use the right brush.  As a general dentist, we recommend that our patients use a soft toothbrush instead of a hard one.  This is important because a soft toothbrush will get your teeth clean, but it won’t strip the enamel off of your teeth or irritate your gums.  If you can use an electric brush that is even better.
• Keep it new.  The bristles on your toothbrush need to look new. Once they start to fray, you have kept it for too long.  We recommend buying a new brush every three months and if you have an electric one, switching out the brush heads.  This will help you to consistently get a good clean. 
• Toothpaste.  You should use toothpaste that contains fluoride because this is a mineral that will keep your teeth strong and help to prevent cavities. We recommend that children receive fluoride treatments when they visit our office, and this is one additional way to keep teeth healthy and strong in between teeth cleanings.  If your teeth are sensitive, you may want to use desensitizing toothpaste instead. 
• Brush in circles.  You should brush your teeth in a circular pattern that starts at the gum line and moves towards the center of your mouth.  This way bacteria, plaque and food, are pushed away from your gums. This is a far better way to brush then going from back to front, which can irritate your gums.
• Keep it clean.  Your toothbrush needs to stay clean and dry so that bacteria cannot develop on the brush itself.  Use a toothbrush holder so that it can air out throughout the day.  You can also put it in an empty dishwasher so that your brush can get cleaned and sterilized on a weekly basis.

When you visit our general dentist office, we will remove any plaque and bacteria that have been left behind from your daily brushing and flossing.  Working together we can help to prevent cavities and gum disease so that you can stay in excellent oral health.  Taking the time to do so will prevent you from experiencing discomfort down the road.

Learn How You Can Save Money While Visiting the Family Dentist

Don’t let money prevent you from visiting our family dentist office.  There are ways that you can save and reduce your overall dental care expense.  We also offer financing solutions and can discuss payment plans if you need it. This way you and your family can get the care that you need without worrying about your budget.

When trying to manage your health care cost, you can start by planning for preventative care.  We recommend that you schedule a teeth cleaning for twice a year.  This way we can remove bacteria and plaque from your teeth in order to prevent cavities and gum disease from developing.  When you prevent infections, you also prevent the need for more expensive dental procedures.  Most insurance companies will pay for this type of treatment so you may have little to no out of pocket expense. 

You can also save money by investing in a dental savings plan.  These plans can be bought online and work by giving you discounts on a variety of treatments.  It can be used by itself or in combination with an insurance plan. This is especially beneficial for people that want to get orthodontics treatments or major dental work.  You can get more information when visiting our family dentist office. 

Whenever possible, take steps to avoid a dental emergency so that you can keep your health care cost at a manageable level.  Brushing your teeth two to three times a day, using fluoride toothpaste, flossing, and eating healthy are all ways to do so.  They keep your teeth clean and strong so that they are less prone to infection.  We also recommend that the athletes in the family wear a mouth guard.  The American Dental Association claims that over 200,000 high school and college athletes avoid injury every year by wearing one.  When you can prevent injuries and infections, you can prevent the need to pay for major emergency dental work. 

If you do need a dental procedure, ask about your options.  There is typically more than one way to have dental work done.  For example, if one of your teeth has fallen out you can use dental implants, a dental bridge or dentures to replace it.  Likewise, a chipped tooth may be fixed with a bonding procedure, dental veneers, and a dental crown.  During your consultation let us know if you have specific budgetary constraints so that we can make recommendations as to which procedures can solve the problem while staying within your budget.  

In our family dentist office, we understand that at times families need to have dental work completed but simply can’t afford it.  Whether you chip a tooth during the holidays or while saving to buy a house, medical emergencies can strike at inopportune times.  We offer financing solutions and payment plans that can help. This way you can get the procedure that you need without having to pay anything out of pocket immediately.  

These are some of the ways that you can continue to get the dental care that you need while saving money and living within your budget. 

Get Tips for Staying Away from Sugar From Our Family Dentist Office Halloween

As the holidays approach, we treat patients of our family dentist office and help them to stay cavity and pain-free.  While conducting teeth cleanings and dental exams, we regularly ask our patients about their diet and what foods they are eating to either strengthen or weaken their teeth.  One of the most common issues we see is that people eat way too much sugar.  Sugar is in virtually all processed foods, so it is hard to get away from.  When you combine that with sugar in your coffee or a daily candy bar, it creates a sugar overload and a risk to the health of your teeth and gums.

When sugar settles onto your teeth, it can create an acid that starts to attack the tooth.  This is why people that leave sugar on their teeth are at a greater risk of getting a cavity.  We recommend that patients brush their teeth throughout the day instead of only in the morning and at night in order to remove bacteria and sugar before it has the opportunity to create a problem.  When doing so make sure to use a soft toothbrush so that your gums won’t become irritated.

In our family dentist office we believe in the importance of preventative care which includes brushing at home, having your teeth regularly cleaned, and eating a healthy diet.  With that in mind, here are our favorite tips for staying away from sugar:

• Drink lots of water.  If you stay hydrated and drink water, you will feel fuller throughout the day.  It is hard to have room for dessert when you are full from drinking a bottle of water.  In fact, before you eat make sure to drink a cup of water and do so again when you are done.  Wait a few minutes before ordering dessert, and you will likely find that you are simply too full. 
• Carry healthy snacks.  It is easy to head to the vending machine when you are hungry.  To prevent this, carry healthy snacks with you.  This can include apples, string cheese, baby carrots, granola, and other foods that are easy to transport.  Load up your bag with snacks in the morning so that you can stay healthy throughout the day. 
• Eat a balanced diet.  It is important to eat a diet that contains complex carbs and lean protein.  This way you will have sustained energy throughout the day and avoid crashing.  When you eat a diet full of simple carbs, like cereal or white bread, you will crash quickly and it is natural to reach for something else that contains sugar in order to get your energy levels back up.  This isn’t good for you so to avoid it, eat a healthy and balanced diet that will help you to stay full and have plenty of energy.

As a family dentist, we understand that the healthier you are at home; there is less of a chance that you will develop gum disease or cavities.  Combine these healthy habits with trips to the dentist so that you can stay in good oral health. 

Tips for Treating Sensitive Teeth from Your General Dentist Office

If you have sensitive teeth, schedule an appointment with our general dentist office.  We can clean your teeth and remove any bacteria that may be irritating your gums and teeth.  Afterwards, we will examine them to determine if any cavities or infection are present.  Often, tooth sensitivity comes from having a cavity that makes it painful to bite down or eat your favorite ice cream dessert. Additionally, gum disease can create sensitive teeth because when your gums are infected they will be swollen and sensitive, overall.  If they are left untreated, the disease will cause your gums to recede, and part of your tooth and roots will be exposed.

If we identify any oral health issues during your dental exam, we will treat them right away.  Gum disease, for example, can be treated with a thorough deep cleaning and if that isn’t enough we can perform a gum graft to cover the exposed portion of the tooth and roots.  Likewise, a cavity can be treated, and if necessary we will perform a root canal to remove the infected area of the tooth and the infected root.  Afterwards, a dental crown will be used to protect the tooth.

When no infection is present, tooth sensitivity is typically caused by the loss of enamel.  This is something that can be treated in our general dentist office and at home.  When your teeth lose enamel, it can be painful because the enamel is what protects the actual tooth structure that is made of dentin.  Dentin is a porous material and the holes inside of it lead directly to the roots of your tooth.  That is why when the enamel wears away doing something as simple as drinking iced tea can lead to shooting pain.

Here are tips for reducing your tooth sensitivity:

• Brush with a soft toothbrush.  Switch out your hard toothbrush for a soft one.  If you can buy an electronic toothbrush – do so.  This is the best way to get a good clean without needing to brush your teeth aggressively. 
• Use desensitizing toothpaste.  It typically takes several applications to notice a difference but this type of toothpaste will block the sensation of pain from traveling through your tooth and to your nerves.  
• Fluoride treatments.  You can get a fluoride treatment at our general dentistry office, and this will help to strengthen your teeth.  Fluoride is a mineral and by placing it directly onto your teeth they will be strengthened.  This does not directly replace your enamel but provides good protection. 
• Bonding.  If teeth are especially sensitive, having a bonding procedure completed may be a good option.  This is where a tooth colored material is applied to the surface of your teeth in order to seal and protect the dentin. 
• Crowns.  Dental crowns are a cap that surrounds the tooth so if your sensitivity is not going away, you may want to consider wearing crowns.  This way nothing directly touches your tooth.  Instead, food, water, and air will touch the crown. 

To learn more about how you can protect your teeth and reduce sensitivity, visit our general dentistry office.

How Coffee and Gum Health Work Together: Previously Unknown Tips from the General Dentist

As a local general dentist office, we focus on finding ways to keep our patients in the best possible oral health.  This involves preventative care and ongoing education.  We are constantly reminding patients to brush and floss along with providing tips for which foods are good for teeth and which ones aren’t.   We also pay attention to new scientific research that can shed light on how to keep teeth and gums in better health.

Recently, the University of Boston released a study that found coffee can actually improve your gum health.  The study itself is interesting because researchers followed a group of one thousand men for thirty years in order to get the data.  This long-term study has given us information on how coffee can impact the health of teeth and gums in the near and distant future. Researchers found that men who drank one or more cup of coffee a day had fewer teeth with bone loss than those who did not.  Bone loss is a common symptom of gum disease, the absence of which indicates that coffee is good for overall gum health.  Men with stronger and more bone dense teeth were less likely to suffer from tooth loss as well, making it possible to preserve more of their natural teeth. 

Gum disease can ravage teeth and even cause them to fall out.  This disease can be prevented by brushing and flossing throughout the day along with regular teeth cleanings at our general dentist office.  Some people are more likely to get the disease, no matter what.  For example, diabetics and pregnant women suffer from restricted blood flow which can naturally cause the gums to swell and lead to gum disease.  Additionally, those who smoke or use chewing tobacco are also at a greater risk for the disease along with other oral health issues.  

The caffeine inside of coffee is likely what creates the immediate benefit to gums and teeth.  Caffeine is an anti-inflammatory and can prevent or reduce swelling in the gums.  This is excellent news for those that like to drink coffee along with those that need a natural way to reduce swelling.  Medication can be great, but it typically comes with other side effects and is expensive. Drinking coffee every day is an affordable way to prevent swollen gums and according to the research, has no negative side effects to oral health.

As a general dentist, we recommend drinking coffee as part of an overall oral hygiene routine.  It cannot replace anything but can augment it.  Brushing and flossing throughout the day is still important, and drinking water is more important than ever.  The body needs to stay hydrated in order to function and to produce saliva, a natural defense for the mouth.  Coffee can dehydrate you so if you add it to your routine, add an additional cup of water, as well.  Finally, don’t forget to have your teeth cleaned twice a year in order to prevent and detect early signs of gum disease. 

Your Family Dentist Can Protect Your Teeth From Getting Injured While Playing Sports

As a local family dentist, we can protect your teeth from being damaged while playing sports.  It is extremely common for people to get a tooth injury while practicing or playing the game.  It doesn’t matter what sport you play or how often you play it, people are at risk of injuring their tooth and often do.  In fact, around 40 percent of adult tooth injuries are due to playing sports and the American Dental Association claims that 13 to 39 percent of tooth loss is due to sports injuries.  When you consider the fact that most adults don’t play organized sports, these numbers become even more significant.  

You can take an active role in protecting your teeth from becoming injured.  It starts with a healthy diet that will make your teeth stronger.  Eating nuts, dairy products, lean protein, and veggies will help to strengthen your teeth.  You can also brush with fluoride toothpaste so that minerals are deposited directly onto your teeth.  This is important because as people age they tend to lose the minerals that make their teeth strong.  These are ways to re-mineralize your teeth and keep them healthy. By doing so, you decrease the risk that they will become injured during the game. 

As a family dentist, we understand that it doesn’t matter if you are in a soccer league or playing a pickup game of basketball.  In any sport where you can come in contact with another person or ball, your teeth are at risk.  The goal is to minimize this risk as much as possible.  In addition to keeping your teeth in good oral health at home, you should also visit our dental office for a teeth cleaning twice a year.  This way we can remove any lingering bacteria and plaque in order to keep cavities and gum disease away.  When teeth are free from infection, they can withstand the potential damage caused by accidents. 

We also recommend that you, and all the athletes in your family, wear a mouth guard.  The American Dental Association estimates that every year more than 200,000 injuries are prevented by college and high school football players wearing a mouth guard.  This is only one sport and one demographic.  It doesn’t take into account the people playing sports like hockey, rugby, basketball, soccer, and baseball.  All of these sports are high energy, and your mouth can come in contact with a flying ball or flying elbow.  Sports like basketball do not require the player to wear a mouth guard, but it is still very dangerous.  The University of California found that 11 percent of their basketball players experienced a tooth injury.  When you combine this with the knowledge that 40 percent of adult tooth injuries is due to playing sports, it makes a compelling case for wearing a mouth guard. 

If you are playing sports and your tooth does become injured, we can help. As a family dentist office, we can repair and restore your tooth to its natural state in no time.