Treatment for all your dental needs
Our Services
Cleanings and Exams
During a routine dental cleaning the hygienists use special tools to remove sticky plaque and hard tartar deposits from the surfaces of your teeth above the gums. These cleanings are important to help prevent gum disease. The hygienist will also go over brushing and flossing techniques to make sure you are doing things properly with your at home cleaning routine.
Routine cleanings are usually combined with a regular checkup to allow the dentist to examine your teeth and surrounding tissues and to perform an oral cancer screening. Often x-rays are required to do a thorough examination.
Deep dental cleanings, sometimes called scaling and root planing, are required for patients who have developed tartar and plaque buildup under the gums around the roots of the teeth. The hygienist uses specific instruments to get the roots clean and smooth. This usually is accompanied with numbing the area to make it comfortable. After a deep cleaning is performed, maintenance recall appointments are important to help keep the gums healthy. Left untreated, the inflammation associated with gum disease can be the eventual cause of tooth loss.
Root Canal Therapy
Root canal therapy is sometimes needed when decay has become extensive or a large portion of the tooth has broken. It involves removing the infected pulp tissue within the root chamber of the tooth. The hollowed out tooth is filled with an antibacterial filling and the tooth is then covered with a crown for protection.
Extractions
Sometimes a tooth is too damaged by decay or trauma that the tooth needs to be removed. There are many options to replace an extracted tooth from dental implants (considered the best option) to removable partial dentures.
Invisalign
Invisalign is an orthodontic treatment that straightens teeth without the use of traditional braces. Invisalign is a custom made set of clear aligners that cover your teeth and gently pull them into the proper position over time.
Fillings and Crowns
Fillings are restorations used to repair decayed or broken teeth. The decayed portion of the tooth is removed and replaced with a tooth colored resin.
For teeth with extensive decay or trauma, a full coverage crown may be required. When doing a crown, the entire tooth is shaped and then covered with a durable restoration that is cemented in place. This helps protect the tooth from further damage.
Restoration of missing teeth with bridges, partial or complete dentures, and dental implants
Missing teeth can cause numerous problems in addition to cosmetic issues. Some are the inability to chew food properly, drifting teeth that create spacing, and TMJ pain. When teeth are missing, more chewing stress is put on the remaining teeth. This can lead to fractures and more dental work.
Ways we can replace missing teeth include:
Removable partial and complete dentures — Several or all missing teeth in one arch can be replaced. A partial denture is like a piece of a puzzle that fits in the spaces between your teeth with clasps that rest on your teeth to help hold it in place. It can easily replace several teeth but does come in and out. A complete denture replaces all missing teeth in one arch. It also comes in and out and depends on suction or implants to help hold it in place.
Bridges — Teeth on either side of a missing tooth are prepped for crowns and a bridge is fabricated that is attached to the teeth connecting them all together. The bridge is cemented in place and does not come in and out. One important aspect of having a bridge is the need for the patient to keep it clean underneath . Special brushes and floss can help with this.
Implants — Missing teeth are replaced by placing a titanium "screw” into the space. A crown is then fabricated to fit on top of the implant. This procedure is considered the best tooth replacement option for the following reasons:
Implants do not come in and out. Crowns attached to implants stay in place and are not meant to come in and out like dentures and partials.
You don’t have to prepare or cut down the teeth on either side of the space like with a traditional bridge. You only work where the teeth are missing.
Once the implant and crown is in place the patient can clean and floss around it just like a natural tooth. No special cleaning aids are needed like when cleaning under a bridge.
Titanium will never decay. Although cleaning is important to keep the gum tissue and bone healthy, implants will never get cavities.
Implants are also used to help secure ill fitting dentures and partials. Attachments are placed on the implants that let the patient “snap” or “screw” the denture or partial in place. This helps keep the denture or partial secure and prevents it from moving around or, even worse, coming out of the patients mouth when talking or eating.