General Dentistry
General Dentistry covers your basic diagnostic, preventative and routine dental care. During your first visit, we will provide a comprehensive new patient exam, as well as gather essential information about your personal oral routine. This will help us develop a personalized oral treatment plan to ensure your gums and teeth stay healthy. Should any tooth decay or other oral issues arise, they can be easily detected during your regularly scheduled exams. General dental care keeps your mouth healthy and happy, so you can keep smiling!
Exams & Cleanings
Our office places an emphasis on maintaining excellent oral health and hygiene in our patients by offering comprehensive dental exams and cleanings. On your first visit, we will begin with a thorough and gentle oral exam. Next, we will take a full series of x-rays, complete an oral cancer screening, and take molds of your teeth. Once we complete the exam, we’ll discuss your appearance goals and evaluate your overall oral health. This allows us to create a customized dental treatment plan that addresses any pre-existing conditions and prevents small issues from becoming larger problems in the future.
Professional dental cleanings reinforce your personal oral health routines and are recommended at least twice a year. Basic cleanings remove plaque and tartar buildup, as well as help maintain good oral hygiene. A deep cleaning may be necessary if there are signs of gum disease, such as red or bleeding gums. Persistent bad breath, gums that are pulled away from the tooth, loose teeth, and changes in the position or bite of the teeth can also indicate the presence of gum disease. Your hygienist and dentist will determine which type of cleaning is required to give you a healthy and happy smile.
Fillings & Sealants
Filling and sealants are common procedures performed as part of restorative and preventative dental care. Determining which is best for your oral health will depend on the condition of your teeth, as well as other factors.
Fillings
When a cavity occurs, the decay must be removed. A filling replaces the section of a tooth that has been damaged due to decay. There are two types of fillings that can be used to repair and fill a cavity: (1) amalgam (silver fillings) and (2) “white” or tooth-colored composite fillings. We prefer “white” or tooth-colored composite fillings because they “bond” to the tooth structure and help strengthen the decay-weakened tooth. In addition, composite fillings are typically less sensitive to temperature.
Composite fillings, however, cannot be used in every tooth decay situation. Depending on the extent of decay, a root canal treatment, crown or extraction may be necessary.
Sealants
As part of our preventive dental care, we often recommend sealants for our younger patients. Sealants provide an extra layer of protection for premolars or other teeth with deep crevices present.
Sealants are a thin, protective coating used to fill in narrow grooves in the teeth. If a tooth structure has fine grooves or pits, plaque can accumulate. Not because the person doesn’t brush, but because they’re too narrow to allow even one bristle into them. This accumulation of plaque will eventually lead to the development of cavities. After we apply the sealant, you will be able to brush off all the plaque and keep your teeth healthy.
Tooth Extractions
There are some circumstances, unfortunately, where we are unable to restore a tooth and it must be removed. When this happens, you will either have a simple extraction or a surgical extraction. Simple extractions are performed on a tooth that is above the gumline. The dentist will use a lifter and forceps to remove the tooth. It’s a quick procedure with a short recovery period. For more complicated issues, such as a tooth that has broken below the gumline, a surgical extraction may be necessary. During this procedure, the oral surgeon will make an incision into the gum to access the tooth. Surgical extractions are commonly used for impacted wisdom teeth that are partially or totally covered by the gum tissue.
Impacted Wisdom Teeth
When a wisdom tooth pushes through the gums and becomes exposed, it is known as an eruption. An impacted wisdom tooth, however, is one that fails to erupt and remains under the gum. There are four different types of impacted wisdom teeth. Depending on which type you have, it may or may not require oral surgery or extraction.