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Our goal is to develop a strong partnership with every patient. When you understand the importance of your dental health, we can help you maintain a healthy mouth, as well as treat the causes and symptoms of any dental condition.
We invite you to read our latest SmileLink newsletter and to check out our website often for new information, or contact our office with any questions or concerns. Working together, we can help you achieve a lifetime of healthy and attractive teeth and gums.
Featured Article |
SmileLink Articles |
Don’t you wish you could just have a cavity zapped away by a laser beam like in a science fiction movie? Actually, you can. Hard tissue lasers can take the place of drills and anesthesia to prepare your tooth for filling.
A hard tissue laser uses an intensely focused light beam to remove unwanted tissue. The laser beam heats up the water inside a cell and turns the water to steam that bursts the cell. The beam is so narrow that we can remove cells one at a time and thus remove the minimum amount of tissue.
Unlike traditional drilling, a hard tissue laser won’t damage bridges and porcelain crowns.
A hard tissue laser can also be used for tooth reshaping and several types of surgical procedures. Benefits of a hard tissue laser include—
Minimally invasive – removes as little tooth structure as possible, causes less trauma to tissues and produces minimal swelling and discomfort.
Sterile – reduces the risk of infection and doesn’t require you to take an antibiotic.
Quiet – unlike a whirring drill, the laser is silent.
Quick – takes less time than a traditional ‘drill and fill’.
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When you think of dentures, do you think of those wind-up chattering teeth? Modern dentures are actually stable and attractive and come in multiple varieties to suit your needs. If you have tooth loss requiring attention, a full denture may be a good option.
The benefits of a full denture:
supports your lips and cheeks to restore your natural facial appearance
improves your chewing ability
aligns your jaws so they can work correctly
helps you speak clearly
looks fantastic
There are four types of full dentures:
Standard or conventional—The upper denture is a removable appliance that covers the roof of the mouth and provides good suction to hold it in place and make it stable. Gravity and the jaw ridge keep the lower denture in place.
Immediate—This denture is placed immediately after your teeth are extracted and the gums stitched. Sometimes, it becomes the permanent denture, or after a few months, it is replaced by a conventional denture.
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Is your medicine cabinet starting to look like something out of an episode of Hoarders? Perhaps that’s because you are up to your ears in partially used, mostly empty or completely unused prescription medicine bottles. Since prescription medicines can be controlled substances, allergens and potentially harmful to others, how do you dispose of unwanted medication safely?
When disposing of medication, you must:
Never give or sell them to someone else—Your medication was prescribed specifically for you based on your height, weight and specific condition, other medications you take, allergies, etc. Also the chemical composition of an expired medication changes over time which can have an unhealthy result.
Never flush them down the toilet or dump them down the drain—Studies indicate that pharmaceuticals are showing up in our lakes, rivers and water supply. No one knows how these chemicals affect human water consumption, marine life or the environment.
Never throw them in your garbage—Even a seemingly harmless supplement or antibiotic can be deadly in the wrong hands. Your municipal garbage dump, not to mention your local dumpster, can be invaded by animals and other living things.
So, what should you do with all of those colored capsules and plastic bottles?
Ask your pharmacist, local health department, physician or local hospital—Any of these might have drug take-back programs, proper biohazard disposal and bottle recycling programs.
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Three words that describe ice cream – sweet, cold, painful. Painful? If your teeth are sensitive, some of life’s sweet, cold and/or hot treats can feel more like torment. While there are many causes of tooth sensitivity, some effective treatment options available.
So what causes sensitivity? Exposure of the underlying dentin tubules (tiny tubes). These tubules are filled with fluid and connect to the pulp chamber where there are sensitive nerve endings. Once that hot chocolate reaches the exposed dentin, irritated nerve endings send pain signals to the brain.
Another cause of sensitivity can be exposed root due to eroded gum tissue. As little as half a millimeter of exposed root can cause painful sensitivity.
Before you plan a life without sno-cones and lattes, there are treatment options for tooth sensitivity. If your sensitivity is mild, over-the-counter toothpastes that contain ingredients that desensitize teeth can provide temporary pain relief. However, if your sensitivity is more severe, a prescription desensitizing gel may be necessary.
Desensitizing gels, such as Reme)sense, are easy at-home treatment options. Similar to an at-home whitening kit, these treatments consist of foam strips covered with a desensitizing gel, placed into a mouth tray, then, placed in the mouth for up to ten minutes. The desensitizing agent in the gel penetrates into the dentin tubules and blocks them from outside exposure. The deep plug of desensitizing agent can last up to a month per treatment.
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“If I knew then what I know now...” It’s a familiar thought to some people as they begin to see the result of a youthful attitude toward important things like school, money and health. One of the more common regrets that patients have is not taking better care of their teeth. Skipping out on good brushing and flossing in your youth can lead to dental diseases in adulthood like periodontal (perio) disease.
Perio is a chronic oral biofilm infection that initiates the infection fighting defenses of the body. One of the goals of that defense is to destroy a tooth’s supporting structures and results in tooth loss and other consequences of the cardiovascular system. Since it’s painless in the early stages, you might not even know that it’s forming until it’s too late.
Perio sufferers can experience pain, embarrassment and low self-esteem. Being careless about your dental health in your youth can lead to a lifetime of constantly worrying about teeth. Often perio sufferers have to avoid certain foods, worry about their breath and avoid smiling and showing their teeth.
If you are concerned that you aren’t doing the best job you can caring for your dental health, we can show you how to easily and effectively brush and floss to keep your teeth and gums healthy. We can also recommend oral care products that are best for you. Maintaining regular dental check-ups are also important so that we can quickly ident...