We’re proud of the range of our services in standard, cosmetic and implant dentistry and are adding new procedures all the time. We maintain are practice’s integrity by using only products that are certified by the American Dental Association.

Specialized Product/Procedures

Zoom!^® 1 hour bleaching
1 hour in office bleaching, results up to 14 shades lighter, minimal sensitivity

Opalescence^® at home bleaching
At home bleaching.  Decreased sensitivity with added fluoride and potassium

ViziLite^® oral cancer screening
99.1% predictive early oral cancer screening, 30 second oral rinse, non-invasive

Lumineers^® veneers
Veneers, no shots, minimal tooth reduction, limits sensitivity and is reversible

Procera^® and Cercon^® Zirconia metal-free crowns and bridges
All ceramic (tooth colored) natural looking crowns and bridges with the strength of porcelain to metal restorations

Dental Procedures

Dental Emergencies

Most people at some time during childhood have accidents which injure their teeth. These accidents can range from a slightly cut lip and barely chipped tooth to total loss of teeth and breaking of facial bones. When a person is hit in the face, the upper front teeth and/or the nose are usually the first struetimes to be injured.

If you or your child receive an injury to the face, go to your dentist as soon as possible.  Before going, however, check around the area of  the accident for any teeth that may have been totally knocked from their sockets. If any are found, place them in a container of milk or in the patients cheek and get to a dentist as soon as possible.

The method of repairing fractured teeth depends on the severity of the fracture. If the fracture involves the outer layer (enamel) only, the tooth is usually treated by smoothing the rough enamel edges. If the second layer (dentin) is involved, the dentin slaould be covered by a protective filling or cap. If the nerve (pulp) is exposed, root canal therapy is usually required to prevent abscess formation.

The root of the tooth can also fracture as a result of injury. Most root fractures are difficult to treat. Extraction is usually necesary, depending on what section of the root is is involved. The closer the horizontal fracture line is to the end of the root, the better the chance of survival of the tooth. Vertical fractures of teeth nearly always result in extraction. Horizontal root fractures that are close to the apex (end of the root) require root canal therapy.

The most important thing to remember after a facial or dental accident is to get to your dentist. If teeth have beenknocked out, find them, wrap them in a moist towel, and get to your dentist in "record time."

Instructions for Home Care

Activities of Daily Living: Thereshould be no restrictions in your daily activities.

Diet: Follow a soft or liquid diet for 24 hours or more. Gradually work back to your normal diet.

General Measures

1. Apply ice packs to your face close to the injured area for 10 to 20 minutes each hour for 24 hours.
2. Do not rinse your month for 24 hours.
3. Do not place any biting pressure on the injured area for several days.

Medication: If medicines are prescribed, take them according to the instruc­tions on the prescription.

Notify your dentist if any of the following occurs:

1. Swelling occurs around any of the treated teeth.
2. Sharp pain (requiring strong medication) is felt on the third or fourth day after the accident.

Extractions

Dentists pull teeth for one of two reasons: (a) loss of supporting tissue (bone and gums); or (b) infection involving the nerve (pulpal tissue) of the tooth. This type of infection develops when germs find an entry into the nerve canal of the tooth diseased with decay or fractured. Certain fractured teeth cannot be restored and have to be extracted. If the fracture involves the nerve canal, infection usually results.

Instructions for Home Care

Activities for daily living: There are no restrictions on your usual daily activities.

General measures:

1. Keep you mouth closed firmly in order to produce pressure on the gauze sponge that has been placed in the socket to prevent bleeding. ( The “socket” is the space left after the tooth is extracted.)
2. Leave the gauze sponges in place for three to four hours.  They may need changing approximately every thirty minutes if the sponge becomes soaked with blood.
3. To help prevent excessive bleeding, don’t spit.
4. Apply an ice pack for ten minutes at a time to the skin on the side of the face on which the tooth was extracted.
5. DO NOT suck on cigarettes, cigars, pipes, or straws for the next 24 hours.
6. After 24 hours, use warm salt water mouth rinses to soothe discomfort and to prevent accumulation of food particles. Rinse gently. Make the solution with one teaspoon of plain table salt in a glass of lukewarm water.

Diet: Follow a soft or liquid diet for 24 hours or more.  Do not drink any alcoholic beverages.

Medications: You make take aspirin, buffered aspirin, Tylenol, or other simple pain remedies.

Notify your dentist if any of the following occurs:

1. Heavy bleeding develops. This may be suspected if the gauze sponges are still being saturated with blood after two hours.
2. Any bleeding from the socket occurs after 18 hours.
3. Severe nagging or “gnawing” pain is present at the extraction site after 24 hours.
4. Elevation of temperature over 101 degrees F orally develops.

Root Canal Therapy

Teeth, just as any other part of your body, can become infected.  The infection usually is caused by (1) a deep cavity entering the nerve of the tooth, or (2) traumatic injury to the tooth.  The infection forms an abscess that will require examination and testing for accurate diagnosis.  An abscessed tooth is nearly always evident with an x-ray.  A tooth with an abscess need not necessarily be extracted, because a dental procedure commonly called root canal therapy will control the infection and allow healing.  This treatment will save your tooth and avoid the harmful effects of tooth loss.

Root canal therapy is usually done in two or three appointments.  The first step is to remove the nerve (pulpal tissue) from the small hollow tube (root canal) located down the center of the tooth.  Then a strong medicine is usually sealed in the canal until the next appointment.  At the next appointment your dentist will file and prepare the canal. Next the canal will be permanently filled and sealed.  The abscessed area at the end of the root canal (under the gum) will start to heal slowly and may require several months for complete healing.  Your dentist will want to check the healing process by comparing x-rays taken at a later date with the original x-rays.

Instructions for Home Care

Activities of daily living:  There are no restrictions

General Measures:

1. Between treatment appointments, avoid heavy biting.
2. Brush and clean your mouth daily

Diet: Eat a regular diet if you are able to do so without pain

Medications:  If an antibiotic is prescribed during treatment, you should take the medication exactly as directed on the prescription.

Notify your dentist if the following occurs:

1. Swelling in the gum around the tooth being treated develops
2. Temperature above 101 F develops
3. The tooth feels as if it is “coming out of the socket.”
4. The tooth becomes loose

Pain develops which cannot be controlled by simple remedies such as aspirin, Tylenol, or ibuprofen.

Crowns

Badly decayed or broken teeth often must be repaired by using a cap or a crown.  Your dentist will recommend this procedure when filling the tooth to its proper shape becomes impossible.  Composite filling material has its limitations.  After a cavity has been prepared, you must have enough good sound tooth left to hold the composite material without the risk of fracturing.  A cap or crown is a replacement of the part of the tooth which is above the gum line.  Crowns fit over the tooth.  Crowns protect the teeth and restore their biting function.

Instructions For Home Care

Activities of Daily Living: There are no restrictions on your usual activities.  However, sticky sweets such as sugar daddy’s and taffy may be strong enough to pull the crown off so avoidance of these is important.

General Measures:

1. Do not bite on your new crown for an hour after it has been replaced, so that the cement can harden to its full strength.
2. Brush and floss the crown as you do your natural teeth.

Medications: None should be needed.

Notify your dentist if the following occurs:

1. The crown becomes loose or moves when you bite.
2. The tooth is sensitive to pressure three days after it is cemented
3. Gums become swollen around the new cap.

Note:  Sensitivity to foods and liquids is a normal reaction to a new cap and may last for several weeks

Tooth Colored Fillings

Decay can attack any surface of the teeth.  The most common surfaces are the tops and the sides.  If the decay is detected in time, it can easily be removed and the absent tooth structure is replaced with a white composite filling.  Composite fillings have made many advancements over the years and we strive to use the most up to date yet clinically proven material available.  The material is actually bonded to the tooth structure and light cured to transform it to a hard, tooth like consistency.

 Instructions for Home Care:

 Activities for daily living: There are no restrictions on your usual daily activities.

 General Measures:

1. You are able to eat and drink normally as soon as the appointment is over since the material is light cured at the office and is as hard as it will ever get.
2. Brush and floss the tooth with the filling the same as your other tooth.
3. Sensitivity to cold and biting pressure are not uncommon, especially in the first few weeks.
4. Seek regular check ups to so the doctor can check the status of each filling.

Notify your dentist if the following occurs:

1. You have spontaneous pain that lingers for over 30 minutes.
2. It feels as if the filling is too high, or you are hitting the filling first when you bite down