As you grow older, your risks for certain oral and overall health concerns can become increasingly higher. Gum disease (or periodontal disease) is one of those concerns, and if it’s allowed to develop, the resulting inflammation can have a significant impact on your oral health. Fortunately, preventing and treating gum disease is often more convenient and sustainable than many patients expect. If you haven’t yet developed it, excellent hygiene and dental care can help you avoid it. If you have, then the same methods – coupled with ongoing periodontal maintenance – can help you control it and prevent many of its more serious consequences. (more…)
Is It Past Time for Your Dental Cleaning?
Most people know that the recommended schedule for dental checkup and cleaning appointments is generally once every 3-4 months. In the absence of any pressing dental concern, like periodontal disease, this schedule (along with consistently good hygiene at home) helps ensure that your teeth and gums aren’t overwhelmed by harmful plaque and tartar. However, knowing the schedule isn’t always enough to encourage people to stick to it. In fact, skipping professional preventive dental care appointments is one of the biggest reasons why conditions like tooth decay and gum disease still develop. That’s why it’s important to attend every checkup and cleaning appointment that your dentist recommends. (more…)
3 Techniques to Deal with Common Toothache Causes
When you have a toothache and you aren’t sure what it means, the discomfort might not seem like an emergency if it isn’t too severe. The truth is, most toothaches have causes that shouldn’t be ignored. Otherwise, they’ll only grow worse over time, both in terms of discomfort and the affect on your overall oral health. Today, we examine three common techniques that might help you deal with your toothache and stop it from recurring, hopefully before it requires more extensive treatment. (more…)
Could Laser Technology Make Your Treatment Easier?
Many people are surprised just how far the technology at their dentist’s office has advanced. For example, in a few of today’s modern dental offices, lasers have become common in many different forms of treatment. The technology can be utilized for some procedures that require trimming soft oral tissues as an alternative to the scalpel that’s traditionally used. For procedures that qualify for it, the specially calibrated diode laser offers a number of different benefits in the form of improved precision, greater comfort, and more esthetic overall results. (more…)
Will Cavities Ever Be a Non-Issue?
As dental health technology and techniques become increasingly more advanced, it can often seem like what used to be common issues are no longer a big deal. For example, cavities (the product of tooth decay) used to be a significant issue, as they would continue to erode a tooth until the condition became severe. Today, however, tooth decay is largely preventable, and when it does develop, it can be just as easily treated to save the tooth and restore its function. Cavities may never become a complete non-issue, but we can help you prevent it from being a serious issue, or prevent it from forming at all, with the right care and treatment. (more…)
Would You Know if You Stopped Breathing in Your Sleep?
Obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, is a sleep disorder that millions of people have, but many of them don’t know it. The condition occurs when mouth and throat tissues collapse into the airway, making it impossible to breathe for several moments while you sleep. Your body will clear its airway automatically, often without even rousing you from consciousness, but the interruption can have more serious consequences than it may seem at first. Today, we examine the importance of knowing if you have sleep apnea, and why we might suggest undergoing a sleep study with help of a trusted pulmonologist. (more…)
Lost a Tooth? Learn Why, and How to Deal With It
Under ideal circumstances, consistently good hygiene and a strict schedule of preventive dental care could help you preserve all of your healthy, natural teeth for life. However, circumstances are never ideal, and tooth loss remains a big problem for many patients. Fortunately, there are ideal solutions for dealing with lost teeth and preserving the rest of your healthy, natural smile afterward. For example, by replacing the lost tooth and taking steps to reduce your risks of losing more, we can help you fully restore your smile’s appearance, your bite’s function, and much more. (more…)
Digital Enhancements that Improve the Quality of Your Care
There are many things that contribute to the overall quality of your dental care. For instance, the level of comfort your feel when you visit your dentist, and the skill with which your dentist can address all of your concerns are paramount. However, these days, technology plays an increasingly more important role in high-quality dental care, and more advanced tech can mean a much higher level of comfort and precision in your care. Today, we examine a few a of the more important ways in which digital technology enhances the quality of care we can provide to all of our patients. (more…)
What Your Dentist Wants You to Know About Oral Cancer
If you have a question about your oral health, then naturally, your dentist wants you to ask it. However, many people don’t know enough about oral cancer or the risks that it poses to their wellbeing to ask their dentists if they’re at risk. Fortunately, you should automatically receive routine oral cancer screenings during your regular dental checkup and cleaning appointments. At our office, the screening includes a comprehensive visual inspection, and in some cases, the use of advanced VELscope technology for earlier, more precise diagnosis. (more…)
What Can Cosmetic Bonding Really Do for Your Tooth?
Sometimes, improving your smile doesn’t seem as straight-forward as you’d wish. For example, teeth-whitening might not erase certain kinds of teeth stains; or, a tooth might need improvement, but not enough to permanently alter its structure. In many cases, cosmetic tooth bonding can provide an effective solution to improve seemingly complex smile issues in a simple, minimally invasive manner. For many patients, bonding a tooth can significantly improve your smile’s appearance, and without the need for complex or multiple cosmetic dental treatments. (more…)
