When you first develop a cavity and find out that you need a tooth filling, your first thought may not be about how the filling will look. However, for patients who receive traditional metal fillings to treat their cavities, the appearance of the filling can be hard to miss once it’s placed. Fortunately, many patients can benefit from more modern fillings that not only treat their cavities, but do so in a way that remains discreet long after the tooth has been restored. (more…)
When Your Tooth Should Be Extracted
A lot can go through your mind when you find out that your tooth needs to be extracted. One of those thoughts may be confusion, considering the goal of your dental treatment is usually to help you preserve your healthy, natural teeth. However, tooth extraction isn’t something your dentist takes lightly, and in most cases, it’s only recommended because the healthy, natural tooth structure can’t be saved. Today, we examine what it means when your tooth should be extracted, and what role the extraction should play in your overall smile restoration. (more…)
Why Your Tooth Needs Root Canal Treatment
When many people think of treating tooth decay, they think of filling a cavity with a tooth-colored filling. Therefore, they may be surprised to learn that their condition is more severe than they expected, and that restoring their tooth may require root canal treatment, instead. When tooth decay is allowed to get severe enough, it affects more than just the main structure of your tooth, which a tooth filling is meant to restore. Today, we examine what it means when your tooth needs root canal treatment, and why treating a cavity as early as possible is the key to avoiding it. (more…)
Should You Tell Your Dentist About Your Teeth-Grinding?
You may not always be comfortable telling your dentist every detail about your dental health. For instance, you might embellish how much attention you put into brushing and flossing, despite knowing that you could do better. For some people, these details might also include seemingly harmless things like a tendency to grind your teeth often. If your teeth don’t hurt and aren’t damaged, you might not think the habit is worth mentioning. However, constant teeth-grinding is often a sign of bruxism, and without your dentist’s help, the problem can continue to grow worse until your teeth become significantly compromised. (more…)
How to Know When Gingivitis Shows Up
To many people, gingivitis and gum disease mean two different things. Unfortunately, this leads many of them to believe that gingivitis isn’t really a serious problem and, unlike gum disease, isn’t something that they need to worry about. The truth is that gingivitis aren’t different conditions, they’re merely different stages of the same problem. When gingivitis develops, it means that more extensive gum disease is right behind it, and the only way to protect your smile from it is to address your gingivitis as soon as possible after it shows up. (more…)
Dental Hygiene: Making Sure Not to Miss Anything
The most important tip to keeping your smile healthy is to practice good dental hygiene on a consistent basis. However, consistency is the key to your routine’s effectiveness, and a lack of it can often mean you’re more likely to miss spots of plaque, or overlook important warning signs that your smile needs professional attention. Today, we take a look at how to ensure you don’t miss anything in your hygiene routine that could come back as bigger problems later, and how paying more attention can help you avoid them. (more…)
What Kind of Treatment Does Your Dental Emergency Need?
A dental emergency isn’t the kind of thing that you can always prepare for or prevent. Unfortunately, when an emergency occurs, the consequences can sometimes be severe, and the need for treatment to save your smile is immediate. Because a dental emergency can mean different things for different people, treatment for your condition may not be the same as treatment for some else’s emergency. Today, we take a look at a few of the more common goals for emergency dental treatment, and how we can help you accomplish them with optimal results. (more…)
3 Advantages to Supporting Restorations on Implants
Dental implants are popular as a way to replace lost teeth, but they aren’t the only prosthetic solution available. Many people have enjoyed the benefits of conventional bridge or dentures for years, seemingly without needing root-like posts to support them. However, the reason dental implants have become so popular is largely because of the importance of replacing your lost teeth roots. Along with the immediate advantages that dental implants can provide your restoration, that importance includes reestablishing several vital functions that were lost along with your natural teeth roots. (more…)
Why Is Tooth Extraction Still Necessary?
When your tooth is compromised and needs treatment, the right treatment can be customized to meet your specific oral health needs and preferences. That customization also helps you restore and preserve a tooth that’s been severely compromised by things like damage or progressive tooth decay. Because of this, many people are able to preserve teeth that might otherwise be lost, which is typically preferable for the good of their long-term oral health. However, there can still be some dental concerns that leave your tooth too severely compromised to be successfully restored. If this is the case with your tooth, then extracting it might be a necessary step in restoring your smile. (more…)
Is There a Best Way to Treat a Cracked Tooth?
When your healthy, natural tooth’s structure cracks or becomes damaged, the only way to prevent the damage from getting worse is to actively treat it. Even if the crack in your tooth’s surface seems minor, treating it as soon as possible could be necessary for preventing more serious complications with the tooth structure and your oral health. Fortunately, the right restorative treatment can help most people save their cracked or damaged teeth with optimal results, and in a way that helps them preserve a maximum amount of their healthy, natural tooth structure. (more…)
