Restorative Dentistry

Your doctor will evaluate your oral health condition using visual, mechanical and radiographic techniques to analyze your teeth’s surfaces. If you have decayed, chipped, cracked, discolored or even missing teeth, we offer many restorative treatment options depending on your needs.

Tooth Colored Restorations

Non-metal composite ‘fillings’ are a natural-looking alternative to metal fillings, which can fill an otherwise bright smile with dark shadows. The type of filling material used dictates the preparation of the tooth. For a metal, amalgam filling part of healthy tooth is removed to allow for proper placement and physical bond. A composite filling is less invasive as it is chemically bonded to the tooth, alleviating the need to remove large portions of healthy tooth.

Crowns and Bridges

Modern crown and bridge restorations can replace a single tooth or span a space where one or more teeth have been lost in the dental arch. We replace the missing teeth with custom-designed replacement teeth or a bridge, which are anchored by crowns to neighboring teeth.  We place a crown on a tooth where there is no longer sufficient tooth structure to place a filling. Both the look and the function of your crown or bridge are considered when choosing the materials most suitable for you. We use ceramic, full gold and porcelain-fused-to-metal restorations. We can discuss the differences and determine what will work best for you.

Cosmetic Dentistry

It’s amazing how much confidence and self-satisfaction a beautiful smile can provide. If you find yourself hiding your smile, we can offer you a variety of modern procedures such as whitening, straightening, veneers, implants, crowns and bridges to make your smile bright and beautiful. Our doctors and hygienists will apply a gentle touch, and you’ll find life more enjoyable with a fantastic smile on your face.

Smile Preview

Smile preview is a direct mockup is our way of showing patients what a cosmetic procedure might look like in their own mouth by temporarily placing tooth colored material onto their own teeth. Thus, spaces can be closed instantly and teeth can be “moved”. This temporary result displays how you will look after the treatment. The actual treatment will be more dramatic as no tooth structure is removed or reshaped in a mock up.

Porcelain Inlays and Onlays

Before porcelain bonded inlays and onlays were available, we had two choices: directly placed fillings or crowns. Now we have inlays and onlays that can save more of the natural tooth because they offer a more conservative approach. Inlays and onlays are custom formed around the damaged areas of the tooth and strongly bonded in a seamless fashion. They require less removal of your tooth structure than crowns, keeping your teeth stronger.

Cosmetic Bonding and Contouring

In cosmetic bonding, we apply tooth-colored material to the surface of the tooth, layer by layer with care and precision. Bonding covers discolorations, fills in gaps, and can repair chips, breaks and cracks. A composite restoration may be used in situations when only a small amount of tooth structure needs replacement.

Bonding is one of the most conservative, versatile and affordable ways to aesthetically restore cosmetic problems. It can be used to replace unattractive metal fillings, repair fractured teeth, or whiten stained teeth. Cosmetic contouring reshapes and repairs fractured or worn teeth due to accidents or irregular wear. Contouring can also be used for isolated stains and to fix irregular teeth.

Porcelain Veneers

A porcelain veneer is a custom-made tooth-colored covering that bonds to your teeth to close gaps, or cover teeth that are stained, unsightly, crooked, or poorly shaped. They are utilized to restore broken or chipped teeth or to permanently whiten/change the color your teeth.

These are not old style “caps.” Veneers are artistic, lab crafted, long lasting ceramic creations that are attached directly to the existing surface of the tooth with an ultra-modern bonding process. We can offer you a confident smile in as few as two visits. If you want a spectacular and durable transformation, veneers could be your best choice.

Implants

Implants are an effective and beneficial long-term solution for missing teeth and typical dentures. Unlike typical dentures, dental implants require no dietary restrictions and in most cases complete functionality is restored. Implants allow your jawbone to stay strong and bring your natural smile back. They are especially helpful to those severely handicapped by missing teeth.

Whitening

Dentist–approved whitening methods use custom–fitted trays developed from models of your teeth. You can wear the trays at night or during the day; many people forget they even have them in. Our at-home methods can whiten your teeth significantly for a beaming, confident smile. We help you choose the whitening method that best fits your lifestyle, desired outcome and initial tooth color.

Dentures

Dentures are removable appliances that can replace missing teeth and help restore your smile. If you’ve lost all of your natural teeth, whether from gum disease, tooth decay or injury, replacing missing teeth will benefit your appearance and your health. That’s because dentures make it easier to eat and speak better than you could without teeth—things that people often take for granted.

Full dentures are replacement teeth that are fitted into an acrylic base that is crafted to look like your gums. An upper denture features a plate, which covers the roof of your mouth, while the lower denture is horseshoe-shaped and rests securely on the gum and bone tissues.

Removable Partial

Removable partial dentures usually consist of replacement teeth attached to pink or gum-colored plastic bases. Depending on your needs, your dentist will design a partial denture for you. A partial denture may have a metal framework and clasps that connect to your teeth, or they can have other connectors that are more natural looking. In some cases, a removable partial denture is made to attach to your natural teeth with devices called precision attachments. Precision attachments are generally more esthetic than clasps. 

Gum Tissue Aesthetic Therapy

Gum tissue can cover more of your smile than necessary, and this can make your teeth look short. Gum tissue aesthetic therapy can correct this. Contouring a gummy smile to reveal your teeth can improve both your appearance and confidence.

Contouring can also fill gaps in your gum line, which cause your teeth to look too long. It is also performed during other more complex cases where dental implants and bridges are used, or when trauma to the mouth has occurred. And, our radio surgery method causes no bleeding and is more comfortable because the process doesn’t involve a metal scalpel.

Temporomandibular Joint Treatment

Does your jaw ache? Are your teeth sore and sensitive? Do you have frequent, recurring tension or morning headaches, or a stiff neck in the morning? The NTI-tss Tension Suppression System could give you relief—simply and quickly. This small, clear-plastic device, only worn at night, fits over your two front teeth and makes clenching nearly impossible!

Within a few days or weeks (sometimes just hours), your clenching reflex is suppressed. The pain associated with your involuntary, intense clenching usually begins to resolve and disappear. The NTI-tss does this by keeping your back teeth apart, preventing the temporalis muscles from contracting with their usual intensity. Imagine being free of the over-the-counter (or prescription) pain medication you are using now to relieve this nagging problem.

Periodontal-Gum Therapies

There are stages of gum disease (periodontitis). Gingivitis is an early form of the disease that is painless, reversible, and treatable. The next stages can cause more severe problems. Regular preventive care can significantly reduce your chance of losing your teeth to this disease. Regular home care that includes brushing and flossing also encourages healthy gums.

Our dental team checks tissue health using a variety of diagnostic tools. When bacteria and deposits are present there is inflammation, which can mean disease under the gums. Our hygienists will remove calculus, plaque, and bacteria above and below the gum line where pockets of disease are present. There are many things we do to soothe and provide painless treatment during this stage.

In later stages of gum disease, there is deterioration of gum tissue and bone. This is often coupled with a loosening and separating of the fibers that hold the teeth and bone together. In these cases, we may increase the level of treatment and /or couple treatment with a Periodontist.

With long standing gum disease there can be severe loss of supporting bone structure resulting in loose teeth. We can still make positive progress against the disease; however, therapies may involve surgery and replacement teeth with restorative procedures such as implants. This is a very serious stage.

We can provide a comfortable and relaxing environment for your care, even at the latest stage of gum disease. Of course, you will need to perform regular home care to improve your odds of staying healthy. Periodontal or gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. And, 3 out of 4 people unknowingly have some form of the disease

Mouth Guards

If you are involved in any sports activity, it is likely that you can benefit from wearing a mouth guard. A custom-made mouth guard provides better protection than over-the-counter “boil and bite” options. An easy and quick procedure that requires two visits — one for an impression, time for fabrication in our lab, and an additional appointment to insert and provide instructions for care and use. Mouth guards may be indicated for individuals with unusual wear due to grinding. An “occlusal guard” works to help evenly distribute biting forces.

Root Canal Therapy

We use the Profile Rotary File and WaveOne systems when performing a root canal treatment, which allows for a quiet, comfortable procedure, usually in only one visit.

Root canal therapy is necessary when a tooth’s pulp (the soft tissue at your tooth’s core where the tooth’s nerves, veins, arteries and lymph vessels are located) dies. This can be caused by infection due to a deep cavity or fracture that allows bacteria to seep in, or trauma from injury. Damaged or dead pulp causes increased blood flow and cellular activity, and pressure cannot be relieved from inside the tooth. 

A darkened tooth, or one causing severe pain, could be a sign. Pain in the tooth is commonly felt when biting down, chewing on it and applying hot or cold foods and drinks.

Without treatment, the infection will spread, bone around the tooth will degenerate, and the tooth may fall out. If caught early, we can save your tooth. The tooth is cleaned of all diseased pulp and reshaped. Medication may be inserted into the area to fight bacteria. Depending on the condition of the tooth, the crown may then be sealed temporarily to guard against recontamination, the tooth may be left open to drain, or the dentist may fill the canals.

If you’re given a temporary filling, it will be removed and usually at this visit the pulp chamber and canal(s) will be filled with a special material to prevent recontamination. If the tooth is still weak, a post may be inserted in the canal for reinforcement. Once filled, the area is permanently sealed.  Often, a back tooth that has had a root canal is recommended to have a crown placed to prevent future fracture and loss of the tooth.  Front teeth that have had a root canal may also be recommended for a crown for strength and/or to improve appearance.

Sonicare Electric Toothbrush

For the convenience of our patients we have Sonicare electric toothbrushes available for purchase on site.  This brushing technology is far beyond electric and manual toothbrushes. Sonicare cleans with a combination of high-speed brushing (31,000 strokes per minute) and sonic wave action. It’s sonic technology is proven to remove plaque without the bristles touching the plaque itself. It reaches plaque in hard to reach places. It is gentle on gums and sensitive teeth and yet is powerful enough to reverse gingivitis, an early form of gum disease. It is also proven to remove 80 percent of coffee, tea and tobacco stains.