Bonding is a popular method to fill in or cover up defects in teeth with a white composite resin. An adhesive gel is placed on the tooth and the resin is molded and sculpted over it, then hardened with UV light and polished.

Bonding can be used to fill teeth after the removal of cavities, or to cover stains, cracks, discolorations, chips, or gaps in teeth. It is a technological improvement over highly-visible silver amalgam fillings and applications usually lasts more than 10 years.

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Sometimes teeth began to weaken, crack or visibly decay, but remain well-anchored and firmly in place. Bonding or filling may not be sufficient and in these cases a crown is often recommended.

With a crown, the original tooth will be filed down to the enamel and left in place and capped with a crown of porcelain, gold or porcelain fused with metal. The color is matched to the other teeth and the crown will appear to be a regular tooth in your smile.

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Dental bridges are a way to replace missing teeth by creating a segment that anchors to two existing teeth to “bridge” the gap between them.

Made from porcelain, gold, allows, or metal, bridges require the two teeth on either side of the missing tooth to be filed down into “abutments” that will hold the bridge in place, much like a pair of crowns with a third tooth joining them from the middle.

The bridge itself will be created in a specialized lab while a temporary bridge is put in its place. Once the final bridge is put in place, you will need to eat soft foods for a few days while the bridge settles, but after that it will function and feel normal.

If you are missing a tooth, please strongly consider having it replaced. Not only are there aesthetic disadvantage from the missing tooth, but that gap could also harm your mouth and jaw and make it difficult to eat or speak properly.

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Besides our prolific attention to the your teeth and keeping them clean and polished, we also take time to help our patients develop better oral hygiene habits at home. If we detect telltale signs of hygienic shortcomings we will recommend changes to your routine to improve your oral health. We can also suggest preventative measures like dental sealants or nightguards if you’re at risk of TMJ or bruxism.

Some gum diseases like gingivitis may need a root scaling or planing procedure to prevent long-term damage like bone loss or tooth loss.

Oral Cancer Screenings

During a dental exam your doctor will check your neck and oral tissues for lumps, colored patches, and sore spots to help detect oral cancer while it is easiest to treat. People who smoke and drink regularly are at the highest risk of developing oral cancel.

Scaling and Root Planing

Scaling and root planing is a non-surgical procedure where plaque and tartar are removed from below the gum line. Special slim tools clean the root surfaces of plaque and tartar and smooth down the surface. This prevents bacteria from getting a foothold in the gums.

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Modern life offers a number of ways to stain our teeth, including coffee, wine, food and smoking. This can even happen to people who brush regularly. Teeth whitening restores the natural color to the teeth and can even be made whiter than normal.

We accomplish this by creating impressions of your teeth and using them to make a set of whitening trays. You can wear these trays for less than an hour a day for a few days and receive a dramatic increase in whiteness to your smile.

Please contact us to see if whitening is right for you.

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Veneers are thin ceramic shells that hug the existing tooth to correct the appearance of teeth that are stained, cracked, chipped, improperly spaced or misaligned.

First, the client comes in and has their teeth evaluated for the veneers. The traditional process takes up to two weeks to fabricate the veneers and they are placed in a follow up visit. Temporary veneers can be placed during that gap.

Ask your dentist for more information about veneers and to learn how they work.

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A professional dental cleaning at least twice a year can improve your oral health, reports the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), an organization of general dentists dedicated to continuing dental education.

The AGD strongly recommends that a dentist or hygienist perform a dental cleaning every six months. This professional dental cleaning reinforces the home-care oral health regimen of brushing and flossing and gives the dentist an opportunity to locate areas in the mouth that may need special attention.

During a dental cleaning, you’ll receive diagnostic and preventive services from your dentist as well as any needed educational information.

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Invisalign is a way to straighten teeth without the wires and brackets of traditional braces. Instead, it uses a series of clear “aligners” that are precisely created for your teeth.

Patients fit the aligners over their teeth, wearing them constantly for two weeks. The aligners need to be removed to eat or brush but are left in place the rest of the time while it slowly moves the teeth.

Patients will go typically go through 12 to 48 sets of aligners and the average process time is between 6 and 15 months.

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Juvederm XC is the first and only FDA-approved hyaluronic acid filler that offers smooth and natural-looking results that last up to 1 year with 1 treatment when you treat moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds such as parentheses lines, vertical lip lines, corner lines and marionette lines that appear around your nose and mouth. Only Juvederm XC is manufactured using HYLACROSS technology, creating a smooth-consistency gel that flows easily into the skin. Another plus is that Juvederm XC is infused with lidocaine, a common anesthetic that allows for a much more comfortable treatment.

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A dental mouthguard is a protective device for the mouth that covers the teeth and gums to prevent and reduce injury and wear to the teeth. A mouthguard is often used to prevent sports injuries, as a treatment for bruxism, or to alleviate snoring.

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Dental Sealants are a composite material applied to the chewing surfaces of the back teeth where decay occurs most often. They are typically placed on the 6 and 12 year molars.

Thorough brushing and flossing help remove food particles and plaque from smooth surfaces of teeth, but toothbrush bristles cannot reach all the way into the depressions and grooves to extract food and plaque. Sealants protect these vulnerable areas by “sealing out” plaque and food.

Sealants are easy for your dentist to apply. The sealant is painted into the grooves on the biting surface of the tooth. It is then cured with an ultraviolet light, allowing the material to bond directly to the tooth and harden. Sealants hold up well under the force of normal chewing and can last for years. Occasionally sealants can be worn down by daily chewing or pulled out by sticky foods. During your regular dental visits, the dentist will check the condition of the sealants and reapply them if necessary.

The likelihood of developing pit and fissure decay begins early in life, so children and teenagers are greatly at risk and make for the best candidates.

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