Preventative Dentistry

Preventative dentistry is vital for keeping your teeth and gums healthy. Routine preventative care needs to be a lifelong commitment. Excellent home care including brushing and flossing is the beginning of a good preventative regimen, but periodic dental visits including a thorough examination, x-rays, and professional dental cleanings are essential to avert potentially serious problems that can lead to tooth decay and loss.

Diagnostic Services

Depending upon your unique situation and dental health, your visit may include any of the following diagnostic and/or preventative services.

• Take necessary cavity-detecting x-rays
• Assess your periodontal (gum) tissue
• Evaluate existing dental restorations for proper fit, function and aesthetics
• Check your bite, chewing and swallowing patterns
• Review and update your medical history
• Evaluate possible cosmetic enhancements of your smile
• Examine and screen for oral cancer

Develop a comprehensive treatment plan. Presentation of prescribed dental treatment plan and recommendation of future treatment (orthodontics, periodontal therapy, cosmetic treatments.)

Oral Hygiene Visit

• Clean and Scale teeth to remove all plaque and calculus (tartar)
• Remove surface stains from the teeth
• Apply pit and fissure sealants to help prevent decay
• Fluoride application
• Instruction in tooth brushing and flossing
• Polish teeth, and porcelain, gold, & resin restorations

Periodontal Therapy

Periodontal disease, or simply gum disease, is the single most common cause of tooth loss in adults. This inflammatory disease attacks the gums, bone and other supporting structures of the teeth. Gum disease is caused by plaque, a colorless film of bacteria forms on the teeth. Plaque mixes with sugars and starches in the diet to form acids and toehr by-products in the mouth, irritating gums and causing them to become red, tender and swollen. It also causes the gums to bleed easily. If not removed daily, plaque hardens to form calculus (tartar) around the necks of the teeth. The tissue that attaches the gums to the teeth can be destroyed by the irritants in plaque. The gums pull away from the teeth and small pockets form between the teeth and gums. These pockets become filled with more plaque. As pockets deepen, it becomes impossible for you to clean the plaque out. Eventually the bone structure supporting the teeth can be destroyed.

Treatment

The type of treatment you require depends on how advanced your particular case is. Individualized treatment may include any of the following:

1. More frequent cleanings - it may take the bacteria at the base of the pocket up to three months to colonize into numbers able to destroy bone. Frequent cleanings can prevent this buildup.
2. Scaling and root planning - Scaling is removing the calculus depositis from your teeth. Root planning is the smoothing of the root surfaces so that the gum tissue can reattach to the tooth.
3. Curettage - Removes the soft tissue lining the periodontal pocket. This helps the fum tissue to heal.
4. Gingivectomy - The surgical removal of the periodontal pocket to allow easier access for cleaning.
5. Flap surgery - Allows us to gain access to the root of the tooth for removal of calculus, plaque and diseased tissue. The gum is then secured back into place.