Teeth Cleaning

Routine dental cleanings usually include polishing (plaque and stain removal) and scaling (or tartar removal) of all tooth surfaces above the gums.

The frequency of cleaning visits depends on your case. Some people tend to accumulate stain and tartar much quicker than others. The amount of time needed to perform a cleaning varies depending on the condition of your mouth. Of course, patients with more tartar and plaque buildup need longer appointments than those who have relatively clean teeth. In moderate cases, the procedure can be performed in 45 minutes to an hour.

When tartar develops below the gums, a more involved procedure is required, called root planing. (see Gum Disease) In order to determine your needs, a full exam is performed and subsequent appointments scheduled appropriately.

Dental Fillings

Composite (or white fillings) match the color of your natural teeth and actually bond to your teeth, creating restorations that are nearly undetectable and make the restored tooth stronger than it was before. Composite fillings can also be made much smaller than an amalgam filling, so less natural tooth structure is lost.

When cost is an issue, and a large portion of a tooth is damaged or decayed, amalgam may be a patient’s first choice. However, the mercury in amalgam fillings expands and contracts with heat and cold (think of the mercury in a thermometer). This will eventually cause the filling to fracture your tooth, and a crown will be required.

Frequently these fractures also require root canal therapy or even loss of the tooth. For these reasons, an amalgam filling may not be the most cost effective or most sensible over time. Therefore, when decay or damage to a tooth is large an inlay or onlay will often be recommended rather than a filling.

Dental Crowns

Crowns, also known as “caps”, cover and protect damaged teeth. Crowns can be all gold, all porcelain or a combination of both depending on functional and esthetic needs.

Usually it’s best to switch to a crown when hardly any tooth structure remains to keep the tooth from breaking. After a tooth breaks, it is much more difficult to repair. Switching to a crown when a large filling has worn out protects and strengthens the tooth.

Dental Bridges

A dental bridge replaces a missing tooth by anchoring its replacement to crowns on the adjacent teeth.

Teeth need each other for support. When one tooth is lost, the biting force changes on the teeth next to the space, and they begin to shift. When a tooth no longer has anything to chew against, it begins to extrude out of the socket. You can eventually end up losing the tooth. A missing tooth really changes a person’s smile, but a bridge is a good way to get your smile back.

Alternatives to bridges are:

1. Implants
2. Partial Dentures