General dentistry treatments involve diagnosis, treatment procedures, and maintenance of general conditions, disorders, and diseases affecting the teeth, gums, and jaw. Prevention and gum care are fundamental to general dentistry, as is diagnosing and treating problems before they grow to be painful and often expensive. Keeping up with oral health is vital to overall health, and it can also significantly reduce the amount of money that will need to be spent on dental treatment later in life.
We can develop a comprehensive treatment plan to help you achieve and maintain your optimal oral health, including restorative and cosmetic procedures in addition to “general dentistry treatments.”
Biannual dental cleanings are central to keeping your teeth and gums looking, feeling, and functioning well. If you have periodontal (gum) disease, we will recommend that you visit us more often than twice a year to help protect your oral and overall health.
For the first step of our four-point cleaning, we use ultrasonics to knock off the pesky, odor-trapping plaque and calculus (more commonly known as tartar) that tends to buildup between cleanings. If tartar has built up under your gumline, causing gum disease, more extensive treatment may be needed to remove the infection and help restore your gum health. The second step of our cleaning process is a careful and gentle tooth-by-tooth cleaning, followed by a flossing. We also go over proper flossing techniques and habits. Third, we perform a general screening for gum disease and oral cancer. When x-rays have been taken, we review them, as well, to identify decay and other possible areas of concern. To finish your cleaning visit, we polish your teeth to give them a nice shine and leave you with fresh breath... And this is just our regular cleaning!
If your gums feel tender or sore, or if they look red and swollen, you may have gum disease. Other signs include bleeding and/or receding gums, pain or sensitivity in your teeth (and even loose teeth, caused by weakening gum fibers or bone loss), and persistent bad breath. If left untreated, gum disease can lead to tooth loss as well as various other health problems. More and more life-threatening illnesses are being linked to the presence of dental diseases, so please contact us to make an appointment so we can check your gums.
X-rays, also known as radiographs, are commonly used in dental exams of patients of all ages. A full mouth series of x-rays, taken every 3-5 years, shows the entire mouth and is a very revealing and useful diagnostic tool. Many problems with teeth and the surrounding tissues cannot be seen when we visually examine your mouth. An x-ray is needed to reveal:
Since identifying and filling cavities are two of the most important things we do for patients, we use Diagnodent® laser technology. This technology precisely detects tooth decay in its early stages, many times before it can be recognized by other means. Diagnodent’s ability to catch decay sooner means that the fillings required are often smaller and simpler, which allows us to use minimally invasive filling procedures and preserve more natural tooth. In addition, the low intensity Diagnodent laser allows us to monitor areas of concern without repeated x-rays. To learn more about our filling procedures, visit our Fillings & Bondings page.
Dental sealants are applied to the chewing surfaces of teeth with deep grooves in them – meaning premolars, baby molars, and permanent/adult molars – to help protect them against decay-causing bacteria. The resin sealant material bonds into the grooves of teeth, creating a barrier against food particles, plaque, and even acidic food and drink. Proper home care is most important for preventing cavities, but toothbrushes can’t always reach down into the deepest crevices of teeth. Sealants can compensate for this. They can last many years, often getting our younger patients through the “bad brushing years,” and it's common for sealants to last into adulthood before needing to be replaced. Both children and adults can benefit from dental sealants.
Plaque wears away at your teeth’s enamel in a process known as demineralization. Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that promotes remineralization of enamel, thereby strengthening your teeth and protecting them against decay. Fluoride can also help reverse early stages of decay. Children with newly-erupted permanent teeth can benefit a great deal from fluoride exposure, but adults should make sure their teeth come in contact with it too. The safe and easy way is to use fluoride toothpaste. Additionally, we recommend fluoride treatments for all of our patients regardless of age. There are number of gels, rinses, and in-office procedures that can do the trick!
In addition to the regular visual oral cancer screenings that we perform at each cleaning appointment, we now also offer ViziLite® oral cancer screenings for patients who desire a more thorough examination.
Oral cancer is actually curable in 80-90% of cases when it is caught in its early stages. The challenge with oral cancer screening, however, is that early-stage oral cancer tissues are often indistinguishable from non-cancerous mouth tissues. While routine visual exams help us catch oral cancer in moderate to advanced stages, there is now technology to enable us to see oral cancer while it is still in the earlier stages. We use ViziLite for these more thorough screenings. The procedure is simple and painless, involving special light technology that has proven successful in identifying early-stage soft tissue abnormalities that can turn into oral cancer.
One American dies of oral cancer approximately every hour of every day. While tobacco and alcohol use are the primary lifestyle risk factors for oral cancer, surprisingly 27% of oral cancer victims do not use tobacco or alcohol, nor do they have any other lifestyle risk factors. That is 1 in 4 people who develop oral cancer but have no risk factors at all! Please come in for your screening. It only takes five minutes and could save your life!