Our practice can provide a wide range of dental services. We can typically provide every type of dental service without having to refer you to other specialties. This flexibility saves you time and keeps your total dental care within one practice. Our emphasis is on total preventive care for our patients. Total care begins with regular hygiene visits, regular checkups and continued home oral health routines.
Our practice also provides the highest-quality services for restoring mouths that have been damaged by dental disease and injury and common problems that require cosmetic dentistry. Our primary goal for our patients is to achieve and maintain optimum oral health through advances in techniques, technologies and by maintaining their scheduled dental exams.
Fillings
Composite Fillings: These fillings are resin based esthetic material commonly used on pediatric baby teeth. They are indicated on front teeth, and when a more conservative filling can be placed. Resin fillings require a significantly longer time for placement and if the tooth cannot be kept totally dry, a silver amalgam filling is a better filling.
Silver Fillings: Dental amalgam has been used since 1880, and for durability it has a better track record than a composite filling. When a cavity exists between the teeth, a silver filling has almost twice the average life as a composite filling. Silver fillings are also less expensive. If decay is present on many surfaces of a tooth, a stainless steel crown is a more durable restoration.
Stainless Steel Crowns
Studies show that in children age 4 and younger, stainless steel crowns have a success rate that is double that of a silver filling. Stainless steel crowns are a pre-fabricated nickel-chromium crown form that is adapted to fit the tooth, and cemented with a bio-compatible glue. Stainless steel crowns are indicated for baby and permanent teeth with decay, decalcification, tooth defects, and after a root canal has been performed. Children with a higher risk of developing cavities may have stainless steel crowns placed instead of another kind of filling.
Composite Bonding
 Bonding is a common solution for:
- Fixing or repairing chipped or cracked teeth
- Reducing unsightly gaps or spaces between teeth
- Hiding discoloration or faded areas on the tooth’s surface
Often used to improve the appearance of your teeth and enhance your smile. As the name indicates, composite material, either a plastic or resin, is bonded to an existing tooth. Unlike veneers or crowns, composite bonding removes little, if any, of the original tooth.
Composite bonding has many advantages:
- It is a quick process, which typically lasts less than one hour.
- It does not reduce the tooth’s original structure and is relatively inexpensive.
- Composite resins come in many different shades and provide better matching of shades to the natural color of your teeth.
- Composite bonds, however, are not as durable and long-lasting as veneers and crowns and may need to be re-touched or replaced in the future.
Composite bonds stain more easily and therefore require proper care and regular cleaning. In order to ensure the longest possible duration of the bonding, composites should be brushed and flossed daily. Common staining elements include coffee, tea, tobacco, foods and candy.
Root Canal
There are essentially two kinds of root canals in pediatric dentistry: pulpotomy and pulpectomy.
Pulpotomy: A pulpotomy is performed on a tooth with a deep cavity. The crown portion of the nerve is removed, and the remaining living nerve tissue is left in the roots. A medicine is placed and then the preparation is filled. The tooth is then given a stainless steel crown.
Pulpectomy: A pulpectomy is a root canal procedure for teeth that are completely infected or dead due to decay or trauma. This is a classic treatment where all the infected canal is removed and cleaned. A material is then placed that can be reabsorbed by the underlying permanent tooth.
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