Implants

No longer are dentures or partial dentures your only options for missing teeth. Dental implants effectively replace your missing teeth and even help retain the bone structure in your jaw. Dental implants accurately replace your natural teeth and they never need to be replaced. A screw will be placed in your jaw to hold your missing tooth’s spot, and a crown will be attached to the end. Completely indistinguishable from your natural teeth, dental implants restore your smile’s beauty and functionality!

Lumineers

Lumineers are a type of dental veneer that work as perfect solutions for a variety of cosmetic dental problems. If you have discolored, chipped, gapped, or crooked teeth, Lumineers could be a great choice for you. An impression is made of your teeth and then sent to a lab. After your Lumineers return, they will be bonded to your teeth. They differ from regular veneers in that less drilling is needed. Talk with your dentist to discover if Lumineers could make your smile shine again!

Veneers

Porcelain or ceramic veneers are strong, thin, and mimic your tooth’s natural enamel. To restore your smile’s appearance, veneers go on top of your teeth, yet are made of porcelain and ceramic to remain strong and functional. Veneers are bonded to your teeth to give your smile the perfect color, brightness, and functionality that becomes you. You may choose to consider veneers if you have fractured, gapped, or poorly shaped teeth. Even stained teeth could benefit from veneers!

Bridges

Dental bridges can help if you have a missing tooth or teeth. Over time, the space left by your missing tooth will cause the other teeth to shift. This could result in an improper bite, loss of bone, and even crooked teeth. Bridges help to hold and cover the space between your missing teeth. They’re affixed to your natural teeth and will help to hold the space, improve your appearance, and match the color of your other natural teeth!

Whitening

Teeth whitening is an effective, affordable, and safe procedure that improves your appearance and gives you a dazzling smile. Whether you’d like white teeth for your wedding day or a special event in your life or even just to love your smile a little more every day, teeth whitening is a great option. Using at-home kits can create uneven whitening and even damage the enamel on your teeth if overused. A professional bleaching at your dentist’s office will give you a gorgeous smile for life.

Cosmetic dentistry offers you many options to restore your smile. Whether you have crooked or missing teeth, chipped or fractured teeth, or unsightly gaps or discoloration, cosmetic dentistry can help. Talk with your dentist to discover how cosmetic dentistry can improve your smile and quality of life!

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Alcohol and Your Gums

Your gums play an important role in keeping your teeth healthy, but drinking alcohol can aggravate your gums. Alcohol is harsh on the gums, irritating the tissues and leading to an instable structure for your tooth. The irritation of the gums over time can cause swelling, bleeding, and eventually, gingivitis, the beginning stages of gum disease. Alcohol also dehydrates you, ensuring that the saliva in your mouth doesn’t adequately protect your teeth. Saliva encourages good bacteria and keeps our teeth healthy—without it, problems arise.

Alcohol and Your Teeth

When your gums aren’t healthy, they can’t properly support your teeth, therefore leading to loose teeth, bleeding gums, and eventually, tooth loss.Alcohol is extremely acidic, much like soda and sugar. In fact, most alcohol is sugar! The situation for your mouth gets worse when you begin to mix the two—soda and alcohol tend to be popular combinations for many people. The lack of saliva in your mouth due to drinking alcohol makes your mouth an even more acidic environment.

And let’s not forget about plaque, which begins to build up on the teeth after alcohol consumption. This happens even more often when you don’t brush your teeth after drinking, or if you vomit after drinking—leading to even more acids in the mouth. The acidic environment combined with the lack of saliva, corrosive substance, and plaque buildup will eventually wreak havoc on your smile.

How to Prevent Damage

Alcohol is largely enjoyed throughout the world. You don’t have to stop drinking to protect your smile. Of course binge drinking isn’t healthy, and even having a drink or two a day is enough to impact your smile. Occasional drinking or drinking a few times a week likely won’t harm your smile, provided you do the following things to protect it:

Drink water. Drinking water between drinks or while you’re drinking does more than just rinse your mouth of corrosive alcohol and sugar—it can help restore hydration and saliva production.

Brush and floss. While you shouldn’t brush immediately after drinking to prevent further damage to your enamel, remember to gently brush your teeth and floss after an evening of drinking.

Limit mixed drinks. Remember, that soda and alcohol combination isn’t doing your teeth any favors.

You don’t have to give up alcohol to protect your smile, but like anything else, too much alcohol can be very damaging to your smile. Over time, excessive alcohol consumption can effectively ruin your smile, leading to gum disease and tooth decay. Be mindful about your drinking habits and talk with your dentist about what you can do to help minimize damage to your teeth and gums!

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Gag Reflex Control

Have you ever felt like you were about to vomit while your dentist is working in your mouth? Some people simply have a stronger gag reflex than others. You may even gag when brushing your back teeth or your tongue. When you need major dental work, sedation can keep your gag reflex under control.

Keeping the Patient Comfortable

Whether the chair hurts your back and neck, or your jaw hurts from keeping it open for very long, sedation dentistry can solve the problem. You don’t necessarily have to be completely out. Nitrous oxide, for example, may simply make it easier to deal with the pain.

Getting Work Done in Fewer Appointments

One of the most frustrating things about the dentist can be having to come back for numerous appointments. This is especially true if your dentist is busy, and the appointments have to be weeks apart. Sedation dentistry may allow you to have more work done at the same time. Experiencing less discomfort allows sessions to continue longer. The result is that you can schedule fewer appointments to get all your dental work done.

Local Anesthetic Issues

Sometimes it can be tough to numb the area where dental work needs to be done. Also, people respond differently to the anesthetic. They may also not want to have a needle delivery system. All of these issues contribute to a situation where some pain is still felt. Sedation dentistry is the solution. Patients may not even have any memory of their time in the chair depending on the type of sedation used.

The Cost-Effective Solution

Not only can sedation save you time by reducing the number of appointments, but it also saves you money. You both end up paying for fewer visits, and you also take less time off from work, since dental offices are usually open during the business day.

As you can see, sedation dentistry is not just for those who are anxious about going to the dentist; it is a vital component to modern dentistry. Make an appointment with your dentist today.

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