Smiles Dental offers comprehensive general dentistry services to help you and your family maintain healthy smiles for life. Our dentists and staff look forward to providing ultimate service to all our patients.
Superior performance by our staff will help you find and maintain a healthy, beautiful smile. We offer affordable fees and convenient payment plans. We want to have a positive impact on your smile. General dentistry ranges from a complete exam and cleaning to a full-mouth restoration.
We promise to provide you with exceptional care as we enhance the beauty of your smile. Below are just some of the many procedures and services we provide to our patients with a gentle touch and stunning results.
Cleanings and Prevention
Regular cleanings are the best investment in your smile. Cleanings help prevent cavities, tooth decay, gum disease and other conditions.
Preventing dental disease starts at home with good oral hygiene. It is continued in the dental office by the efforts of your dentist and dental hygienist to promote, restore and maintain your oral health.
Smiles Dental offers a regular cleaning that includes the removal of plaque, calculus and stains from teeth using ultrasonic and/or hand instruments. A fluoride treatment will also be applied to maintain the benefits of the cleaning.
Emergency Dental Care
Emergencies arise and accidents happen. Smiles Dental will be there to help anyone in need.
Fillings, Root Canals and Extractions
Fillings are used to repair a tooth that has been affected by a cavity, crack or fracture. The decayed or affected portion of the tooth will be removed and repaired with a filling.
There are many types of filling materials available, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. You and your dentist can discuss the best options for restoring your teeth.
Composite fillings, along with silver amalgam fillings, are the most widely used today. Because composite fillings are tooth colored, they can be closely matched to the color of existing teeth, and are more aesthetically suited for use in front teeth or the more visible areas of the teeth.
As with most dental restorations, composite fillings are not permanent and may someday have to be replaced. They are very durable, and will last many years, giving you a long lasting, beautiful smile.
A root canal is needed when the nerve of a tooth is affected by decay or infection. In order to save the tooth, the pulp (the living tissue inside the tooth), nerves, bacteria, and any decay are carefully removed and the resulting space is filled with special, medicated, dental materials, which restore the tooth to its full function.
With recent advances in technology and anesthetics, root canals feel similar to having a filling. Having a root canal done on a tooth is the treatment of choice to save a tooth that otherwise would die and have to be removed entirely. Many patients believe that removing the problematic tooth is the solution, however, extracting (pulling) the tooth will ultimately be more costly in the long run and cause significant problems for adjacent teeth.
Root canal treatment is highly successful and usually lasts a lifetime, although on occasion, a tooth will have to be retreated due to new infections.
Root Canal Signs & Symptoms
- Sensitivity to hot and cold
- Severe toothache pain
- Sensitivity to chewing or to tapping
- Swelling and/or tenderness around the tooth
- Abscess on the gums
Root Canal Treatment
Treatment can take a little as one, but more likely two or three office visits. During the procedure your dentist will numb the tooth, remove the inflamed or infected pulp, clean and shape the inside of the tooth, then fill and seal the space to prevent further infection and discomfort.
Afterwards, it is essential that you return to have a crown or other restoration placed over the tooth to protect it. For the first few days after treatment, your tooth may feel sensitive, especially if you had pain or infection before the procedure. You can relieve it with over-the-counter or prescription medications. Root canals are one of the best ways to save your beautiful smile.
In rare cases, a tooth may need to be removed. We believe in gentle dentistry and will do everything we can to make sure you have a pain-free experience.
Oral Surgery
Oral surgery is a specialty branch of dentistry that can be used to treat and correct a wide range of diseases and conditions.
Smiles Dental cares for patients with bothersome wisdom teeth, tooth loss and jaw-related problems. They treat facial injuries and oral cancer related symptoms that may interfere with a patient’s way of life.
Oral Surgeons have advanced training in anesthesia and are able to provide you with the most comfortable and pain-free experience possible. Your oral surgeon will talk with you before surgery to discuss the ways to keep you comfortable.
Crowns & Bridges
A Smiles dentist may suggest a crown as a solution to large cavities or breakage in the enamel of a tooth. Crowns can help restore and preserve your tooth so that you don’t have to lose the tooth entirely.
When properly cared for, crowns can last for the rest of your life. Your dentist can create crowns that blend seamlessly with the rest of your teeth and completely restore a natural looking smile.
Bridges are used when you have one or more missing teeth. When a tooth is missing, it can cause a chain reaction of problems. Surrounding teeth may shift, causing stress to your jaw joint (TMJ) when you chew.
It becomes much harder to clean teeth that have shifted, leaving harmful tartar a chance to build up. This build up can cause cavities and gum disease thus threatening your beautiful smile.
Dentures & Partials
A denture is a removable dental appliance replacement for missing teeth and surrounding tissue. They are made to closely resemble your natural teeth and may even enhance your smile. There are two types of dentures – complete and partial dentures.
Complete dentures are used when all of the teeth are missing, while partial dentures are used when some natural teeth remain. A Partial denture not only fills in the spaces created by missing teeth, it prevents other teeth from shifting.
A Complete denture may be either “conventional” or “immediate.” A conventional type is made after the teeth have been removed and the gum tissue has healed, usually taking 4 to 6 weeks. During this time the patient will go without teeth.
Immediate dentures are made in advance and immediately placed after the teeth are removed, thus preventing the patient from having to be without teeth during the healing process. Once the tissues shrink and heal, adjustments will have to be made.
Dentures are very durable appliances and will last many years, but may have to be remade, repaired, or readjusted due to normal wear.
Periodontics
Periodontics is the treatment of gum disease. Gum disease is an infection that can severely harm the gums and bone supporting your teeth. It can affect one tooth or many teeth.
Like any infection that can develop elsewhere in your body, left untreated, gum disease can lead to serious and costly health issues. Periodontal disease attacks the gums and the bone that support the teeth.
Plaque is a sticky film of food debris, bacteria, and saliva. If plaque is not removed, it turns into calculus (tartar). When plaque and calculus are not removed, they begin to destroy the gums and bone.
Periodontal disease is characterized by red, swollen, and bleeding gums. Four out of five people have periodontal disease and don’t know it! Most people are not aware of it because the disease is usually painless in the early stages.
Not only is it the number one reason for tooth loss, research suggests that there may be a link between periodontal disease and other diseases such as, stroke, bacterial pneumonia, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and increased risk during pregnancy.
Researchers are determining if inflammation and bacteria associated with periodontal disease affects these systemic diseases and conditions. Smoking also increases the risk of periodontal disease.
Periodontal Disease Signs & Symptoms
- Bleeding Gums
- Loose teeth
- New spacing between teeth
- Persistent bad breath
- Receding gums
- Red and puffy gums
- Tenderness or discomfort
Periodontal Disease Treatment
A Smiles dentist and dental hygienist will evaluate your teeth for periodontal disease and recommend the appropriate treatment. Periodontal treatment methods depend upon the type and severity of the disease.
Periodontal disease progresses as the space between the tooth and gums gets filled with bacteria, plaque, and tartar, causing irritation to the surrounding tissues. When these irritants remain in the pocket space, they can cause damage to the gums and eventually, the bone that supports the teeth!
If the disease is caught in the early stages of gingivitis, and no damage has been done, one to two regular cleanings will be recommended. If the disease has progressed to more advanced stages, a special periodontal cleaning called scaling and root planing will be recommended. In this procedure, tartar, plaque, and toxins are removed from above and below the gum line (scaling) and rough spots on root surfaces are made smooth (planing).
This procedure helps gum tissue to heal and pockets to shrink. If the pockets do not heal after scaling and root planing, periodontal surgery may be needed to reduce pocket depths, making teeth easier to clean. Your Smiles dentist may also recommend that you see a Periodontist.
