At Jamestown Family Dental Clinic we put you and your loved ones first. Our top quality dentistry services are tailored towards helping you and your family achieve lasting oral and overall wellness. General dentistry services are vital for the maintenance of a healthy, happy smile. We believe that the best way to solve a dental issue is to keep it from happening in the first place. Our general dentistry services focus on preventative care and maintenance, and helping patients develop good habits that will aid them throughout their lives.
The general rule of thumb is to go to the dentist every six months for a professional exam and cleaning. If you have some dental issues—periodontal disease, for example—your dentist may recommend increasing the frequency of visits.
Even once every six months may seem like a lot. But, to paraphrase the old saying, an ounce of prevention keeps you from buying a pound of cure.
Regular visits help spot dental problems early when they can be treated in a safe, simple, affordable manner. And when your dentist sees you often, he or she can help you prevent many problems from developing in the first place.
Some diseases have symptoms that show up in the mouth. Your dentist, who’s received the equivalent of a medical-school education, can detect suspicious-looking signs and point you toward medical care. Dentists are valuable allies on your health team.
A proper brushing technique is the first step to maintaining healthy teeth and gums. You should be brushing your teeth for two minutes twice a day. You should hold your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle and brush in a gentle circular motion. Brush all surfaces of each tooth including the chewing surfaces. Don’t forget to brush your tongue also! This helps remove food partials to help remove odor-causing bacteria.
The ADA (American Dental Association) recommends flossing once a day. When flossing, use about 18 inches of floss. This should allow for enough clean floss to use on each tooth in the flossing process. Slide the floss up and down between each tooth.
1. Eat a proper diet.
Sugary foods that cling to your teeth for a long time are more likely to cause tooth decay than foods that wash away with saliva. Snacking and sipping on soda feed bacteria in your mouth that produce teeth-unfriendly acids.
Fresh fruits and veggies increase saliva flow. To wash away food particles, turn to unsweetened tea, coffee, and sugar-free (especially xylitol-based) gum.
2. Brush with fluoride toothpaste and floss.
Brush your teeth at least twice a day, especially after meals. (Monitor young children’s toothpaste usage, though. The difference between a helpful and harmful dose of fluoride can be small.) Clean in between your teeth with floss or an interdental cleaner.
3. Visit your dentist regularly and actively participate in your care.
Your twice-yearly cleanings can help prevent problems, as we talked about earlier. Your dentist is also a crucial partner in helping you deal with small issues before they balloon into bigger ones. Ask questions, and follow your dentist’s recommendations.
One of the issues your dentist is always on the lookout for is small oral spots or sores that you most likely aren’t aware of. These spots could be oral cancer.
According to the ADA, oral cancer kills more US residents than either cervical or skin cancer (melanoma). As things stand now, only half of all people diagnosed with oral cancer survive more than five years.
But if you visit your dentist on the recommended six-month schedule, you’d be likely to be in the half of oral cancer patients that go on to live long lives.
In about 10% of patients, the dentist may notice a small red or white spot or sore. Most of these are harmless, but to be on the safe side, your dentist may do a biopsy.
If the biopsy comes back positive, it’s not the end of the world. You can treat oral cancer at an early, nearly-always-curable stage.
Three-quarters of oral cancers are associated with tobacco usage. Smokeless tobacco can also lead to periodontal disease.
We’ve all heard that smoking can cause cancer, but smokeless tobacco (snuff) is also bad news. One can of snuff a day delivers as much nicotine as 60 cigarettes. At that rate, snuff usage can cause periodontal disease and pre-cancerous lesions in as little as 3-4 months.
What about electronic cigarettes? Since they’re so new, there’s not much evidence available on their ill effects. But the evidence there is isn’t encouraging. Vaping may be healthier than smoking, but you’re still inhaling addiction-causing nicotine and toxic chemicals, which contributes to cancer.
A crown is the covering or “cap” your dentist puts over a tooth. You can consider it an artificial tooth. When your dentist installs one or more crowns in your mouth, it’s called “capping” the teeth.
Crowns are multi-purpose. They can cover teeth that are fractured, have large, old fillings, or are severely damaged by decay.
A crown strengthens and protects your remaining tooth structure. It can also serve a cosmetic purpose by covering discolored, misshapen teeth, or dental implants.
The three main types of crowns are full porcelain, porcelain-fused-to-metal, and all-metal. Depending on your needs and desires, you and your dentist will decide which type will work best.
Implants and crowns aren’t either/or; they’re both/and. You’ll usually get an implant along with a crown.
A dental implant is a metal post inserted into your jawbone under your gums to replace the root portion of a missing tooth. While the implant heals, bone grows around it. Then the crown—the artificial tooth—is placed on the post.
Implants are an effective way of replacing one or more teeth. (For the problems missing teeth cause, see the Bridges entry.) Implants can replace a partial denture or secure a permanent bridge.
When you lose one or more teeth, your remaining teeth can shift out of position. That can have a domino effect: your bite changes, you lose more teeth, and you experience more decay and gum disease.
To keep the dominoes from falling, your dentist may recommend a bridge. There are two types of bridges: permanent and temporary.
A permanent bridge can’t be removed. It involves anchoring one or more replacement teeth with one or more crowns on each side.
A removable bridge is also known as a partial denture. It usually consists of replacement teeth attached to gum-colored plastic bases. A metal framework connects everything.
If you’re feeling pain or sensitivity to heat or cold, the problem may be in the soft inner layer of your tooth, known as the pulp. The pulp is vital to tooth growth and development. Once a tooth is mature, though, it can survive without the pulp.
When the pulp becomes inflamed or infected due to damage or deep decay—among other reasons—it can be removed to get rid of your pain and other symptoms. Removing the pulp is called a root canal.
In a root canal, the dentist—or often an endodontist–removes the inflamed or infected pulp. The dentist will then clean and shape the inside of your tooth, fill it, and seal the space.
For Stage 2 of the root canal, your dentist will usually place a crown on the tooth to perfect its function. After that, your tooth functions like any of your intact teeth.
There are many over-the-counter whitening treatments you can use. Still, dentist-supervised treatments are safer and provide more predictable results.
Teeth tend to darken over time, so even professional whitening calls for occasional touch-ups.
You can opt for in-chair whitening, a one-hour procedure that lasts 6-12 months. You can also try tray whitening, a take-home procedure your dentist will supervise. Although tray whitening takes longer, it allows a more gradual, controlled change in your teeth’ color.
Inlays and onlays are tooth-colored fillings used on the chewing surfaces of molars and premolars. They can be used instead of silver fillings or as replacements for existing silver fillings.
Decisions, decisions. You’ve got to decide not only between bonding and crowns but between bonding and veneers.
Dental bonding and porcelain veneers are both attractive, low-maintenance options. Veneers are more popular, perhaps due to the story of their Hollywood-film-industry origin. Let’s look past the glamour of Hollywood, though, to see if veneers are worth it.
Veneers are thin coatings that are usually made porcelain. They’re custom-fitted for each tooth.
Unlike bonding, material for veneers is hard from the start. Your dentist will have to sculpt your existing tooth to fit the veneer, so this process is permanent.
Although dental bonding is cheaper and takes less time, veneers are much more durable. They are less likely to stain, chip, or break. And veneers do have a certain sheen that you just don’t get from bonding.
For a cut or bitten tongue, lip, or cheek, your first step is to apply ice to any bruised areas. If bleeding occurs, firmly but gently apply pressure with a clean cloth.
A cut or bitten part of the mouth is rarely serious, but if the bleeding continues after 15 minutes or doesn’t respond to pressure, seek medical attention.
Look for the permanent tooth that was knocked out. When you find the tooth, handle it by the crown, not the root portion. You can rinse it, but keep handling to a minimum.
If the tooth survived the blow without fracturing, reinsert it in its socket. Hold the tooth in place by gently biting on a clean cloth.
IF you can’t reinsert the tooth, put it in a cup that contains your saliva or milk. You can also carry it in your mouth. Contact us for the next steps. Time is critical to rescue your tooth.
To deal with a toothache, thoroughly clean the area around the throbbing tooth. Rinse with warm water or use dental floss to dislodge food particles. Don’t place aspirin on the gum or the aching tooth, and see a dentist as soon as possible.
Sedation can help you relax during dental procedures. There are several types of sedation ranging from minimal sedation to where you are awake but relaxed, to general anesthesia where you are completely unconscious.
Nitrous Oxide is a odorless and colorless gas. It is a very mild sedation. You will remain alert while being administered nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is inhaled through a nasal mask and has very few side effects.
Oral sedation administers sedative drugs through an oral route. These are typically small easy-to-swallow pills. You will remain and responsive the whole time with oral sedation. It allows you to be relaxed and anxiety free.
IV Sedation is administered through an IV into your arm or hand. The biggest benefit is the fast onset of medication from the anti-anxiety drug. The IV sedation puts you in a ‘twilight’ sleep.
