How Often Does Your Family Need To See The Dentist?

Our teeth play a critical role in our lives, from a young age through to our later years, so it is of great importance that our oral care is addressed with regular dental checkups. Your family dentist can deliver a service that not only provides you with the guidance and reassurance that you need to keep your teeth in check, but also assists you in maintaining your health for the long term future.

Whether you suffer from ongoing oral problems or boast a set of low maintenance teeth, the standard recommended period for your families dental check-up is every six months, ensuring that you are given the chance for a thorough examination and hygienic clean.

Getting into good habits and making regular dental checkups an ongoing appointment not only benefits your mouths health, but also provides you and your family with the chance to exude the confidence and contentment that comes from a healthy smile.

Family cosmetic dentistry can facilitate the need for a number of treatments in oral health and hygiene, whilst helping you to make the most of your appearance with increased vibrancy.  The importance of consistent oral care is highlighted when teeth are neglected and the consequent problems can prove painful, debilitating and costly to rectify if not caught early. The aim of your general family dentistry practice is to allow you to make the choice to maintain your families oral health in both the short and long term and provide you with the maximum opportunity to maintain your life in a healthy and comfortable way. 

Preventative dentistry provides the service of minimising the effects of tooth decay and deterioration by promoting regular cleaning and treatment from consistent, effective brushing to regular professional care and advice on the effects of lifestyle and diet which can impact negatively on our oral health.

Introducing children at an early age to regular dental checkups not only allows them the benefit of good oral health care and advice, but also minimises the chance of them developing a fear of the dentist, which can be common amongst adults, and ultimately creates greater problems in the long-term.

Dental Implants Vs Dentures - Which Is Better?

Whilst the loss of a tooth can inhibit our ability to not only function properly when eating, drinking and speaking, it can also cause us to lose our self-confidence and become withdrawn and uncomfortable. As a range of treatments now offers us a choice in how to overcome these problems, we are left to decide which methods might suit us best.

Where tooth loss can be combated using either a dental implant or dentures, the decision between which to choose can be a difficult one.

Dental implant procedures provide you with a permanent solution to the problem of a lost tooth or teeth, with a recreated tooth effectively replacing your missing teeth. A fully functional device, the dental implant can be created to replicate your remaining teeth, looking and feeling completely natural, whilst helping to prevent further problems in decay and deterioration for the remainder of your mouth and gums.

Your dental implants dentist can offer you a variety of options to equip you with the strength and support that you need from your dental tooth implants, including titanium implants and mini implants for minimum impact or interference. Your overall health and vitality is greatly improved as a result of dental implant surgery with your dietary range increasing, allowing you to eat the foods you want without pain and irritation. Palatability is also improved as the need for distasteful adhesives, used with some dentures, is eliminated and the interference of a plastic covering across the roof of your mouth is removed.

While dentures offer an elegant solution for those people suffering from a severe loss of underlying bone structure, dental implants provide patients with a more stable, secure and comfortable alternative. Although dental implants can incur greater initial cost, the improvements in strength greatly increase within the mouth, allowing for greater chewing ability and ease of fluent speech. What natural bone remains can be preserved with greater efficiency and therefore increase the overall support of your facial muscles and tissue and is therefore often considered to be the most efficient and beneficial investment where tooth loss is concerned.

Types of Braces - Which Type Is Best For You

If you have suffered from the negative effects on your self-esteem and happiness from uncomfortable or irregular teeth and jaws, braces can help to turn your hidden smile into a stunning straight grin, using a variety of options. 

The need for properly aligned teeth and jaws goes beyond simple aesthetic appeal, providing the individual with an effective bite, chew and fluency of speech, all contributing to your sense of comfort and happiness. Straight teeth also help to prevent physical health problems in the future, maintain healthy gums and improve your facial profile.  If you have been reluctant to undergo treatment due to the anticipated effect on your appearance whilst wearing braces, types of brace exist including invisible, clear and lingual braces to minimise the visual impact on your face, leaving you free to achieve the look you want in the most discrete way possible. Whilst some braces exist that can be removed at regular intervals, others such as lingual braces, can be constructed around the backs of your teeth, keeping them out of sight and mind. The comfort to your mouth can also be maximised with modern fastening methods for arch wires creating minimum irritation to your cheeks and gums.

With recent advancements in the field of orthodontics, traditional methods such as brackets have undergone a change from the older ‘train-tracks’ of the past and can now be implemented smaller and are often clear in appearance, while treatment times have lessened, making the overall experience one that causes minimum interference to your life.

For adults requiring braces, whatever your orthodontic needs, there exists an option to help achieve the straight smile you’ve always wanted  to project yourself with the confidence you need in both your personal and professional life.

Orthodontics braces have ability to enhance the size and shape of your smile, allowing you to shine through and leave behind your insecurities.

Anxiety Free Smile Makeovers with Sedation Dentistry

Whilst a visit to the dentist has, for many people, endured a reputation as one of life’s great unpleasentries, the options available for an anxiety free dentist experience are now available for your ultimate smile makeover.

Sedation dentistry is a method that offers a modern approach to dental treatments that have been the cause of a common phobia of the dental chair.

Whether you have undergone a previously unpleasant experience at the dentists, or simply fear the surgical nature of some procedures, options for conscious and unconscious methods exist to allow you the chance to undergo necessary treatments which benefit both your health and vitality, in a way that eliminates your fear and leaves you feeling renewed.

With some of the more complex procedures often requiring lengthy and repeated consultation, sedation dentistry provides you with the option of one long treatment in a compassionate and tranquil environment for maximum comfort and convenience to you. Sedation can be achieved using a variety of options including intravenous, oral and nitrous oxide methods, or a combination of all three, allowing you the chance to receive the dental treatment that you need in an easy, swift and efficient way that even the most anxious patients can find appealing.

Your dental phobia can easily become a thing of the past with the anxiety and stress-free experience of a dental smile makeover providing you with all of the necessary elements needed to keep you in a state of maximum calmness and relaxation throughout the procedure, at whatever level of sedation suits your needs best.

In the world of sedation dentistry, you can now achieve the winning smile that you have always wanted and deserve but have been too afraid to undergo. With the range of treatments and procedures available to make you glow, you can now attain what might have seemed impossible.

The Benefits of Cosmetic Dentistry

A healthy, dazzling, bright smile is often considered the single biggest asset in your overall aesthetic appeal, so it is important that we not only look after our teeth, but also allow them to help us shine.

With the treatments offered by modern cosmetic dentistry, it is now possible to not only maintain your smile for health, but also to use its methods to improve overall appearance and boost your level of confidence and self esteem. Restoring and maintaining teeth that suffer from the forces of lifestyle and diet can be achieved with methods that not only rectify but also enhance your teeth, giving you new health and vitality. 

Simple and effective treatments such as teeth whitening and veneering offer a virtually pain free, effective option for maximum results at virtually no trouble or inconvenience to you. Treatment can effectively reverse the damaging effects of caffeine, red wine, tobacco and soft drinks and lighten teeth by up to ten shades, brightening your overall appearance for years. 

Oral problems such as chipped teeth, decay and problems in shape, size and colour can all contribute to a decline in your teeth’s appearance and level of effectiveness. Modern cosmetic dentists can offer you the chance to maximise the health and vitality of your mouth, whilst avoiding some of the more unsightly options available from past dental practice, such as mercury implants.

Crowns, bridging treatments and white fillings now make achieving a beautiful and symmetrical smile a reality, while strengthening and preventing possible future problems, at a minimum interference to your mouths existing structure and appearance.

While a visit to the dentist was once considered a necessary ordeal experienced only under duress, your cosmetic dentist can now help to transform your teeth into your greatest asset.

The Benefits of Dentures

A dazzling smile needn’t be something reserved exclusively for Hollywood’s stars. With modern cosmetic dentures offering a variety of improvements to the overall appearance and functionality of your mouth, your ability to project the winning smile is now at your fingertips.

While, battling with the crippling effects of tooth loss, the use of either full or partial dentures can increase your ability to eat the foods you like in comfort whilst expanding on your existing diet. Impairments in speech can be overcome and your overall sense of confidence and well being are greatly enhanced by cosmetic dentures.

Teeth dentures not only improve the look of your smile but also complete your face and profile, giving you the look you want and the self-confidence you need to shine.
Your denture can adhere to your existing or previous tooth colour and improve on the brightness and vibrancy of your old smile for up to ten years, making it an effective and long term answer to tooth loss.

The physical benefits of upper, lower or full dentures aren’t just limited to your mouth’s effective functioning, but also provide your facial muscles with the support they need to prevent the signs of aging and facial sagging. Dentures dentists offer you the chance for immediate and effective treatments that leave you with a natural looking and comfortable denture and improve your quality of life, allowing you to live the way you want, with a healthy and happy smile.

Why Replace Your Teeth With Dentures?

If you’re suffering from full or partial loss of your teeth, you will be aware of the debilitating effect that tooth loss can have on numerous aspects of your life. Problems including the impairment of basic practical functions such as eating, drinking and speech are traumatic. The psychological effect that a loss of self-confidence, declining level of social interaction, sense of well being, health and happiness are all factors which become greatly compromised in the event of losing teeth.

Luckily, in today’s world of cosmetic dentistry, there are now a range of effective and life-improving treatments to help combat the problems associated with tooth loss.
Cosmetic dentures offer a range of options, from partial to full dentures, replacement of missing teeth not only provides you with the practical solution to the problem, but also restores and improves your smile with stunning effects.

While a full set of teeth provides a framework for the rest of your mouth, it also acts as a support to the muscles holding together the structure of your face. Teeth dentures act as the perfect solution in providing the necessary support for your mouth and face and help to overcome the associated problems of sagging facial muscles and enhanced aging. The result is a renewed confidence in your smile and the enhancement of your life and sense of happiness.

Whether you have a need for upper, lower or complete dentures, dentists can offer a number of immediate, virtually painless and effective treatments.
Dentures can provide you with new teeth that improve your speech, chewing ability and give you increased dietary options, giving you plenty to smile about!

When has the cosmetic makeover gone too far?

Dr. Little’s Thoughts On Why Deep Sedation Is More Effective Than Just A Pill

There is a lot of confusion about “sedation” dentistry. I will explain it as well as I can and provide you with some links so you can further inform yourself on this confusing topic.

Technically sedation can vary, from taking a mild sleeping pill all the way to deep sedation (intravenous). Many of the ads you see on TV or hear on the radio discuss conscious sedation, as if they are all the same…well they are not. The Oregon Dental Association requires that doctors have different “permits” for these different levels of sedation. (www.adsahome.org) There are 3 levels. Generally level one allows the doctor to administer “laughing gas”. Level two allows the administration of pills and possible laughing gas. Level three allows for the direct administration of drugs intravenously and or pills and or laughing gas. Very few dentists are licensed to do all three. There are just a handful in the Portland Metro area. There is quite a bit of extra education and licensure required.

“Deep Sedation” (level three) is the deepest sedation. It is about three times more effective than with pills alone. At West Hills Family Dental we have all levels available for you if needed, including general anesthesia. I am partial to the level three. This type is the most predictable and our patients like the fact that it is safer. Just think about it. If you are prescribed pulls there are many factors to be considered. Pills are absorbed in the intestine. Variables such as food, stress, time, weight, etc. all have an effect so it is very hard to predict the proper dose needed at your appointment. The ability to give you just the right amount is very difficult and doctors error on the light side to prevent and overdose which can be serious….so what if you are still anxious? Take more pills? How many? How long will it take? Hard to adjust when you are in the office? I think you can see some of the problems. By administering drugs directly to your system by IV we can give you the perfect dose for your needs. It is safer because by titration of the dose we can immediately monitor your level so the dose is tailor-made for you right when you need it, no more, no less. Not like pills. Further we have reversal drugs that can be used immediately, if necessary. With pills it is just not possible to reverse a dose quickly, therefore the reason for a lighter dose in the first case.

Additional information available at these web sites:
www.oregon.gov/Dentistry/anesthesia.shtml, www.ada.org/prof/resources/positions/statements/useof.asp, www.dentalfearcentral.org/ivsedation.html

What is First and Second Phase Orthodontic Treatment

The goal of First Phase Treatment is to develop the child’s jaw size to make room for the future eruption of permanent teeth and to improve the relationship of the upper and lower jaws. Children sometimes exhibit early signs of jaw problems as they grow and develop. An upper or lower jaw that is growing too much or not enough can benefit from early orthodontic treatment. The early correction can prevent later removal of permanent teeth due to excessive overbite or overcrowding. Leaving such a condition untreated until all permanent teeth erupt could result in a jaw imbalance too severe to achieve an ideal result with braces.

• To maintain the First Phase Treatment results and to allow the remaining permanent teeth to erupt, retainers are worn at night between phases. Starting at age ten, children lose twelve primary baby) teeth and by age twelve or thirteen they gain sixteen permanent teeth. During this period occasional appointments for observation and retainer adjustments will be necessary, usually on a three to six month basis.

• Influence jaw growth in a positive manner
• Improve the width of the dental arches
• Reduce the need to extract permanent teeth
• Reduce or eliminate the need for jaw surgery
• Lower the risk of trauma to protruded front teeth
• Correct harmful oral habits
• Simplify and shorten treatment time for definitive orthodontic treatment (phase)
• Increase stability of final treatment results
• Improve speech development
• Improve position of first molars
• Guide permanent teeth into more favorable positions
• Improve lip competence
• Preserve or gain space for erupting teeth
• Improve compliance before the busy teenage years

The goal of Second Phase Treatment is to position all the permanent teeth to maximize their appearance and function. This is best accomplished by placing braces on all the upper and lower teeth. Due to the improvements made in First Phase Treatment, Second Phase Treatment requires less patient involvement (less frequent use of headgear and rubber bands), often eliminates removing permanent teeth and greatly reduces the time spent in full braces.

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