News to Make a Mouth Water… A thick, juicy prime rib of beef surrounded by a baked potato—all the trimmings—asparagus with drawn butter, fresh apple cobbler a la mode. Got your mouth watering? Good. Your salivary glands have been stimulated. And saliva’s a whole lot more important to you than helping you enjoy that special […]
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No More Metal Mouth
You don’t have to be a dentist to know that metal is NOT a normal component of teeth. Used to be, gold or silver amalgam was necessary to restore structural integrity to damaged teeth (especially molars) that would be subjected to the great stress caused by chewing. Today, there are new materials that stand up […]
Fluoride—You Never Outgrow Your Need
You grew up with fluoride. Your teeth show it in the very fact that you still have them. Before 1945, by the time your nest was empty, your mouth was often empty as well. But when cities began adding it to water supplies, tooth decay took a nose dive. Most of us never gave it […]
Who Wants Whiter Teeth?
Whitening, or bleaching, is a way to lighten teeth without bonding material to the teeth or removing any sound tooth structure. In this respect, it’s one of the most conservative cosmetic procedures we have. Here’s how it works. How does whitening work? Typically for in-office appointments, we’ll fit your mouth with a special mouthpiece filled […]
Sterilization
Keeping Our Office Safe For You We follow all guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and American Dental Association, particularly sterilization procedures for instruments used in the mouth. This means high speed drills too. Our autoclave is state-of-the-science—it’s monitored regularly by an independent testing laboratory to verify complete effectiveness. All clinical personnel wear […]
On Guard Against Oral Cancer
Oral Cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the world, it kills about one-third of those diagnosed with it, and 28,000 new cases occur each year. And over 25% of oral cancers occur in people who don’t smoke or have other lifestyle risk factors. Now that we’ve got your attention—there’s hope. Trouble Spots—Oral Lesions […]
How Valuable are Dental X-rays, Really?
There’s no substitute for a dental X-ray in seeing everything we need to know about your teeth, jaw and sinuses. We can diagnose decay under old fillings, abscesses, bone loss due to periodontal (gum) disease, cancer and tumors, extra and impacted teeth. We couldn’t see these conditions with the naked eye no matter how closely […]
What’s Your Smile Say?
The most famous smile in history belongs to Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting, the Mona Lisa. Generations of art analysts have speculated over its meaning. Seductive? Bashful? Secretly knowing? Or could it be, given her upturned—but firmly closed lips, that she was ashamed of showing her teeth? Could they have been chipped, stained, crooked or […]
Crown Considerations
When You’ll Need a Crown For whatever reason, your tooth needs reinforcement and restoration. Perhaps it’s an unsightly color. Maybe you cracked it on a popcorn kernel—or it’s been weakened by several fillings. Maybe you’ve had root canal therapy. You’re probably going to need a replacement crown on that tooth. If two or more teeth […]
Can Kissing Cause Cavities?
Sorry to say, it can. In fact, anything involving contact with saliva—a kiss, parents tasting their babies’ food, sharing of tableware and toothbrushes—can transmit decay-causing bacteria. Soon after birth, infants start to get those bacteria that inhabit the mouth and cause cavities. These germs are usually transferred by the babies’ mothers or other family members. […]
