Prevention is always better than treatment.  By actively preventing dental disease and decay through regular home care, professional dental cleanings and regular exams, you will maintain a healthy and beautiful smile.  In addition, effective prevention can help you avoid costly treatments in the future to remove decay, restore teeth and treat gum disease (periodontal disease).  Regular prevention is truly your best investment.  Natural teeth and teeth with restorations survive best in an oral environment that is clean and where the intake of harmful foods is controlled.  In order to do this, we recommend brushing your teeth at least twice a day for at least two minutes at a time.  Brush your teeth with a soft bristled toothbrush, moving the brush in a circular motion over every surface of every tooth.  Floss at least once a day, by moving the floss in an up and down motion while keeping the floss in a U-shape against the tooth surface. Use an antiseptic and fluoride rinse as directed to complement your oral hygiene program.

Dental x-rays or radiographs are very important. They allow the dentist to see things about your oral health that cannot be seen by the naked eye.  These could include cysts, cancerous and non-cancerous tumors, abscesses, decay between the teeth, the location of teeth that haven’t grown all the way in and the advanced nature of periodontal disease.  By using an x-ray to diagnose these problems, we can help save you money in the long run by catching problems early.  There are three basic kinds of x-rays:  bitewings – are the most conventional kind of dental x-rays and are used to spot cavities and bone levels surrounding the teeth.  They are taken on average once a year.  Periapical x-rays are broad pictures of an entire tooth and are used to spot deep tooth problems such as abscesses, bone loss and the root structure of a tooth.  Panoramic x-rays are designed to capture an entire mouth.  These x-rays can be used to spot tumors and cysts, positioning of wisdom teeth and permanent teeth that haven’t erupted into the oral cavity.  The location of nerves in the jaw and the sinus cavities in relation to the teeth are also seen on these x-rays.

Fluoride can be placed at the time of cleanings to help strengthen your teeth and reduce the chance of decay, by being incorporated in the enamel or outer surface of the tooth.  We use 2 kinds of fluoride – a foam version and a varnish version.  We place the foam version in special trays and bathe your teeth in the fluoride for one minute.  You are not to have anything to eat or drink for 30 minutes following this application.  With the varnish version, the varnish is like a sticky paint that is applied to the teeth, you can eat and drink right away after the application.  But, we recommend not brushing your teeth until the next morning to get the best benefit of the varnish fluoride.

Sealants are liquid coatings that applied to the chewing surfaces of permanent molar teeth and hardened with a special light.  The pits and grooves of permanent molar teeth are prime areas for decay to form and are often times the first place kids will get cavities in their permanent teeth.  The sealants are designed to prevent the intrusion of bacteria and other debris into the deep grooves on the chewing surface of the teeth.  Young children are great candidates for sealants when their permanent molars erupt into their mouths.  In order to apply the sealants, we first clean off the chewing surface of the tooth.  This is done by using air abrasion, which is like a sand blaster, and clears out all of the bacteria, debris and decay present.  Then an etching/bonding agent is applied to the surface of the tooth to help the sealant adhere better.  The sealant is then applied and a special light is placed over the tooth for 20 seconds to help the sealant harden on the tooth surface.

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