Our take on restorative dentistry

Restorative dentistry is tooth centered treatment. It encompasses “restoring” everything from the most tiny of new cavities in a tooth to a full coverage crown (cap) to save one that has been seriously compromised structurally.
It also includes replacing teeth that are lost, or replacing part of a tooth that broke due to an accident.
Technology continues to provide new materials and techniques for restoring teeth.
This office emphasizes those techniques that provide for the most conservative way of making a tooth look and feel like the original.Below is a review of the techniques and materials we use to keep our dentistry in what we believe is better than “state of the art”.

Restoring baby teeth with decay:
Combining new materials that self-adhere to the tooth, ozone to sterilize the cavity after removing decay, and a gentle, minimally invasive approach, most cavities can be restored without any anesthesia (no shots). By using ozone to sterilize them, some cavities don’t need to be “restored” at all, which results in less overall cost. The material we use is kind to tooth structure and contains no BPA.

Restoring Permanent Teeth with minimal decay or structural loss:
Combining ultra-conservative techniques, air abrasion, ozone, and biomimetic materials allows us to restore decay and defects in teeth so conservatively that rarely do we need to put the tooth to sleep.

Restoring Permanent Teeth with major structural loss:
With greater structural loss, the emphasis becomes one of the restoration containing the tooth instead of the tooth containing the restoration. Despite significant structural loss in these cases, the same rules of conservatism apply to preserve as much tooth structure as possible.  With these restorations we have more options as to materials. Gold is still around although is being used less and less. Porcelain, Composite, and Zirconia based restorations make up the bulk of what is done.  Considerations are made for what opposes the restoration as well as how much tooth structure remains to attach to.

Restoring Permanent Teeth that have had root canal therapy:
No one seems to agree on this one as the long held belief that a tooth that has a root canal filling is more brittle than a “live” tooth. Despite lack of agreement, we focus on enhancing the structural strength of the tooth utilizing the latest in internal reinforcement and bonding components together.

Replacing missing teeth – The Options

1. Removable denture with the missing teeth on it.
2. Fixed “Bridge” that attaches to teeth adjacent to the missing tooth space.
3. Dental Implant that replaces the root structure within the jaw bone itself.

Cosmetic Dentistry
As you drive up and down boulevards, you’ll find that most dental offices advertise or offer cosmetic dentistry. Our first and foremost goal in treating patients is to assure health. Therefore, before we consider doing cosmetic dentistry, we evaluate the whole dental system for health and functionality.
That doesn’t mean we don’t like cosmetics. I love doing cosmetic procedures on patients, but after the dental system has been brought into a healthy state. As I have said for years, “I want people to show off their smile because they feel like smiling”.
Therefore, issues like bruxism, missing teeth, headaches, neck and/or back pain, and TMJ should be addressed before doing cosmetic procedures. Probably the most rewarding aspect of treating someone who’s chief complaint was TMJ pain, or chronic neck pain, is in completing the part that resolves the chief complaint, then have them ask me if it would be okay to whiten their teeth now, or fix that ugly cap on their front tooth.
When someone feels good, they tend to smile a lot more, and nothing like a great smile to do that with.
More on this subject in its own page.