How is Periodontal Disease Treated?

It is an unfortunate fact that many of our patients have some form of periodontal disease and do not know it. Because the disease has few distinguishing symptoms and builds slowly over time, an experienced periodontist must diagnose and treat the problem to prevent tooth loss.

Our periodontist in San Francisco is one of the group of dentists who focus on treating and preventing dental problems affecting the supporting structures of the teeth.

Gum disease ranges from minor plaque build-up to gingivitis to full-blown periodontitis. For this reason, the treatments for periodontal disease vary according to the severity of the condition.

Although individual circumstances are unique, the general guidelines for treating the levels of periodontal disease are as follows.

• In its earliest stages, a thorough professional cleaning is an effective treatment for gum disease. It is important for you to continue to maintain good oral hygiene including brushing, flossing, and regular dental checkups.

• For patients with gingivitis, the plaque has hardened below the gumline and formed tartar. A dental professional will perform what is known as scaling and root planning to remove the hard substance. This involves using special instruments to slide below your gum line to remove the tartar. Fortunately, this is a highly successful procedure. In the majority of cases, the tooth roots and gums reattach once there are no impediments.

• Periodontitis has different stages; all require significant intervention if the tooth, or teeth, are to be saved.

ü Early stage periodontitis often responds well to gum flap surgery. This procedure involves the dentist pulling back the gums and cleaning away the built-up tartar and plaque.

ü Advance cases of periodontitis often require bone surgery or bone grafts. Bone surgery often takes place following gum flap surgery. Before reattaching the gum, the dentist reshapes the bone to remove pits or crevasses where bacteria collect. Bone grafts involve the dentist attaching pieces of healthy jaw bone to the afflicted area of the jaw. The goal is to encourage new healthy bone growth.

Gum health is critical to overall good dental health. If you would like to learn more, please contact our office. 

What is a Smile Makeover?

Often, patients come to our office with more than one dental issue. When a patient needs numerous treatments to have the smile of their dreams, our cosmetic dentist in Northridge often suggests a smile makeover.

Patients frequently ask our staff what a smile makeover consists of; this is a difficult question to answer. A smile makeover is not just a single procedure. It is one of a kind care plan you create with the oversight of our dentist. The goal of a smile makeover is to give you a smile you love.

While no two smile makeovers are the same, here is a list of the most popular treatments in a smile makeover.
• Bonding
• Braces
• Crowns
• Gum Contouring
• Implants
• Invisalign
• Teeth Whitening
• Veneers

There are several phases involved in your smile makeover. Be advised that this is not a fast fix, and you will have weeks or possibly months of dental appointments before the work is complete.


STEPS INVOLVED IN A SMILE MAKEOVER

1. CONSULTATION- Your consultation with our dentist aims to find out the specific things you dislike about your smile and what you would like to change. Once you and our dentist share a clear picture of the smile you want, your smile makeover will begin.
2. EXAMINATION- A complete exam, including x-rays, is your next step in the makeover process. Occasionally, our dentist finds minor problems, like a cavity, we must repair before moving forward.
3. TIME FRAME- It is difficult to pinpoint exactly how various long phases of your treatment will last. Some procedures, like dental implants or orthodontic treatments, revolve around how quickly your body acclimates to the procedure.
4. TREATMENTS- Once all of your plans are in place, our dentist will start your smile makeover. Remember to be patient. This is an ongoing process with outstanding results. It will be worth your time.
5. COMPLETION AND FOLLOW-UP VISITS- Once all of the treatments are complete, we will schedule several follow up appointments. These are essential for maintaining results and troubleshooting problems.

The majority of our smile makeover patients tell us the makeover changed their life. Why not call us today and start your smile makeover?

Are Dental Implants Right for Me?

Our dental office treats scores of patients who are missing one or more teeth. Aside from being unsightly, missing teeth eventually lead to bone loss and a change in your facial structure. Dental implants can stop bone loss and give you back your smile. The American Dental Association feels implants are one of the most important advances in recent dentistry.

When you lose a tooth, you no longer have a root to contact the nerves in your jaw. Because there is no contact, your brain believes this area is unnecessary and stops sending nutrients to that part of your jaw. This is when bone loss begins. After enough bone is gone, your face will start sagging and then appear sunken.

The process involved in dental implants requires between three and six months. This is because after our dentist places a titanium screw in your socket, the area must heal and the screw must fuse to the bone before the cap placement occurs.

Dental implants can stop and reverse bone loss. When the screw used as the implant base stimulates the nerve endings in your jaw, your brain begins to send nutrients to the area once again. This allows the bone to grow back improving your overall dental health and your appearance.

Dental implants also greatly improve your ability to bite and chew foods. At one time, you may have avoided healthy, but difficult to chew foods like fresh fruit and raw vegetables. By opting for softer and less nutritious foods, you robbed your body of essential vitamins and minerals. With dental implants, you can eat whatever you like.

Only our dentist can help you decide if dental implants are for you. Consulting with our dental implant dentist in Torrance can help you learn all of the details involved in your dental implant care plan. Please contact our office to make an appointment to talk with our dentist about getting dental implants.

How to Prepare for Dental Emergencies

If you had a dental accident or emergency, would you know how to handle it? Being prepared for dental emergencies is as important as being prepared for any other kind of emergencies. Our Encino dentist offers emergency dental care. 

Prevention

Many dental emergencies can be avoided with good dental habits. Brush and floss your teeth to remove disease-causing bacteria and plaque. Visit our office at least twice a year so that we can catch early signs of problems and replace old, worn restorations when necessary. Wear a night guard if you grind your teeth in your sleep, and wear a protective mouthguard if you engage in athletic activities.

Periodically check your own mouth for signs of problems, such as sharp edges on teeth, pain, irritation or restorations that are loose or showing damage. Addressing issues quickly can prevent them from worsening. 

First Aid

Your best efforts might not be able to prevent all dental emergencies. Because of this, you need to keep a dental first aid kit close at hand. With the tools in your kit, you can manage common dental emergencies until you can reach our office.

Stock your first aid kit with: 

·        Nitrile or latex gloves for protection

·        Alcohol wipes to clean blood or remove dirt

·        Cotton or gauze to stop bleeding

·        Salt to create a soothing rinse

·        Dental floss to remove debris

·        Topical anesthetic and over-the-counter pain relievers to ease pain

·        Temporary dental cement to protect injured teeth or reattach crowns that have been dislodged

·        Dental wax to cover damaged orthodontic appliances or sharp tooth edges

·        Treating Dental Emergencies 

Although first aid can stabilize your dental health temporarily, it cannot replace professional care. This is especially true if you have lost a restoration, cracked or broken a tooth, dislodged a tooth or knocked a tooth out. In these situations, seeking dental care as soon as possible is vital, and with a knocked-out or dislodged tooth, it is essential that you seek care immediately. Call our office today to learn more or to schedule an appointment with our emergency dentist in Encino. 

How Effective are Braces?

Our office works with many orthodontic patients as well as patients who would like to learn more about braces. Our dentist and our staff frequently hear questions from those who want to know if braces are effective.

Our dental office is proud that we give our patients helpful and relevant information. Even after decades of practice, our braces dentist in San Francisco is still helping patients get beautiful and straight smiles.

While there are a few main kinds of braces, we find that the traditional wired braces are most effective across a wide range of orthodontic problems. Dental problems like poorly aligned teeth, crossbites, overbites, malocclusions, underbites, and other misalignments all respond well to metal braces. Wired braces consist of brackets, bonding adhesive, archwire, and ligature bands. To place braces, our dentist attaches the brackets to the patient’s teeth and carefully guides the archwire through the brackets. Finally, he attaches rubber bands to the wires. These will control the pressure of the braces.

These are popular variations of wired braces.

• Clear braces- The very popular clear braces work just as wired braces do. The main difference is clear braces are often known as invisible because the brackets are see-through or tooth-colored. The clear braces are a bit less durable than wired braces. Because of this our dentist does not recommend clear braces for severe misalignments requiring a great deal of pressure.

• Lingual braces- These braces have wires and brackets placed on the inside of the mouth by attaching to the back of the teeth. The way lingual braces work in the same way as traditional metal braces.

Invisalign- While these are not technically braces, they are an effective orthodontic treatment. A set of transparent plastic alignment trays modeled from molds or digital scans of a patient’s teeth. The trays fit over the upper and lower teeth and move the teeth to the optimal position.

If you are interested in finding out more about the types of braces, call our office. We can answer your questions and make an appointment for your consultation.

Invisalign and How It Works

Our patients who are seeking orthodontic treatment often ask us about the Invisalign system, how it works and what it can do for their teeth. The Invisalign treatment system is an alternative to traditional wired braces. It is popular because it is comfortable, discreet, and removable. After more than 20 years and five-million smiling patients, Invisalign is the gold standard in orthodontic alignment tray treatments.

How Invisalign straightens teeth:

To fit you for the Invisalign system, our dentist takes a digital scan of your teeth; the dental lab uses the image to make a series of clear and lightweight plastic alignment trays. The series starts out fitting snugly to your teeth in their present position. You will change your alignment trays periodically throughout your treatment. As the aligners gradually change they guide your teeth into the correct position with steady but gentle pressure.

The most significant results of Invisalign include:

• Properly aligned teeth-
Realigning misaligned teeth is the primary reason patients are interested in orthodontics. The Invisalign system is highly successful when used to realign mild or moderately crooked teeth. Our Invisalign dentist in Torrance will assess your teeth before moving forward with Invisalign. If you have an incline of more than 45 degrees or a tooth rotation of over 20 degrees, the Invisalign system will not adequately correct your issues.

• Correcting bite problems-
Even though Invisalign is not meant to take the place of needed surgical treatments, some of our patients had overbites or underbites corrected with Invisalign.


• Improve speech impediment-
We see many patients who struggle with speech because they have misaligned teeth. The misalignment blocks the tongue’s movement causing speaking problems. The Invisalign system helps remove the problem by realigning teeth and allowing the tongue a free range of motion.

If you are interested in learning more about Invisalign and how it can help you, please contact our office. We are happy to arrange a no-obligation consultation.

Recovery After Dental Extraction

Our dental practice no longer extracts as many teeth as once was common. As restorative treatment options continue to improve, dental extractions tend to decline. However, there are still circumstances where pulling a tooth is the best option for you. You can rest assured we will provide gentle and efficient care to make the experience as comfortable as possible.

There are several reasons our dentist in Van Nuys may suggest an extraction. One of the most common reasons is that you have no room in your mouth for more teeth. This frequently happens with the third molars, commonly known as wisdom teeth. Another circumstance leading to extraction is a severe injury or trauma to a tooth. If the tooth is rendered unrepairable, our dentist may opt to pull the injured tooth and place a dental implant after the site heals. Excessive periodontal disease is frequently the reason to extract a tooth before it breaks or falls out.

A dental extraction is a straightforward procedure. If you are having a single tooth removed, you will most likely get an injection of a local anesthetic. This will numb the area around the tooth, but you will be awake throughout the procedure. If our dentist is removing several teeth or impacted teeth, you will receive general anesthesia. Once you are numb or asleep, our dentist will use forceps to remove your tooth. You may get a few dissolvable stitches to close the area.

For a smooth recovery, it is essential to follow the direction of our dentist. A blood clot will form over the empty socket. You should avoid disturbing the clot. This aids the healing process and prevents an extremely painful condition known as dry socket.
Additionally, plan on resting for at least 24 hours after the procedure. Do not smoke or use a straw because both are known to dislodge the clot covering the empty socket. Use an ice pack for 10 minutes at a time to reduce pain and swelling. Take any prescribed pain medication as directed. Limit your diet to soft foods for a few days.

A typical extraction takes a week or longer to heal fully. Do not try and rush the healing process. If you experience any unusual bleeding or extreme pain, call our office right away. While no one likes having a tooth pulled, we will do all we can to make it an uncomplicated process.