Restorative Dentistry in Cottonwood, AZ
During your first dental examination with x-rays, you will be given the opportunity to discuss your dental health and goals. What is important to you, is priority for us. You will be presented with options to meet your dental goals. We offer many different services. But, you will be invited to join the decision-making process of what dental treatment will work best for you. In partnership with YOUR dentist, you will have a healthy smile and know you were a part of the process. Leaving the dental office feeling confident and informed of your dental plan is our goal.
Many adults have missing teeth. Dentists have many options to replace missing teeth. Dental bridges have been used for many years to help patients replace teeth, restore function and beautiful smiles.
A dental bridge is an option for tooth replacement when the missing tooth is between two natural teeth.
A dental bridge involves preparing the adjacent teeth called abutments, using a procedure similar to the preparations made when fabricating a single crown. A custom impression is taken, and temporary crowns are made to wear while the porcelain bridge is made.
The laboratory will fuse a false tooth, called a pontic, between the two abutment crowns to create a bridge to replace the missing tooth.
Porcelain bridges are durable and have the appearance of natural teeth.
Bridges require at least two appointments to complete. Sometimes additional appointments are recommended to ensure proper fitting of the bridge prior to cementation of the dental bridge. As porcelain bridges are bonded to the adjacent natural teeth, they are not removable. Bridges also require precise and meticulous homecare. As well as, in-office care with your dental team to maintain the health of the natural teeth supporting the bridge.
Contact the dentist voted best in Cottonwood for a consultation to replace your missing teeth. We are here to help you.
Dental crowns are recommended by dentists for a variety of reasons. If you have been told you need a dental crown (caps) and are unsure if it is the best option for you, please call today for a second opinion and consultation with our dental team.
Wondering if a Dental Crown is Right for You?
Whatever your dental problem is, the first step is to schedule an appointment with your dentist. During a consultation, your caring and gentle dentist will examine your teeth, take pictures, show you the concerns and discuss the options to restore the tooth. A crown might be one of a couple options available. It will be up to you and your dentist to talk about the pros and cons of each options.
Ultimately, making the decision together so you are confident the best dental care and treatment is being provided to you or your loved one.
Why is a Porcelain Dental Crown (Cap) Necessary?
Porcelain dental crowns, sometimes called dental “caps” replace the exterior portion of a tooth to re–establish its original function. This dental procedure will create a natural appearance along with durability. Crowns are the treatment of choice in situations where tooth decay has destroyed most of the original tooth, when a traumatic injury has caused tooth damage, or in cases of severe enamel erosion. When a dental filling is not the best option, a dental crown is a conservative and safe option to restore your tooth to full function.
Dental crowns differ from a dental veneer. They are both make from porcelain, but a dental crown is used to cover the entire tooth. A dental crown can be all porcelain or re-enforced with a metal base for strength. Your dentist will help determine which is best for you for function and aesthetics. A porcelain dental veneer covers only the front surface of a tooth. Veneers cannot be used to restore back teeth, like bicuspids or molars because they are not strong enough to withstand the forces of biting and chewing. It is best to seek the advice of your local dentist near Cottonwood, Arizona.
Dental crowns generally require two appointments to complete the procedure. The first dental appointment the tooth is prepared by the dentist. This appointment can take about an hour and it is important to take the time to ensure the crown fits precisely. The intent of a crown is to restore the damaged tooth and to seal and protect the natural tooth structure underneath. The dentist will take an impression of the prepared tooth for a dental laboratory to fabricate your custom crown.
While your custom porcelain crown is being made by the lab, you will have a temporary crown on the tooth to protect it. It is important to keep your temporary crown clean and in place. They are designed to last approximately two weeks. Because your temporary crown will not seal the tooth properly you must return to the dentist for a second appointment. The new porcelain crown will be seated and sealed to your tooth. Often the dentist, will make slight adjustments so your bite feels even.
Maintenance of your Dental Crown
Maintaining porcelain dental crowns is quite simple. Much like your original teeth, they require routine brushing with non-abrasive fluoride toothpaste and regular flossing. Of course, regular routine care with your dental team is necessary to check the integrity of the natural tooth structure and gum tissue around your crown. It is important to remember a dental crown covers your natural tooth, it does not replace it.
Dental implants are the restoration of choice when you have a missing tooth. The ability to replace one or multiple teeth with dental implants is available to you at Creekview Family Dental. We partner with the finest oral surgeons in the area to be certain your dental implant lasts you a lifetime.
What is a Dental Implant?
Dental implants are the restoration of choice when you have a missing tooth.
The ability to replace one or multiple teeth with dental implants is available to you at Creekview Family Dental. We partner with the finest oral surgeons in the area to be certain your dental implant lasts you a lifetime.
When you have a missing tooth or missing teeth, it is likely the best option to replace. It is a procedure requiring multiple steps with your dentist and dental team of professionals.
The first step is to have the area evaluated by your general dentist here at Creekview Family Dental.
Once you determine the dental implant is right for you, one of our finest specialists will surgically place the implant where the tooth is missing.
Several weeks are required for healing time and secure integration of the implant into the bone. During this healing time, you can eat, speak and drink normally, while keeping the surgical area clean and free form bacteria and debris. Once integration has been verified by the surgeon, you are released to your general dentist to have the implant restored.
Your dentist will secure a custom abutment into it. This abutment will act as the natural tooth above the gum-line. For aesthetics and function a custom crown is made and cemented to the abutment. Restoring a implant takes a least two appointments, a couple of weeks apart, to complete the process.
They have the highest success rate over other options to replace missing teeth. You and your dentist will determine if a dental implant is right for you.
Benefits of Dental Implants
There are several benefits to dental implants. They are a conservative approach to replace missing teeth as they are localized to just the area where the tooth is missing. Unlike other options, a dental implant does not require using adjacent teeth to help support the restorations. Dental implants are standalone replacement options.
For people who wear dentures, placing just a few implants for the denture to snap on will create a more secure fit and better function of the denture. For many long-time denture patients, dental implants have provided them the confidence to eat and speak normally without the fear of embarrassing slips or mishaps.
Dental implants take some time from start to finish. This slower process helps to ensure higher success rates as potential problems can be identified early and more options are available to cure infections or mis-fittings of the final restorations. Dental implants are becoming the standard of care to replace missing teeth and secure dentures for patients.
If you are missing teeth, it is crucial to replace them. Without all your teeth, chewing and eating can destabilize your bite and cause you discomfort. When teeth are missing, your mouth can shift and even cause your face to look older. Implants are a great way to replace your missing teeth, and if properly maintained, can last a lifetime!
An implant is a new tooth made of metal and porcelain that looks just like your natural tooth. It’s composed of two main parts: one part is the titanium implant body that takes the place of the missing root, and the second part is the tooth-colored crown that is cemented on top of the implant. With implant treatment, you can smile confidently knowing no one will ever suspect you have a replacement tooth.
In addition to tooth replacement, implants may be used to anchor dentures, especially lower dentures that tend to shift when you talk or chew. For patients with removable partial dentures, implants can replace missing teeth so you have a more natural-looking smile.
If you are considering dentures, you may want to start with a consultation from a local and caring dental team whose focus is to provide high-quality dentures if that is what you need. Dentures are commonly used to replace natural teeth that cannot be restored.
Dentures come in a variety of choices. Removable denture, partial dentures and implant supported dentures area all options available to you to replace your teeth or a broken denture.
The Denture Procedure
The art of creating natural dentures for you takes several steps and a skilled dentist and dental lab. Starting with a thorough dental exam, including an oral cancer screening, your dentist will take several measurements and impressions to start the denture process.
A conventional denture is designed to replace teeth when all the teeth are missing from an entire arch. Some cases, immediate dentures are created when existing teeth need to be removed and time to heal is necessary for a permanent denture to be created.
Your dentures can even be anchored to implants (implant-retained dentures) to ensure the dentures fit more securely. A complete denture is a full-mouth appliance that replaces your natural teeth and supports your cheeks and lips, restoring form and function to your smile. Implant supported dentures are the best option for patient comfort, restored ability to speak and eat without the denture slipping.
Denture relines are important and needed periodically over the life of your denture. As your body changes and ages, the supporting bone structure also changes. This requires the denture to be relined to keep the denture fitting securely. Some relines are done in the office by your dentist. However, a lab reline is often the best option to maximize fit. This procedure is started in your dentist office in the morning with an impression of the inside of the denture fitting your mouth properly. The lab keeps the denture for the day to custom reline for you. Picking up the denture for the dentist office in the afternoon includes a fitting and adjustments for any high spots.
Broken or lost dentures are a dental emergency for anyone who is without their denture. Your smile and confidence is important to you and it restoring it is important to us. At Creekview Family Dental, you will be seen as quickly as possible to begin the repair or replacement process for your broken or lost denture.
Benefits of Dentures
Missing teeth also cause the muscles in your face to sag, making you appear older. Dentures will support your facial structure, helping you to look younger while retaining the muscle tone in your face, jaw and neck.
Before you know it, you will have the long-lasting smile you’ve dreamed of that will restore not just your smile but restore your confidence. You will worry no more about smiling, eating or speaking. Maintaining good oral hygiene to ensure the dentures last for many years to come is important and regular visits to the dentist are still a must.
What is a dental inlay? What about a dental onlay? And what to expect if your dental team recommends of them? Many times, we hear from new patients that when they left other dental offices, they had more questions than answers. As a valued patient, every question and concern you have is important and each will be answered to your satisfaction.
Partial crowns, often referred to as onlay’s, are a type of dental restoration or porcelain filling that covers one or more cusps of your tooth. Onlay’s are also made of porcelain by a lab and take two appointments to complete. An inlay is like a dental filling, but the restoration is made of porcelain by a lab and is placed within the cusps on a tooth’s chewing surface. These restorations are much more conservative than crowns and can be imperceptible from your natural tooth. However, the use of onlays and inlays are limited to very specific situations and are not as common as a dental crown.
What is a Dental Inlay?
An inlay is a lab fabricated porcelain filling that fits into the grooves of a tooth and do not extend over the cusps of tooth. The patient is numbed using a local anesthetic and the dentist drills the tooth to remove and clean out the decay in the tooth. This is one of the restorative methods used to repair a tooth after it sustains harm from injury or decay that does not affect the cusps of the tooth. The dentist takes an impression and sends it to a laboratory where the inlay is made.
Inlays are manufactured from porcelain or composite resin material matching the color of the tooth and provide almost invisible dental restoration while repairing the chewing surface. Dental inlays are generally more durable than regular fillings made from composite or amalgam.
What is a Dental Onlay?
Onlays also fit inside the tooth but extend onto the chewing surface of a back tooth to replace one or more cusps. In the past, onlays were made only of gold, but like inlays, more and more patients request a tooth-colored onlay. Making the onlay of ceramic/porcelain allows the restoration to be bonded to the tooth.
This bonding process may actually improve the strength of the tooth and help seal the onlay to the tooth. Sometimes It is difficult to determine when inlays or onlays can be used instead of crowns or caps. But, you are in great hands at Creekview Family Dental as our dentists will review all your options with you to determine the best dental plan.
Dental fillings are used to fill cavities cause by dental decay. Tooth colored dental fillings can also repair minor tooth injury such as cracked or broken teeth. Fillings are commonly done with materials called composite or resin. These materials are designed to match the color of your teeth. Tooth colored fillings are the preferred method of tooth restoration. Dental amalgam fillings are still used and considered safe by the ADA. However, composite dental fillings are more conservative, require less tooth reduction as they are bonded to the tooth structure and held in place by strong bonding materials.
When you have a dental cavity, it is important to have it filled as soon as possible, even if it does not hurt. Catching dental decay in the smallest stages means a smaller filling with less damage to your natural tooth structure. Like you, our goal at Creekview Family Dental, is to help you save your teeth and conserve the natural tooth enamel. Nothing is as good as your own enamel. We know it and feel it is important to treat dental cavities early and conservatively.
Tooth colored fillings can vary in time and cost depending on the extent of the damage to the tooth. What we do know, is the longer you wait to remove decay and fill a tooth, you are at risk for discomfort and increased expense. We are here to help you keep your dental care affordable and comfortable. If you have any questions about fillings, please call our office today.