What Makes a Filling Tooth-Colored?

What makes a tooth filling necessary is the development of a cavity, which is one of the most frequent problems people can face with their teeth and oral health. When the problem is detected and treated early, a filling can effectively stop it from getting more severe and restore your tooth’s good health. However, modern tooth fillings are often more advanced than their predecessors, which is mainly due to the more biocompatible materials that they’re often made from. Today, we take a look at what makes a filling tooth-colored, and why its more natural appearance is only part of the overall benefits that it can provide your oral health. (more…)

Do These Symptoms Mean You Have TMJ Disorder?

The name, TMJ disorder, hints at the fact that the disorder mainly affects your jaw health and bite function. TMJ stands for temporomandibular joint, and when the disorder that’s named after it affects the two joints that control your jaw’s movement when your bite functions. However, that can sometimes be the only hint at what, exactly, TMJ disorder means for your oral health. Because of the dominance of your TMJs and the nerves that control them, TMJ disorder can manifest in multiple different symptoms that might not immediately be obvious as a jaw problem. (more…)

What a Bruxism Habit Can Really Do to Your Teeth

If you develop any concern with your oral health, the most important piece of advice you can receive about dealing with it is to do so as soon as possible. Most concerns are progressive in nature, and the longer it takes to address the problem, the more significantly it can impact the state of your oral health. With bruxism, that advice is especially important. While issues like decay in your tooth structure or the formation of gingivitis can grow progressively worse on their own, bruxism involves direct harm and damage to your natural tooth structure. This damage will become worse over time, and what bruxism does to your teeth could lead to more substantial long-term complications. (more…)

Making Your Child’s Teeth Less Susceptible to Cavities

Protecting your child’s smile can mean many things. For example, teaching them to stick to good dental hygiene principles will help protect them from heightened risks of common dental concerns. Visiting the dentist regularly is important to protecting their teeth and smiles from things that might not be obvious at first. If your child’s teeth become especially vulnerable or susceptible to something like cavity development, then protecting their smile can mean receiving a conservative preventive dental treatment to strengthen their teeth and reduce that risk. (more…)

3 Reasons To Keep Scheduling Dental Checkups

holding up 3 fingersHopefully, you feel confident that the steps you take every day to prevent cavities and gum disease will keep your smile safe. The right approach to good oral hygiene has lasting benefits, but remember that even with a smart routine in place, regular dental exams are beneficial. At our Cedar Rapids, IA dentist’s office, our patients can look forward to dedicated preventive dental care whenever they see us. The visits you schedule help you stay protected by dealing with tartar, identifying early signs of trouble, and warning you about issues like gingivitis. In addition to these common concerns, our practice is also prepared to discuss problems like chronic jaw pain and teeth grinding. (more…)

Using Cosmetic Dentistry to Fix Teeth Conservatively

Dental treatment comes in many different forms, and certain types of treatments are often designed to address specific types of concerns. For example, when teeth are cosmetically blemished, the right custom-designed cosmetic treatment can often address it with minimal changes to your tooth structure. However, there are some concerns that cause more than just cosmetic problems for your teeth, but that may be successfully treated with minimally invasive cosmetic dentistry. The advantage is restoring your smile while also improving its overall appearance, and all while keeping the scope of your treatment minimal. (more…)

What It Means to Benefit from Dental Implants

Benefiting from dental implants can mean a variety of different things. For example, if you’ve recently lost teeth and dental implants are the first restoration you receive, then you can benefit from preserving your smile and preventing many of the consequences of losing your teeth roots. If you’ve worn a conventional bridge or denture for years already, then you might benefit from improving your restoration’s comfort, performance, and ability to preserve the rest of your smile. In most cases, the main benefits of dental implants stem from the fact that they can replace your lost teeth roots, thereby reestablishing the many different functions they’re responsible for. (more…)

What Dental Treatment Means After Tooth Loss

For most people, dental care generally means taking good, consistent care of their teeth by keeping them clean and free of things like tooth decay. Doing so is meant to help improve your chances of preserving your healthy, natural teeth for life and avoiding the need to replace one or more of them. However, if you do experience tooth loss, then your dental care will still revolve around preserving your smile, though this may require replacing the tooth as soon as possible with a highly lifelike prosthesis. (more…)

When Extracting a Tooth Is Really Necessary

The fact that tooth loss is a negative influence on your smile and oral health is no secret. That’s why much of your dental care is meant to help you avoid losing one or more teeth by restoring them when they’re compromised, or by addressing other concerns that could lead to their loss. However, there can be times when removing a tooth on purpose could be the best solution for preserving and protecting the rest of your oral health. Though such situations aren’t exactly common, the need for extracting the tooth when they occur can have serious implications for your immediate and long-term oral health. (more…)

A Look at How Dental Crowns Save Teeth

It’s one thing to know that a dental crown can restore a tooth, but it’s another thing to actually need a dental crown to save your tooth. As one of the more popular restorative dental treatments, dental crowns are often recommended when a tooth is severely compromised and at a heightened risk of being lost or needing to be extracted. Faced with potentially losing the tooth, you can feel more strongly the importance of saving it with a custom-made dental crown. (more…)