Restorative Dentistry
Comfortable, Comprehensive and Customized.
Same Day Crowns
When teeth are missing or damaged, crowns and bridges are used to restore, enhance or replace them. A crown, also referred to as a cap, can cover a damaged tooth entirely. Once a crown is placed the appearance, alignment, and shape of the tooth dramatically improve.
Same day crowns save our patients precious time! Rather than taking a mold of the tooth to send to a lab to make your crown, our dentists use a scanner to create a 3D image of your tooth and its surrounding teeth. Then the image is uploaded to a design software that allows a crown to be fully customized and designed. It allows our team and patients to see what the crown will look like in place before we place it using digital imagery.
Your crown is then created from a block of high-quality ceramic. Your dentist will then polish the tooth, adjust color to match the color of your existing teeth, then the crown is placed all in one visit!
Crowns may be used to :
- Replace a large filling where there is little tooth structure remaining.
- Keep a fragile tooth from fracturing
- Restore a fractured tooth
- Cover a dental implant, a poorly shaped tooth or a tooth that had a root canal treatment
Bridges
A dental bridge is the ideal method to fill the space left when teeth are missing. A bridge uses the teeth on either side to support artificial teeth. The artificial teeth on the bridge will replace the missing tooth both cosmetically and functionally. Creating a bridge is as much a science as it is an art. Multiple materials can be used to create a bridge; the choice of material depends on requirements for wear, strength and esthetics.
A prophylaxis usually includes scaling, root planing and polishing. Scaling and root planing are two forms of removing plaque from any surface it may have attached to, each one is used depending on the amount of buildup of plaque and tartar. Some dental hygienists perform scaling by hand, however, our dentists at Generations Family Dental use state-of-the-art technology that allows us to combine both mechanical scaling as well as manual scaling that leads to the most efficient results in less time. Polishing is the last step of a prophylaxis, which ensures the surface of each tooth is smoothed to prevent future plaque buildup.
Fillings
To restore a tooth back to its normal function and shape after it has decayed, a filling is the best solution. When getting a filling, our dentists will remove all parts of the tooth that have decayed, clean the area and fill in the recently cleaned cavity with filling material. The filling works by preventing bacteria from getting into the cracks and crevices of your tooth by sealing them off with the filling material. There are a variety of filling materials such as gold, silver, plastic, and porcelain. We will work with you to determine which material will be the best fit depending on the damage on your teeth, the location of the damage and the cost of each option.
Gold fillings are often the pricier option. They are custom made in a laboratory and then cemented into place. Many people consider gold to be the best option since these are well tolerated by gum tissues and may last upwards of 20 years.
Amalgam (Silver) is often the second best option for some patients given that these are also well tolerated by the gums, but they are less expensive. However, due to their dark color they are more noticeable than other fillings and can last just half the time that a gold filling would.
Composite (Plastic) composites are made to the exact color of the patient’s teeth to achieve the most natural appearance. Cosmetically, these fillings are the least noticeable, however they can last anywhere from 3-10 years and may not be suited for large fillings as they can chip. Just like real teeth, the composite filling can become stained from multiple elements such as coffee, tea or tobacco.
Porcelain fillings are custom made in a lab to match our patient’s teeth and then bonded to the tooth. Porcelain fillings resist staining, are natural looking, and are about the same costs as gold fillings. However, a porcelain filling covers the tooth almost entirely making the restoration nearly undetectable.
Dentures
A denture is a replacement for missing teeth and tissue that is removable. There are two types of dentures our patients would need; partial dentures and complete dentures. Partial dentures are used when some teeth are remaining while complete dentures replace all teeth. Dentures are made to resemble your natural teeth, therefore there should not be a noticeable difference. However, dentures may make a difference by improving your smile!
Complete denture: This method is used for restoring all the teeth that are missing to the function of natural teeth and smile. Since dentures are removable, they must be custom to a patient’s mouth, which may require some visits to exact the fit.
Partial dentures: When one or more natural teeth still remain a partial dental will be crafted for the patient. These artificial teeth are attached to a gum colored base that is held in place by the remaining natural teeth. Partial dentures fill the gap left by missing teeth and create support for the remaining teeth to prevent shifting.
Dental Implant Restoration
When a patient has missing teeth from either an injury or periodontal disease, a dental implant to restore their smile is often the best option. The implant process begins by surgically positioning a metal post into the jaw. Once it is in place and the bones have had time to heal, a replacement tooth is attached to the post. Dental implants provide the maximum amount of benefits for the patient because they are stronger than natural teeth and can last up to 20 years.
Patients with healthy gums, adequate bones, and who are committed to excellent oral hygiene are the best candidates for dental implants.
Nitrous Oxide Sedation
Our team of dentists at Generations Family Dental always put your comfort first. Using nitrous oxide, also known as happy gas, laughing gas, and inhalation sedation, patients are temporarily calmed and sedated to prevent any feelings of anxiety or discomfort. Nitrous oxide eliminates any feelings of pain or angst from your dentistry experience. Even after your visit, our patients do not have to worry about any “hangover” effect as the gas is completely removed from the body only three to five minutes after we stop the gas supply. The clear odorless gas is administered comfortably through a hood over the patient’s nose by our experienced anesthesiologists who make sure the amount is catered to each individual patient’s needs.