Restoring teeth is an important and common part of professional dental care, and for many people, it’s a lifeline to helping them avoid tooth loss. However, some compromised teeth may be too far gone to fix, and the longer they remain, the bigger the threat might be to the rest of your oral health. Fortunately, you still have a solution to saving your smile. When a tooth can’t be fixed, we may recommend extracting the tooth and replacing in order to restore your bite’s function and your smile’s healthy, attractive appearance. (more…)
Tips to Make Your Dental Crown Last Longer
Your healthy, natural teeth are strong, but they aren’t indestructible. If you don’t care for them properly, or if they’re subject to extreme pressure and friction, they can become damaged or infected, no matter how strong they are. The same is true for your lifelike dental crown, which is designed to closely mimic your healthy, natural tooth structure as much as possible. While strong and durable, your dental crown will last longer if you take proper care of it and avoid things that could damage or compromise it. (more…)
The Important Facts About Root Canal Therapy
The more serious stages of tooth decay can sometimes seem like a much different condition than the more mild cases of cavities that people experience. Both are the result of tooth decay, which is an infection in your tooth’s structure, though mild to moderate cavities can often be treated conservatively with custom tooth fillings. In more advanced cases of decay, however, you could require more involved treatment, such as root canal therapy, to effectively remove the infection from your tooth. (more…)
Have a Cavity? Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Fill It
Being told that you have a cavity isn’t like being told that you need to have a tooth extracted or some other, more invasive procedure. In fact, most common cavities can often be treated with a conservative, tooth-colored filling in just a single day. However, the tooth decay behind your cavity’s development is very serious, and if given time, it can become severe enough to lead to tooth loss, and more. If you have a cavity, then we advise seeking treatment to fill it as soon as possible to avoid its more serious potential consequences. (more…)
Here’s Why Veneers Might Work for Your Smile
At some point in their lives, most people develop the desire to improve their smiles’ appearance. Perhaps one or more teeth have stained, or have chipped edges that impact your entire smile. Sometimes, cosmetic concerns can be even more severe, and can occur at the same time to create an even bigger impact on your smile’s appearance. Fortunately, we offer a wide range of cosmetic solutions at our Ankeny, IA, dental office to address any issue you might have with your smile. To help make your treatment as effective and conservative as possible, we may suggest utilizing custom porcelain veneers to improve all or nearly all of your smile’s appearance at once. (more…)
Bonding and Contouring For Your Best Smile
For most patients, a healthy smile is one of the top dental goals. That means regular checkups and cleanings, attention to detail when brushing at home, and paying attention to changes that could signal an issue. If you have those basics under control, you might be thinking about cosmetic dental concerns that keep you from being truly happy with your smile. Dental patients in Ankeny, IA know that there are minimally-invasive ways to make a big difference in your smile. Bonding and contouring might be the answer for you. (more…)
How Implant Restoration Can Restore Your Smile
It is estimated that approximately 178 million Americans are missing at least one tooth, according to the American College of Prosthodontists. This is a cause of embarrassment for some people. However, your smile consists of more than just your visible teeth. It includes their roots that offer support when you bite or chew. Your jawbone is stimulated by these roots, which help with the flow of nutrients to the bone and teeth. If you lose a tooth, though, the root loss can have an adverse effect on your jawbone’s health, and your overall health. Our Ankeny, IA, dental team is here to help with dental implant restoration. By replacing lost teeth roots, we can restore your ability to bite and chew properly and to ensure you have a healthy and strong jawbone and facial structure.
A Few Hints that Teeth-Grinding Is Becoming a Problem
Bruxism, or chronic teeth-grinding, can sometimes be an elusive condition to track. Most of us grind our teeth occasionally, some more than others, but that doesn’t mean they have bruxism or necessarily need treatment to stop. However, if you do have bruxism, you might not always notice how often you grind your teeth. It might occur mostly at night, while you’re sleeping and unable to catch yourself. Fortunately, there are other hints that could warn you your teeth-grinding habit is a problem, such as when the force and pressure start to affect your teeth and oral structures. (more…)
Got Gum Disease? Here’s Why That Matters
If you’ve only heard of gum disease through commercials for dental hygiene products, or as a hypothetical concern from your dentist, then you might not take it too seriously. Even if you’re told you have it, you might think buying a new brand of mouthwash will make it all okay. However, gum disease is a lot more serious of a condition than you might realize, and having it can lead to significant consequences for your oral health. (more…)
Your Holiday Feast: 4 Times To Ask “What’s In This?”
When you’re about to enjoy a holiday feast, what you’d really, really love to do is just relax. Eat the food that’s in front of you. Select whatever you find to be tasty, add it to your plate, and dig in! However, if you’re someone who takes your oral health seriously, who doesn’t like serious problems, and who prefers to prevent those problems (rather than jump right in and cause issues that are wholly avoidable), then we think we can help. Take a quick moment of your day to consider some instances during holiday meals when our Ankeny, IA team suggests you simply stop and ask, “What’s in this?”