General dentistry involves treatments that help protect smiles of all ages from issues like tooth decay, gingivitis, teeth grinding, and more. Our team recommends a visit every few months so we can help you maintain optimal oral health. In today’s blog, your Lake Orion, MI, dentist talks about the importance of general dentistry.
Starting with a Checkup and Cleaning
People of all ages, from the youngest member of your family to the oldest, benefit from a checkup and cleaning visit every six months. The oral health concerns that threaten your smile, such as tooth decay and gum disease, don’t form overnight. Which means checking in every six months can enable us to identify these concerns in the earliest stages, often before you develop uncomfortable symptoms. Our team will examine the smile with digital x-rays and intraoral camera images to make a diagnosis with precision and accuracy. We then create a treatment plan to address the issues we discover. For kids, we look for cavities, gingivitis, and issues that could lead to misalignment. We look for risks for cavities, TMJ disorder, bruxism, and oral cancer in our adult patients.
In the same visit, we will also clean the teeth thoroughly. A dental cleaning means we use an ultrasonic scaling device and a manual tool to break up plaque and tartar buildup gently and thoroughly from the teeth, a process that helps brighten the smile and lower the risk of bad breath, teeth stains, cavities, infections, and even gingivitis and gum disease. We then polish the teeth, which not only brightens them, but makes it more difficult for plaque and tartar to adhere to them before your next cleaning visit!
Bruxism
Bruxism is a widespread oral health issue, often brought on by factors like stress, tooth loss, misalignment, untreated TMD, and injury to the face or jaw, or even complications with the growth of the jaw or the eruption of your teeth. When we grind and clench our teeth on a nightly basis, this can wear down the structure and even crack or chip the teeth. Your teeth appear shorter than usual, and you’re at a greater risk of tooth decay and infection too. Our team can create an oral appliance that looks and fits like a mouthguard, but repositions the jaw to ease any stress and strain in the smile. The appliance also puts a barrier between the upper and lower sets of teeth to prevent further injury!
Our Metal-Free Dental Restorations
When we find a tooth that needs treatment, we offer metal-free dental restorations. These not only look natural, but are safe for patients of all ages and contain no trace amounts of mercury, which are often found in metal restorations. We can create fillings to treat cavities from composite resin, which contains no metal and can be shaded to blend with your smile. Our crowns can be made from porcelain or zirconia, able to handle daily bite forces and provide custom and durable restoration that look natural too. For minor tooth loss, we could create dental bridges that look natural and address between one and three missing teeth in a row. These bond with the teeth and provide repair that can last for years to come, so you can smile with confidence following your treatment.
BOTOX®
When most people think of BOTOX®, they think of fighting wrinkles and common signs of aging. While this medication has the ability to provide a more youthful appearance, this can also provide relief from jaw stiffness, tension, and discomfort in your face and mouth from untreated TMJ disorder and bruxism. When injected into the jaw and face, these ease muscle contractions to prevent discomfort, and to also ease the stress behind these common jaw joint disorders. The effects can last for months to come, and we can readminister during your checkup appointments. You can enjoy a more comfortable smile and a more youthful appearance for months to come!
If you have any questions about how we provide general dentistry for our patients, or if you or a member of your family need a general dental appointment, then please reach out to our team today. With general dentistry, we have the potential to protect your smile and provide lifelike and durable treatments to help you smile with confidence again.
Learn More About Our Approach to General Dentistry
General dentistry can help you maintain the health and beauty of your smile, safeguarding smiles in childhood, and protecting the teeth and gums of teens, adults, and seniors too. For more information on how we safeguard the health of you and your family’s smiles, then please contact Lake Orion Family Dentistry in Lake Orion, MI by calling 248-693-6213.
