Preventative Care:
Checkups & Cleaning
By seeing your dentist every six months for cleaning, an exam and X-rays, you do wonders for your smile. Regular checkups can detect problems while they are small, and a dental hygienist will provide a gentle, thorough cleaning to prevent any buildup. Most insurance companies cover the check-up and cleaning at or near 100 percent.
Sealants
Our sealants will smooth out the small grooves in a molar that can’t be cleaned by brushing. Sealants are helpful in preventing cavities down the road.
X-Rays
With digital radiography, we take X-rays using 50-70 percent less radiation versus conventional X-rays. Using our imaging software, digital X-ray technology allows us to enhance and enlarge the images for a better diagnosis.
Restorative Procedures:
Soft Touch Dental is the one-stop destination for all of your needs. This includes more-advanced procedures to ensure your dental health.
Fillings
Regular checkups also will catch cavities while they’re small and easy to treat. If left alone, cavities can turn into larger problems, requiring a root canal or a crown. Don’t forget, we provide anesthetic for patients to ensure their maximum ease and comfort.
Gum (periodontal) treatments
By staying on top of your regular exams, we can identify gum problems before they become severe. If gums aren’t healthy, it can endanger the teeth as well. Signs of unhealthy gums include: gums that are red and bleed easily, persistent bad breath, gums that are pulled away from the tooth, loose teeth, and changes in the position or bite of the teeth. However, with the timely treatment and proper care, they can be returned to a healthy state. Gum treatments usually involve a deep cleaning or root planing and scaling. This is done under a local anesthetic, and local antibiotic agents. Early intervention and treatment can prevent the need for surgery or extraction.
Root Canal
Root canals can become necessary when a cavity is neglected too long to treat a damaged nerve in the tooth. Of course, regular cleanings and checkups prevent and detect these types of problems before they require this kind of procedure. Once the pulp becomes infected, it cannot heal on its own and must be treated. Symptoms that the pulp has become infected may include sensitivity to hot, cold or sweets, pain, swelling, painful biting, and a bad taste in the mouth. Sometimes, there are no symptoms and the problem isn’t discovered until a checkup.
A root canal cleans out the infected tooth pulp, and the canals of the tooth are disinfected. A core build-up and crown is recommended for restoring a tooth that has had root canal therapy. Other treatments include extracting the tooth. Again, Soft Touch Dental provides aesthesia to ensure the patient’s comfort throughout the procedure.
Cosmetic Dentistry:
If you’re unhappy with your smile, we can improve it. Our gentle and thorough approach to your dental appearance will provide you with a new confidence and gleam.
Bridges
Bridges replace missing teeth, both functionally and cosmetically. The materials used may be noble gold alloys or porcelain bonded to a noble gold alloy. The choice of material depends on requirements for strength, wear, and/or aesthetics.
It is important to replace a missing tooth as soon as possible to keep the surrounding teeth from shifting inward. This can worsen as the bite changes in response to the pressure. This can eventually result in problems with the entire jaw, such as TMJ. The surrounding teeth deteriorate and those too can be lost. Missing teeth also contribute to the onset of gum disease.
Crowns
Crowns are restorations used to cover a tooth that is breaking or that has enough decay where a filling won’t fix the problem. They often are placed after a root canal treatment or when a large filling wears out. Crowns ride over the weakened tooth, providing strength and protecting the tooth against breakage. Crowns can be made in high-strength porcelain over noble gold, all ceramic material, or noble gold.
Implants
Dental implants are a great option for replacing a missing tooth. This permanent solution has the advantages over bridgework because it does not stress the surrounding teeth for support and, should the tooth wear out, another can simply be replaced. It is a surgical procedure where a shaft is implanted into the bone and allowed to set. The bone grows around it forming a tight connection, which then slows or stops bone loss. We then attach a replacement tooth onto the top of the shaft. Implants also are used to support an implant bridge. This is an alternative to partial dentures, because there is no adjustment period, and it slows the bone loss that can occur with missing teeth. Plus, there is no discomfort or difficulty in eating; and they don’t have to be taken out.