Cosmetic Dental Treatment Choices

We think everyone ought to have the look of confidence that shows through when you  have a healthy smile.  Modern dental techniques make it easier than ever to have the kind of smile you’ve dreamed of in less time than you may have thought possible.

What “tricks” does dentistry have up its sleeve to beautify your smile?

1. Cosmetic Bonding – This process involves applying a synthetic, tooth-colored material to your teeth to rebuild or cosmetically sculpt them into a new, desired shape.
2. Crowns – This procedure involves reshaping the tooth so a permanent custom-designed replacement tooth can be placed over it to protect weak tooth structure or improve tooth appearance.  The crown, sometimes called a cap, is cemented or bonded to the tooth surface and is often made of porcelain to look as natural as possible.
3. Fixed Bridges – These dental appliances are nonremovable and serve to replace missing teeth.
4. Full or Partial Dentures – These removable appliances serve to replace missing teeth.
5. Orthodontics – This process straightens or realigns crooked or poorly positioned teeth.
6. Porcelain Veneers – These tooth-colored laminates are custom fitted to cover the front surfaces of your natural teeth to provide a better color, texture, or shape.
7. Tooth Whitening – This process involves applying a whitening solution or gel to lighten the teeth.  It is a safe, effective procedure for some types of tooth discoloration.  There are in-office and take-home varieties.
8. Snap-On Smile – This is a plastic appliance that goes over existing teeth to change the shape, fill in gaps, and replace missing teeth.  It does not cover the biting surfaces of the teeth and comes in and out for daily cleaning.

If you're in the northern New Jersey areal, please call us at 973-761-5090 to arrange for a consultation to discuss which option might be best for you to achieve a beautiful, healthy, new smile.

For information about other dental topics visit www.DrTav.com

What Are The Pros & Cons Of Removable Partial Dentures?

You can derive many benefits from replacing missing teeth with removable partials. Replacement teeth help fill out your smile by giving support to the cheeks and lips. Replacement teeth create a more youthful, vibrant appearance by holding up facial muscles and aiding in speaking, chewing, swallowing, and smiling.

An important benefit that removable partial dentures provide is that of maintaining teeth in position. When you have a full complement of teeth, each tooth serves to keep the others in position. The teeth touching each other prevents teeth from moving from side to side.  The teeth touching each other by opposing each other keeps them from extruding (basically keeps them from growing more into the mouth). 

When a tooth is extracted, the teeth on either side of the space start collapsing into the space.  When this happens the teeth tilt at an angle and this angle makes those teeth more susceptible to bone loss from gum disease.  The tooth opposite the extracted tooth site moves up or down into the space created by the missing tooth.  This can be so extreme that the tooth opposing the extraction site can touch the opposite gums, thus interfering with chewing.

A con to replacing missing teeth with removable partial dentures is that the partial denture is usually kept in place by metal hooks that go around the remaining teeth on either side of the extraction site.  These hooks act like forceps and slowly weaken the teeth holding the partial and many times lead to the slow extraction of the supporting teeth. The clasps also make the supporting teeth more susceptible to decay. Removable partials generally move in function, which means they are uncomfortable to chew with.

It’s best to rely on removable partials as a temporary solution to tooth loss if finances are insufficient to do the more stable replacement of missing teeth with dental implants.

For more information about dental implants visit our blog or our website: www.tavorminadentistry.com

What Happens During Dental Implant Treatment?

Implant treatment is usually performed by a general dentist, oral surgeon, prosthodontist, periodontist or a team of these doctors. At Tavormina Dentistry we are proud to be able to say that we are your dental implant team. We provide both placement of dental implants, restorations for dental implants, sinus lifts and bone grafting procedures related to placing dental implants.  If we receive a referral from a general dentist, we can do bone grafting and implant placement for the general dentist and then the general dentist completes the restorations for his patient. We have also done sinus lifts and bone grafting for periodontists only trained in implant placement.

 To devise the best treatment plan for you we first complete a medical and dental history and a thorough oral examination with x-rays. We want to make sure you are a candidate for dental implants from a dental and medical perspective.

First, a member of your team surgically places the implant in the jaw with the top of the implant just above the top of the bone. Your gums cover the implants. Generally, from three to six months or more is allowed for the bone tissue to grow around the implant and hold them securely in place.

Immediately after surgery we will give you specific post-surgical instructions to assure the best possible healing. We are unique in that we are trained to give you medication to prevent pain, swelling and infection. At the implant placement appointment you may be fitted with temporary dentures or natural-looking teeth to help you function as normally as possible until your dental implants are ready for the final restoration. You may have special dietary and oral hygiene instructions.

Once the jawbone has firmly healed around the implant, a small post is attached to each implant. The post protrudes through the gumline and serves as an anchor for the replacement tooth. After your gums have fully healed, the replacement teeth or dentures are securely attached to the posts.

For information about dental implants or other dental topics please visit DrTav.com