An individual dental treatment plan entails creating a plan to enhance oral health. It often combines preventive and corrective therapies in order to reach this goal.

Assuming we know why patients select specific dental treatments, identifying their reasons will serve as the basis for further studies to measure their significance from both dentists and patients perspectives – such as performing willingness-to-pay analyses – which will result in improved decision-making by both parties involved.

Implants

Implants provide the most aesthetically pleasing and natural tooth replacement option available – they look, feel and function just like real teeth while helping preserve jawbone health. When one or more of our natural teeth are lost, surrounding bone tissue deteriorates without stimulation from tooth roots; dental implants are the only restoration option that preserves and promotes new bone growth.

Dental implant surgery entails opening your gum and inserting a titanium screw-shaped implant post into the jawbone, known as an osseointegration process. Once healed, a dental technician will create a customized artificial tooth that fits onto an abutment post abutment post to complete treatment.

Implants are generally safe treatments, though there may be certain risks involved. The main one being infection – something we assess carefully for and encourage good hygiene practices and healthy lifestyle choices to minimize.

Crowns

Crowns are caps that fit over natural teeth or dental implants to strengthen and protect them against further damage. Crowns may be used to replace large fillings or improve the appearance of misshaped or discolored teeth.

Crowns can be constructed using various materials, but porcelain and ceramic crowns are generally the best choices due to their aesthetics and long-term performance. When properly cared for, crowns may last 10-20 years with regular brushing and flossing sessions as well as regular dental check-ups with your dentist.

Your dentist will perform an evaluation and may take x-rays before fabricating a temporary crown to protect the tooth until your permanent one arrives from their laboratory. They will numb the area before creating an impression for use by their lab.

Fillings

Dental fillings are an effective solution to protect teeth from decay and restore their functionality. A dental filling works by clearing away bacteria that cause cavities before filling in any existing holes to protect further damage to the dental structure.

Once numbed, your dentist will use a drill to extract any damaged tissues before applying a filling material and molding it around the tooth’s contours to form an effective filling solution. Finally, they’ll “cure” or set the filling using special lights.

Composite resin fillings are the go-to choice when it comes to dental fillings. Their color matches that of your tooth and helps protect it further against damage. Other popular filling options are glass ionomer and silver amalgam; both provide less durable but still effective protection; however due to concerns over mercury toxicity they have become less popular choices.

Root canals

Root canal therapy removes bacteria, dead or dying tissue and cleans out an infected pulp of a tooth. An infection of its pulp can arise as the result of deep decay; repeated dental procedures on one tooth; cracks or chips in teeth; large fillings; injury; or untreated injury to an already compromised tooth. If left untreated, undiagnosed infections can lead to severe pain, swelling and gum disease that require medical intervention to address.

To perform a root canal procedure, we begin by numbing the surrounding area around and including the tooth. After drilling an access hole, we remove bacteria, dead or dying tissue, cleaning debris from within the tooth’s interior including its root canals (inner canals). Next we clean each canal thoroughly with special antibiotic solutions before filling them up with rubber-like material to seal them permanently.

Extractions

Though our goal should always be to preserve natural teeth, sometimes extensive damage or decay render a tooth irreparable and extraction becomes the best solution to alleviate pain and protect surrounding teeth and gums.

After numbing the area, we use special tools such as elevators and extraction forceps to gently loosen and extract your tooth from its socket. Forceps then gently extract it while making sure all blood vessels and nerves remain numb during extraction.

After your procedure, we ask you to bite down for several hours on clean gauze in order to keep pressure on the wound and create a blood clot. Smoking, chewing or sucking at this site should be avoided in order to allow proper healing; doing otherwise could disrupt its formation and result in complications like dry socket.