Preventing Gum Disease: Why Deep Cleaning is Important

With only one set of natural teeth, it is important that you brush your teeth twice a day, use mouthwash, and floss after every meal, as instructed by your dentist. By practicing good dental hygiene habits, you can keep your smile healthy and strong. Depending on your food and drink choices, tobacco use or overall health, brushing and flossing may not be enough to keep your gums in perfect health.

While your at-home dental routine is very important, your toothbrush and floss can only do so much when it comes to cleaning below the gum line, particularly once plaque has hardened into tartar. In order to prevent gum disease and tooth loss, you need to have regular visits with your dentist to keep plaque and tartar. For some patients, a deeper, more involved cleaning will be necessary to encourage healthy smiles.

What is a Deep Cleaning? 

Also referred to as a scaling and root planning, deep cleanings are recommended for patients suffering from gingivitis or more advanced forms of gum disease. Scaling is a treatment method that removes plaque from the surface of your teeth and below the gum line where periodontal pockets have formed. This can be done manually, or with ultrasonic instruments. Root planning is when the dental hygienist goes in and removes plaque or tarter from the surface of your tooth roots.

Depending on how many quadrants, or sections, of your mouth need deep cleaning, your treatment may take place over a span of two visits.  The dentist may also prescribe an antibiotic to kill any lingering bacteria. When combined with a deep cleaning, antibiotics can speed up healing and decrease the risk of the continued progression of gum disease symptoms.

Don’t Fear the Dentist

Many people put off visiting the dentist for regular cleanings because they are afraid or embarrassed about the condition of their smile. However, failure to undergo regular cleanings can have negative impacts on your overall dental health. Gum disease is only reversible in its earliest stage and if you have been avoiding the dentist, you may end up needing more extensive care to treat your condition. Your hygienist is trained to provide gentle care and to maximize comfort during deep cleanings.

Make an Appointment Today

Routine dental cleanings promote oral health and wellness through preventative measures and early detection to limit additional dental work. Contact your San Marcos dentist at Grandon Village Dental Office to schedule an appointment that will improve your smile. 

Sedation Dentistry- What Method is Best for You?

Do you have trouble relaxing at the dentist? Does a fear of the dental chair keep you from making regular appointments? If any of these behaviors sound familiar, you may be one of the many Americans suffering from dental fear or anxiety. For these individuals, sedation dentistry offers an effective option for alleviating feeling of anxiety while in the dental chair.

Sedation dentistry uses medication to help nervous patients relax and to improve overall patient comfort during dental procedures. It can be used for virtually any dental procedure, from in-depth procedures to routine cleanings.

Nitrous Gas versus Oral Sedation

There are different levels of sedation used by medical professionals, each of which are recommended based on the patient’s need and the extent of their upcoming procedure. At Grandon Village Dental, your San Marcos dentist offers two types of sedation- nitrous gas and an oral sedative.

Nitrous Gas- More popularly known as “laughing gas,” this sedative option is breathed in through a mask.  Nitrous oxide is very relaxing, and your dentist can control the intensity of the sedation. As this option does wear off fairly quickly, it is the only form of sedation where most patients are able to drive themselves home after the procedure.

Oral Sedation- The strength of your oral sedative can range from minimal to moderate strength. Our San Marcos dental office offers Halcion administered in pill form. This medication is very similar to valium, and is taken an hour before the procedure takes place. Oral sedation does tend to make patients drowsy and relaxed, however patients stay awake for their entire procedure. As a result, we have patients enlist the help of a family member or friend to drive them to our practice before and after their procedure.

Sedation dentistry is perfect for patients who have a genuine fear of the dentist, have a low pain tolerance, have sensitive teeth, or have an overactive gag reflex.

Make an Appointment!

Don’t let your anxiety get the best of you! Regular dental appointments are very important, so don’t let a fear of dental procedures make you avoid them. Contact us today at Grandon Village Dental Office and we will talk over sedation options for your next visit!

Dental Implant Supported Dentures

If you’re missing one or several teeth, you may be considering dentures. With technological advancements in dental methods and procedures, dentures can now be a more permanent solution with the support of dental implants. With implant-supported dentures, patients are discovering a more reliable way to restore their smile so that it’s both attractive and functional.

What is a dental implant supported denture?

Implant-supported dentures offer a secure, no-slip alternative to traditional dentures.

Conventional dentures rest on your gums and are set in place using a gooey adhesive, leaving room for movement. A stabilized denture is anchored to implants that have fused to your jaw bone through a process called osseointegration. The implants offer a more stable and durable base for dentures.

There are multiple ways to retain a denture with dental implants. In some cases the denture is fixed to the dental implant and patients are not able to remove their denture alone.  However, our San Marcos dentist will remove your denture during routine office cleanings. Conversely, an implant-supported denture that uses locators or a bar attachment, can be removed each night by the patient for cleaning and snaps into place atop the dental implant.

With all types of implant dentures, prosthetics are constructed to look like your gums, and natural teeth for an aesthetically pleasing smile.

What are the benefits?

With conventional dentures, your daily routine can be impacted as the denture paste’s strength wears down throughout the day. Many denture wearers complain of teeth slippage, slurred or impaired speech, and an inability to eat and enjoy the foods they love. Dental implant supported dentures offer a solution to these daily problems. By securing your denture to implants, you will be able to eat the same foods and enjoy life as you always have, but with more confidence!

Am I a candidate?

Finding out if you are a candidate for implants is easy. You will meet with our San Marcos dentist for a consultation and exam, and to discuss treatment options. Implant-supported dentures are an alternative solution for patients who have experienced frustration with traditional dentures. These fixed dentures provide a more permanent option that benefits oral health benefits.

Contact our San Marcos Dentist

Take back your control of your smile by choosing natural looking dental implant supported dentures. These low- maintenance restorations are a wonderful treatment for patients with missing teeth. Call us to today to schedule a consultation at Grandon Village Dental Office so we can determine if implant dentures are right for you.  

How Does Invisalign Work?

If you are interested in orthodontic care, it is important to understand how Invisalign® works, in respect to traditional braces. With several available alternatives to metal braces to choose from, being informed about your options helps you make the right choices.

Invisalign®, the Clear Choice

Improving your bite will make aesthetic changes to your smile. When using metal braces to improve your smile, you are stuck with a mouth of metal. Invisalign is a clear option to avoid ‘metal-mouth’. The clear aligners are able to provide the same results as traditional braces, and often in less time. The aligners are custom-created, based on a digital image that gives more exact results than goopy impressions. Using the same digital technology, our San Marcos Invisalign provider can show you what your teeth will look like once treatment is complete.

The aligners are made out of a BPA-free plastic that is comfortable to wear and won’t irritate the soft tissue in your mouth. One of the best advantages of these clear braces is the flexibility to remove them during eating and brushing.

Creating a Series of Aligners

The digital impressions are sent to an experienced lab for custom design. The length of your treatment plan will decide how many sets of aligners will be created. You can expect to replace your Invisalign aligners about every two weeks. You will have occasional checkups with our Invisalign Provider, at which time Dr. Phan will send you home with the next few sets in your treatment plan. These aligners should remain in your mouth for 22 hours per day, in order to procure the best results. Invisalign wearers must be dedicated to their treatment in order for it to work properly.

As you progress through your aligners, you will be able to see the positive changes at each two week increment. The aligners provide a gentle and continuous force on your teeth to shift them into the desired alignment.

Finding San Marcos orthodontics is easy. Grandon Village Dental Office provides orthodontic solutions for children, teens and adults. Contact our office for more information about Invisalign or to schedule an appointment.

Wisdom Teeth Symptoms

Warning Signs of Impacted Wisdom Teeth

Grandon Village Dental 

Call us today if you have any question about your teeth!

760-891-0606

info@sanmarcosdentist.net

Wisdom teeth are something most people will have to deal with at some point.  We are writing this today hoping to give you a little more information, so you will know how to recognize the problem and get it taken care of as soon as it is possible.  

Impacted wisdom teeth don't always cause symptoms. However, when an impacted wisdom tooth becomes infected, it can cause damage to the other teeth or cause other dental problems.  It is reccomended that you call a dentist as soon as these symptoms start to show, or have them checked on your next routine dental check up to keep ahead of any problems.

In recent years, it has become increasingly rare for wisdom teeth symptoms to precede their removal. Dentists and oral surgeons are more likely to recommend that wisdom teeth be removed before they become a problem for oral health. Even still, it's possible to experience wisdom teeth symptoms, in which case you should relate this information to your dentist immediately. 

Wisdom teeth symptoms can include pain at the back of the mouth, behind the molars. This pain will gradually increase with time as the wisdom teeth continue to grow in misaligned or sideways, pressing on nerves and bone, and crowding surrounding teeth. 

Other wisdom teeth symptoms include pain, redness, tenderness and/or swelling around the site. As wisdom teeth begin to erupt through the surface of the gums, this allows bacteria to enter through open tissue, which can result in infection. Oral infections have been shown to affect your overall health as well.  

It's also possible for wisdom teeth to become impacted, a state in which the jaw bone or neighboring teeth block the teeth from erupting. They become trapped in place as their roots continue to elongate, and the longer they remain impacted, the more likely they are to cause problems for your oral and general health. Wisdom teeth symptoms due to impaction include severe pain at the back of the mouth, infection, and other complications. Foul breath, bad taste upon chewing food, redness and swelling can all be signs of infection. If left untreated, impacted wisdom teeth can breed cysts and, in rare cases, tumors. (3)The most common treatment for wisdom teeth symptoms is extraction of the teeth. Wisdom teeth are believed to be "evolutionary relics," and were helpful to our distant ancestors who ate diets that consisted of rougher foods like sticks and reed plants. As teeth wore down or fell out, wisdom teeth provided replacements. Nowadays, with modern advancements in oral hygiene and softer diets, we don’t need these replacement teeth, but they still grow in. Essentially, our mouths can hold 28 teeth, but including wisdom teeth, we have about 32 teeth all vying for space. Wisdom teeth symptoms such as overcrowding, bone and nerve damage, infection, etc. can all result. 

Wisdom teeth extraction is generally done at a dentist’s or oral surgeon’s office under local or general anesthesia.  These options and any complications will be discussed before the extraction procedure. If your wisdom teeth have already erupted through the surface of the gums, they can be removed relatively easily as if they were any other tooth. Impacted wisdom teeth can be a little more complicated to remove, however. An incision is made through the surface of the gum above the tooth. After that, any bone covering the tooth needs to be removed. Then the tooth itself is extracted; sometimes, your dentist or surgeon will need to cut the tooth into several pieces to salvage as much bone as possible and avoid unnecessarily cutting bone or risking nerves and delicate tissues. (3) Wisdom teeth extraction is a common procedure and is likely the best solution to relieve your wisdom teeth symptoms.   


Grandon Village Dental
760-891-0606
info@sanmarcosdentist.net

Welcome to our blog!

We're excited to announce the official launch of our Grandon Village Dental Office blog.

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Here's to your best oral health ever!