For our patients who have extreme anxiety about visiting the dentist, we offer a solution. Don’t let your fear keep you away from a lifetime of healthy smiles. Instead, ask us about oral sedation. It’s simple: you take a little pill a few hours before your appointment and leave the rest to us. Please arrange to have someone drive you to and from your appointment.
A comprehensive oral exam is essential to help you maintain smile health for a lifetime. Here’s how it works: we take a look inside your mouth – and we’re not just looking at your teeth! We’re looking at your gums, tongue, throat, and face. For new patients, we study existing restorations and take x-rays for a baseline measurement of your dental health. For existing patients, we compare the current condition of your mouth with your most recent x-rays. For everyone, we do a careful oral cancer screening.
We offer standard and panoramic x-rays to keep an eye on what’s happening inside your smile. Panoramic x-rays take an image of your whole jaw, while standard x-rays capture “snapshots” of your teeth. We also use a DIAGNOdent scanner. This tool can detect compromised areas in teeth before they are visible on an x-ray, often letting us prevent cavities from forming in the first place.
Dental emergencies, like all emergencies, are the worst! That’s why we offer a same-day emergency policy. Just call and we’ll get you in!
Fluoride is a mineral that helps restore the strength and health of tooth enamel. While fluoride is found in some foods and in most municipal tap water, we recommend fluoride treatments for both children and adults at every visit. Having consistent fluoride treatments may help you avoid cavities and keep your teeth strong for life.
In order to offer the best care to each of our patients, we employ the technology of both Cavitron and Piezo scalers. These are powerful tools that replace old-fashioned scraping, and use ultrasonic technologies to deep clean teeth, remove tartar and plaque, and while doing so, create tiny bubbles (created by the motion of the scalers), which help to kill the bacteria that cause gum disease.
There are two primary uses for mouthguards. The first is for active kids and adults who participate in team sports or other activities that may cause injury about the face and head. Mouthguards have been shown to protect teeth and gums and decreases the potential of concussions for all athletes.
The second use is to prevent nighttime grinding and clenching, or bruxism, which can exacerbate TMJ/TMD symptoms (a disorder of the jaw that causes pain in the sinuses, neck, and face), and can cause teeth to wear or crack prematurely. They are a great way to protect your dental investment!
When we do our visual and manual exam for oral cancer, we’re looking for more than just abnormal tissue inside your mouth. We’ll examine your face, neck, and throat too. Like other cancers, oral cancer is at its most treatable if we catch it early. That’s one of the many reasons we encourage patients from McMinnville, Amity, and Dayton to visit us twice a year.
Did you know that your gums could affect the health of your entire body? In fact, infected gums have been shown to be associated with everything from inflammation to strokes and heart attacks. That’s why we take periodontal therapy, otherwise known as gum disease, so seriously.
Our hygienists can skillfully and gently remove tartar buildup on the roots of your teeth to help clear away infection. When we combine this with an in-office antibiotic treatment, the process of gum disease will stop and your gums will heal.
For patients who have sleep apnea, a disorder in which the ability to breathe while sleeping is disrupted, we offer snore guards. These are custom-fitted, lightweight, plastic appliances that you wear while sleeping. The appliance holds your bottom jaw forward ever so slightly to keep your airway clear, your breathing regular, and your sleep effective and refreshing.
With our focus on providing each of our patients with custom care and attention, we also work closely with a company to conduct testing for medical sleep appliances.
Do you often wake up with a headache? Do you experience migraines, jaw pain, or upper body pain during the day? It could be TMJ disorder, a disorder often caused by night-time clenching and grinding. We can help. We offer a custom made nightguard that can end the clenching and ease your pain. It will even protect your precious teeth from damage!
