Diamons

Preventative Dentistry

Photography by Dr. Padval

Prevention: A Renewed Commitment

With new materials and procedures, dentistry has evolved from "if it hurts, yank it," to true preventive medicine. We can thank fluorides for the terrific rate of cavity-free children, and new anesthetics have made dentistry more comfortable than ever. Sealants, safer X-rays, and space-age plastics have all become commonplace in the course of comprehensive care and aggressive prevention. Our Goal Our goal is to be your partner in dental health. We're convinced you can keep your teeth intact for your entire life. To that [...]

By |2018-12-18T08:00:46-08:00December 18, 2018|Preventative Dentistry|

Get your Smile Check-Up!

Barring injury, your sturdy white teeth should remain healthy and intact for the rest of your life. But just like your car's engine, which needs its regular oil & lube to keep purring smoothly, your mouth needs a thorough once-over as well. We'll review your dental history, clean your teeth, evaluate gum tissue, and screen for oral cancer. This will ensure that teeth and gum problems are discovered early and nipped in the bud. Some people naturally create more plaque and develop more cavities [...]

By |2018-11-27T08:00:55-08:00November 27, 2018|Preventative Dentistry|

The Plus Sides of Fluoride

As a direct result of fluoridation, dental health in our part of the world turned around dramatically. The improvement is evident in our children, fluoride in our water reduces tooth decay in children by 50 percent. Why then, are some put off by the idea of fluoride? It's true that excessive levels of fluoride can actually damage tooth enamel—too much of any good thing is too much. But continuing research, down to the molecular level, proves the bottom line: fluoride is good for us. [...]

By |2018-10-23T00:00:35-07:00October 23, 2018|Preventative Dentistry|

Subliminal Stuff: Bruxism

Are You Subconsciously Grinding? Sensitivity to heat and cold. Loosened teeth, fractures, and debilitating headaches. All this can occur while you sleep—from grinding your teeth. Dentistry calls it bruxism. Talk about shell shock. Dentists see evidence of life in the fast lane everyday. As many as 90 percent of us grind our teeth each night, on the average of five episodes per evening. The bite force is so powerful—over 200 pounds per square inch—and the noise so fearful, you cannot physically duplicate this phenomenon [...]

By |2018-07-10T00:00:25-07:00July 10, 2018|Preventative Dentistry|

Every Mouth is Different

Custom Dental Care for Your Needs No two of us are alike. We all have our own smiles, speech patterns, eye and hair colorings. But we're just now beginning to learn how unique our mouth environments really are. Turns out, they're as distinctively different as fingerprints. One patient can go a year between checkups, while another might need to turn as often as every six weeks. The difference? The unique bacterial/chemical mix of each person's mouth. Professionally we call these differences "individualization." Tartar builders, [...]

By |2018-07-03T00:00:10-07:00July 3, 2018|Preventative Dentistry|

An Ounce of Prevention…

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You've heard that a million times—because it's so true! Our office really wants you to avoid painful, costly dental procedures. The way you can do this is through regularly scheduled dental exams. The idea is to discover a problem when it's large enough to be observed—and small enough to be contained! Two dental visits a year are average. But you—are not average! More appointments may need to be scheduled when mouths build tartar fast, [...]

By |2018-05-15T08:00:37-07:00May 15, 2018|Preventative Dentistry|

Nighttime Grinding

And the Stress Factor Dentists and researchers aren't completely agreed about the cause of nightly tooth-grinding, or bruxism. But they are aligned on two points: at least partly, it's related to daily stress, and it's happening to more people. It may sound funny, but it's no joke: without food to absorb the impact, teeth can grind by night at ten times the force required to chew a steak, researchers estimate. The result: front teeth can be worn nearly to the gumline while molars can [...]

By |2018-03-13T08:00:35-07:00March 13, 2018|Preventative Dentistry|

Your Mouth Says A Lot at Your Checkup

Without Speaking A Word! Looking into your open mouth, we see so much more than teeth. In many ways, it's a window into the health of your entire body. Things like vitamin and mineral deficiencies are easily detected—and just as easily treated. Problems that might in the future become serious are spotted and responded to. That's why a dental hygiene exam is so much more important—and more valuable!—than simply a tooth cleaning. You may miss early warning signals on your own. They cause little [...]

By |2018-02-06T08:00:26-08:00February 6, 2018|Preventative Dentistry|

X-rays From Our Perspective

X-rays are critical to the practice of dentistry. And the benefits are profound. But dentists are sometimes guilty of dismissing patient concerns, as in, "Don't worry, you'll be fine." We do believe the judicious use of X-rays is in our patients' best interests. But patients deserve to know why. Radiography begins Wilhelm Roentgen, fiddling around with electricity and photographic plates one day in 1895, found a wave that could photograph the invisible. When he realized he was seeing the bone inside his arm, he [...]

By |2017-12-26T00:00:54-08:00December 26, 2017|Preventative Dentistry|

Fluoride, the Story

Sifting Fact From Belief Dental researchers call it The Fluoride Story—the most dramatic turn-around of a population’s dental health in history. So far. The Fluoride Story began as one of many smaller, ongoing stories. And we have research to thank. In university laboratories in the US and Canada, in dental products labs, in national science centers—the research goes on. It seems far from an everyday visit to the dentist. There is an air of mystery to the research process itself. What motivates the people [...]

By |2017-12-05T00:00:34-08:00December 5, 2017|Preventative Dentistry|