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Often habits such as prolonged thumb sucking, tongue thrusting, and certain swallowing or breathing patterns that can open or distort the bite are better dealt with when care is initiated at a younger age. Interceptive treatment is also helpful when the top jaw is too narrow, not developing in harmony with the lower jaw, or permanent top teeth are behind the lower ones when biting down. Likewise, if a young child’s front teeth stick out excessively or very severe crowding is present a first phase of orthodontic care can be beneficial.
The objectives of interceptive treatment or a first phase of orthodontic care are to influence jaw growth, create more space for crowded teeth, help to correct harmful habits, and improve facial esthetics. With interceptive treatment the likelihood of impacted permanent teeth as well as the need for extractions of permanent teeth can be lessened. Interceptive treatment can also simplify the next phase of orthodontic care.
The American Association of Orthodontists recommends that all children have a check up with an orthodontic specialist no later than age 7. At this visit the orthodontist will carefully examine your child’s bite and assess the alignment and development of the teeth. The orthodontist will also look at the growth and relationships of the jaws, and in particular check for any shifts or dysfunction. It will also be determined if any premature tooth loss, habits, swallowing or breathing patterns are having an effect on your child’s occlusion.
Following this visit the orthodontist will indicate if any immediate preventative or interceptive orthodontic care is needed. In many circumstances no treatment is required right away and the child can be observed until it is the appropriate time for care. Your child’s dental development as well as their prospective facial growth will be carefully considered in outlining the best timetable for care.
Orthodontic treatment for children typically begins between the ages of 9 and 14. Oftentimes it is helpful to start orthodontic treatment before all the baby teeth are lost. The benefit of placing braces at this stage is that the orthodontist can improve the alignment of permanent front teeth, guide the incoming new adult teeth into position, and utilize the child’s growth and development to best advantage.
Greater than half of all orthodontic patients are teenagers between the ages of 12 to 17 years. At this stage of development most of their permanent teeth, with the exception of the wisdom teeth, have already erupted into place. Any problems with the alignment of the teeth, issues with the bite, as well as discrepancies in jaw relationships are readily detectable at this time, making your teen an excellent candidate for orthodontic care.
The teenage years are typically a time of significant physical and emotional development. In addition to acquiring a more adult appearance, teens are developing a heightened sense of self-awareness, building self-confidence, and investing more in peer relationships. Having teeth that are crooked, gapped, crowded, or protruding can have a negative impact on their self-image as well as their self-esteem. In addition to that, malocclusions can predispose teens to TMJ issues, headaches, and dental disease.
Helping your child or teen to achieve a well aligned, more pleasing, and healthier smile means making a commitment to orthodontic care. Although orthodontic treatment involves wearing some type of appliances and takes time, the ultimate reward of a beautiful smile is well worth the effort.
The good news is that, thanks to advances in modern orthodontics today’s image conscious teens can choose from a wide selection of braces that are far less bulky, much less noticeable, and more comfortable than ever before. Other than traditional metal braces, we also offer clear/tooth-colored braces, and removable clear aligners that makes orthodontic treatment virtually invisible.
A generation ago it was extremely unusual to see an adult with braces on their teeth. Today that is no longer the case. Thanks to advances in dental technology, greater access to care, and an increased awareness of the benefits of a beautiful and healthy smile; now over twenty percent of people wearing orthodontic appliances are adults.
With the wide variety of orthodontic treatment options available to adults, the process of wearing braces is more convenient, more comfortable, more efficient and much less conspicuous than ever before. Bulky metal braces are truly a thing of the past. The latest generations of metal appliances are substantially smaller and less unsightly than any of their predecessors. Moreover, an adult interested in orthodontic care can select braces that are hardly visible at all. Today’s tooth-colored braces or removable clear aligners can all effectively deliver treatment to achieve successful and pleasing outcomes of care.
Although adult orthodontics requires an investment of time and resources the payoff is well worth it. The value of a healthy and attractive smile is priceless. Thanks to modern orthodontics, having teeth that look good and function well is something that can be enjoyed at any age.
If you’re interested in braces or clear aligner therapy, please contact us to schedule a consultation where we can review a personalized treatment plan to fit your needs.
The terms dental crowns and caps have the same meaning. If dental decay, cracked fillings, root canals, clenching or grinding the teeth have caused extensive damage to the underlying tooth structure a dental filling may not be a sufficient restoration. The only way to completely restore the cosmetic appearance and function of this tooth is often full coverage with a dental crown.
Completed dental crown can look and feel like a natural tooth. In our office, we use crowns made out of stainless steel. These crowns come in all different sizes to match our pediatric patients’ teeth and are made out of an extremely durable material so they won’t break down. While they do not look like a natural tooth, the best parts of having a stainless steel crown is their relatively low cost and the fact that they will naturally fall out when it’s time for the baby tooth to fall out naturally.
As part of your child’s dental prevention program, dental sealants are highly recommended to all our patients to protect their permanent back teeth from developing dental decay or cavities. In fact, according to the American Dental Association, dental sealants reduce the risk of cavities in molars by approximately 80%.
While establishing a good oral hygiene regimen, maintaining proper tooth brushing habits, and avoiding sticky sweets are essential for the prevention of cavities, children’s teeth often need more protection. The reason for this is that the deeply grooved chewing surfaces of the back permanent teeth can be difficult for a child to keep free of leftover food and cavity-causing bacteria. Moreover, young children do not always brush their teeth, as often or as thoroughly as they should, making them particularly vulnerable to dental decay.
Dental sealants afford additional protection from dental decay by providing a strong plastic-like protective coating for the tiny grooves on the chewing surfaces of a child’s permanent back teeth. They basically fill in the pits, fissures and grooves on these teeth to seal out harmful bacteria and food particles.
Applying dental sealants is a relatively quick and completely painless process. They are simply brushed on in a series of steps during a child’s dental visit and then cured (set) with a light wand. Sealants are strong and durable and can last for several years. The condition of your child’s dental sealants will be evaluated at each checkup and reapplied if the need arises.
Dental emergencies in children can arise for a number of reasons. Recognizing the fact that children have active lifestyles, means there is always a chance an accident involving a hit or blow to the mouth or teeth can occur. These traumatic injuries can happen at home, in the playground or on the playing field. Common injuries to the teeth and oral cavity seen in a pediatric dental office include everything from soft tissue lacerations of the lips, cheeks or tongue to chipped, fractured, dislodged or “knocked out” teeth. Equally frequent reasons for children to require urgent dental care are painful toothaches, dental infections, and mouth ulcerations. Whatever the dental emergency may be, prompt and effective care is required to alleviate your child’s discomfort and to prevent more serious consequences to their oral health and overall well-being.
Pediatric dentists are trained in all facets of dental care for children and are well equipped to handle a wide range of dental emergencies. They provide skilled and compassionate care, helping children to feel comfortable and safe while restoring their oral health and function. If your child has an emergency, please feel free to call us immediately to schedule an evaluation.
Sometimes it is necessary to extract a tooth. This can happen for a variety of reasons. Extractions are commonly performed in cases where a “baby” tooth is reluctant to fall out, a severely broken down and non-restorable tooth is present, or “wisdom tooth” is poorly positioned and unable to fully erupt into place.
To reduce any anxiety and insure patient comfort whenever a tooth extraction is necessary, the procedure, the post surgical instructions, as well as any restorative follow-up care will be carefully and completely explained.
The role of fluoride is especially important for children as it improves the quality of dental enamel (the strong outer layer of the teeth) in their developing teeth and makes their new teeth more resistant to cavities. As part of your child’s preventive dental care program at our office, fluoride varnish is applied during their routine checkup appointments and if indicated at regular intervals between these visits.
Fluoride varnish is a topically applied product that is brushed onto all sides of your child’s teeth. It is a completely safe and painless procedure that takes just a couple of minutes from start to finish. Once applied on the tooth, the fluoride is absorbed into the dental enamel and begins its job of strengthening the outer surface of the tooth. It is like a magical shield that helps with fighting off the sugars and bacteria that cause cavities.
Following the application of the fluoride varnish, your child does not have to wait to eat or drink. The only restriction is that foods are soft and not crunchy for the rest of the day. Brushing and flossing may be postponed for several hours.
While fluoride varnish can help prevent cavities and slow their progression, it is not a guarantee against dental decay. Optimal dental health for your child involves an excellent oral hygiene regimen at home, routine dental care and eating a healthy diet.
Tooth decay is the most chronic childhood disease in our country, almost 2-3 times more common than asthma. According to studies, children with poor oral health are more than three times as likely to miss school due to dental pain. While these statistics are alarming, the good news is that tooth decay is for the most part preventable. Scheduling regular checkups and cleanings for your child at the dentist is essential for maintaining their oral health. Beyond routine dental care, your dental care professional will help your child establish the best oral hygiene homecare regimen to help maintain a healthy smile for a lifetime. The dentist will also provide dietary guidance as to which foods can be harmful to your child's smile. As added protection against dental decay, periodic fluoride treatments to strengthen the enamel of your child's new teeth and the application of dental sealants when the permanent molars come into place are recommended. If you’re concerned about your child’s dental health and what more you can do at home, please call and make an appointment for an evaluation with one of our dentists.
Inside of every baby and permanent adult tooth is a central chamber that contains a nerve and blood vessels. Collectively these core tissues, known as the dental pulp, help the tooth to grow and mature before it emerges into the mouth. Once your tooth is in place, the dental pulp provides nourishment, keeps the tooth alive, and alerts you of problems. Unfortunately, cavities and dental trauma can damage the dental pulp inside of a tooth. When one of these factors has involved the dental pulp of a baby tooth and there is no evidence of an infection at the root of the tooth, a procedure known as a pulpotomy may be performed. The purpose of a pulpotomy on a “baby” tooth is to maintain it until its permanent successor, or replacement tooth erupts. This is because baby teeth that are lost prematurely can cause other teeth to shift, leading to space loss for the permanent tooth and other consequences. During a pulpotomy procedure, the exposed or affected pulp tissue is carefully removed and a special medication to disinfect the area and calm the remaining nerve tissue is placed. Once the procedure is complete, the baby tooth is then restored with a filling or crown. Depending on the amount of tooth structure remaining and how much time is left before the baby tooth is to fall out, the type of restoration is selected. Typically, the most effective restoration to seal the tooth and restore function, is a stainless steel crown.
Sometimes, due to tooth decay or a traumatic injury, a child may lose a baby tooth early, before the permanent one underneath it is ready to come into place. When this happens, the dentist will consider the best way to hold the space left by the baby tooth in order to maintain a clear path for the succeeding adult tooth. While not every situation where a baby tooth is lost early needs an intervention to maintain the space, many times a small dental appliance known as a space maintainer is required to make sure the permanent tooth does not become crowded out of the dental arch or impacted by shifting adjacent teeth.
Space maintainers are fixed or removable appliances that are designed to keep the integrity of the space left by the lost tooth. Simple and comfortable to wear, the type and design of your child’s space maintainer will be determined by our dentist. Once the permanent tooth begins to emerge, a space maintainer is no longer necessary.
SDF or Silver Diamine Fluoride is a specially formulated solution that can help arrest or significantly slow-down cavities from becoming bigger. It is particularly popular for children because it is easy and quick to apply on the teeth, there is no need for any injections or drilling, and can be extremely effective, especially for baby teeth with small to medium sized cavities. It is very useful in situations when your child is very young or unable to stay still for dental care. It is important to know that SDF is a temporary solution for these small cavities. Once your patient is old enough to handle local anesthesia, these cavities should be filled.
In some cases, SDF can also be helpful on adult teeth, especially for very tiny cavities that are found in their very early stages. By applying SDF to these small cavities, it can delay or prevent the need for fillings in the future, especially if oral home care improves, and there is good control of sugary foods in the diet.
At Elmhurst, we use composite resins, or “tooth-colored” fillings, for all of our dental fillings. They provide a durable, resistant filling to treat a cavity in a tooth and prevent further decay. Some composites even release fluoride to help strengthen the tooth. Fillings are best used for small to medium sized cavities.
While some very small cavities may not need local anesthesia, most cavities will require it to numb the area of the tooth. Once the patient is numb, the dentist will remove the decay (dead tooth) out. They will then place a bond (glue) in the cavity and put in the filling. The dentist will then smooth the filling surface and check the bite to make sure it’s comfortable. When the procedure is finished, it will be virtually impossible to even tell that there is a filling in that tooth.
There aren’t many side effects to dental fillings. Some people report a sensitivity to cold in the week or two after the filling is placed, but this sensitivity is temporary and naturally goes away most of the times. Composite fillings don’t last forever, and will sometimes need to be replaced or redone. If you ever feel any discomfort or pain after the filling, please come back so we can make sure there isn’t anything we can do to make it feel better!
Teeth that have been stained or darkened by food, tobacco use, age, medications or injury can be lightened and brightened by means of a non-invasive process known as teeth whitening.
Teeth whitening or bleaching simply refers to any process that will make the teeth appear whiter. While there are many over the counter options for teeth whitening, the most effective and safest teeth whitening systems are the professional strength ones available at the dentist’s office. A dental professional whitening system offers a higher concentration of whitening components and delivers them to the teeth in the most efficient manner to achieve optimal results.
At our office, we offer two exceptional options for tooth whitening. You can choose either an in-office tooth whitening procedure or a professional take home system. Both of these are top-of the-line systems. However, the biggest advantage of the in-office procedure is that in as little as one hour you can achieve a smile that is several shades whiter and brighter than the original color of your teeth.
Our professional strength take home system also produces excellent results. However, this is achieved by way of a more gradual process. Our take home kit may be prescribed alone, or after an in-office treatment to perfect or maintain the in- office result.
While some people are fortunate enough to have a naturally well-aligned smile, many are faced with teeth that are crowded, gapped, rotated, or otherwise incorrectly positioned. At the office of Elmhurst Dental, we want every patient to enjoy the benefits of a healthy and beautiful smile. Although bulky orthodontic appliances were once a common sight, getting braces today doesn’t mean your only choice is treatment with conventional brackets and metal wires. Thanks to advances in care, it’s possible to discreetly, conveniently, and comfortably improve the look and function of your smile clear orthodontic aligners.
With clear orthodontic aligners, no one will even notice that you’re receiving orthodontic care! Based on the exact specifications of your smile, you’ll receive a prescribed series of aligners that, throughout treatment, gently and incrementally move your teeth into their correct positions. As you change aligners every couple of weeks, you’ll see your teeth becoming straighter and straighter. Among the many benefits offered by clear aligners is that they are also completely removable, which allows you to brush and floss with ease and to enjoy your favorite foods as before.
For more information on aligning your smile with this remarkable system of care, or if you’d like to hear more about the many services that we provide, give us a call today!
When the natural structure of a tooth has been extensively damaged or compromised due to dental decay, damaged fillings, root canals, or habitual clenching or grinding of the teeth, a dental filling may not be adequate for its repair. In such cases, dental crowns, also commonly referred to as caps, are recommended to effectively restore the natural integrity, function, and appearance of the affected tooth.
Out of all the materials that are available today for a full coverage restoration, metal-free crowns, also known as all ceramic crowns, offer the most lifelike and biocompatible results. Strong and durable, ceramic crowns are lighter in weight than dental crowns that incorporate a metal substructure and are also kinder to the surrounding soft tissues. Furthermore, ceramic crowns present no problems for individuals with sensitivities to various metals. Since they are fabricated of the highest grade of dental ceramics, ceramic crowns most closely approximate the natural translucency of your own teeth.
Custom fabricated for the optimal health and aesthetic of a patient’s smile, ceramic crowns can also be indicated for an array of dental treatments, ranging from the cosmetic restoration of discolored teeth, to the coverage of a structurally damaged tooth, dental implant, or as the supporting ends of a dental bridge.
When teeth are missing, a series of changes that can impact your overall dental health and jaw function may begin to develop. The adjacent teeth may start to drift or tilt into the space, and teeth in the opposing jaw may start to shift toward the area of the missing tooth. It is therefore, essential to replace either the single tooth or multiple teeth that are missing from this area. One of the best options to prevent the consequences of shifting teeth and to restore full function to a small edentulous section in the mouth is a dental bridge.
A dental bridge replaces the missing teeth with artificial teeth called “pontics,” and is supported on the ends by prepared natural teeth. Once fabricated and fitted, a dental bridge will be permanently “fixed” or cemented into place. Like crowns, bridges can be made of either porcelain baked on to a metal substrate or many of the new ceramic materials that have been developed.
If your teeth suffer from gaps, chips, stains, or discolorations you may be a candidate for porcelain veneers, a highly effective and minimally invasive cosmetic procedure that can achieve beautiful results.
Porcelain veneers are thin facings custom-made of the highest quality ceramic materials that are designed to fit perfectly over the front of your teeth. One of the most conservative cosmetic treatments available, veneers can mask a host of dental imperfections to give you the smile that you have always wanted. Porcelain veneers not only enhance and improve the shape of your teeth, they are able to create an overall whiter and brighter smile.
One of the most appealing aspects of the process of fabricating porcelain veneers is that they involve minimal tooth preparation and take just a few visits. Porcelain veneers, once they are fabricated and fitted, are permanently bonded to the underlying teeth. The result is a naturally pleasing smile that is both strong and durable.
Whether from disease, malnutrition, genetic disorders or an accident, it is occasionally necessary for patients to have some or all their upper and lower teeth extracted. While this can be upsetting news, partial or full dentures can be fabricated to restore an attractive smile, provide needed support for normal facial contours, and reestablish a highly functional occlusion.
A denture consists of natural looking artificial teeth set in a supportive base. It may be fabricated to replace either a small group of teeth, an entire upper arch, an entire lower arch, or used to restore both dental arches.
A complete denture refers to the replacement of all the teeth in a dental arch. It can be inserted either of two ways. It can be inserted some weeks after the extraction sites and other surgical procedures have had a chance to heal, or as an “immediate” denture placed the same day the last remaining teeth are extracted. Although an immediate denture offers the advantage of not having to go without teeth for any length of time, it can require multiple adjustments as the tissues remodel and heal following dental extractions or other surgical procedures.
In situations where some sturdy teeth remain, partial dentures can be fabricated. Partial dentures can achieve adequate retention and stability by having clasps on the teeth surrounding the edentulous areas.
In some cases, added stability for the dentures can be provided by strategically placed implants.
The iTero®Intraoral Scanner optimizes every aspect of care. From obtaining the most accurate and comfortable 3D digital impressions to the generation of dental models for the custom fabrication of Invisalign® aligners, appliances for the treatment of sleep apnea, and dental prostheses such as crowns, the iTero Intraoral Scanner provides a more pleasant patient experience while producing more predictable results and better outcomes of care.
With the iTero® Intraoral Scanner precise impression taking is performed with the utmost comfort and ease by optically scanning the teeth and bite with a small, ergonomically designed wand.
• Digital impressions are obtained quickly and easily with a small, ergonomically designed wand that optically scans the patient’s teeth and bite!
• Involves none of the mess or discomfort associated with taking traditional dental impressions!
• Accurate digital scans means no there is no need for impression retakes!
• Patients can view simulations of what the teeth will look like after treatment as well as their progress throughout the course of care!
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Last Updated: September 23rd, 2024 01:06 PM