Resin Composite Fillings (white/tooth colored fillings): Composite resins, or tooth-colored fillings, provide good durability and resistance to fracture in small to mid-size fillings that need to withstand moderate pressure from the constant stress of chewing. They can be used on either front or back teeth. They are a good choice for people who prefer that their fillings look more natural.

Amalgam Fillings (silver fillings): Although our practice strives to be as metal free as possible, in some instances an amalgam filling is the best treatment option. Strong and long-lasting, amalgam fillings have been used for more than 150 years in hundreds of millions of patients around the world.

Resin Composite Esthetic Bonding: Dental bonding, also known as composite resin bonding, is a technique that adds material to your teeth to alter or supplement their shape. Dr. Mike applies and shapes a putty-like resin to your teeth before bonding them permanently in this procedure. Composite bonding lasts for a shorter time on average than a crown or veneer. The material is not as hard as your natural teeth. It can wear down, chip off, break, or get stained.

Crown and Bridge Placement: A dental crown, or “cap” is used in a number of different situations, including: replacing large fillings, protecting and restoring a weak or fracture tooth, covering a dental implant abutment, to cover discolored teeth, to change misshapen teeth.

The crown procedure begins with Dr. Mike reshaping the existing tooth so the crown will fit precisely over it. An impression will be taken and sent to our lab for the custom crown to be made. A dental crown can be made of many materials, most often, all porcelain. At a follow up appointment, the new custom crown is tried in, checked, shaped, polished and finally inserted with permanent dental cement.

A dental bridge is the use of crowns on adjacent teeth to a missing tooth space that could be 1 or more missing teeth, the bridge is fabricated much like a single tooth crown, and permanently cemented on the supporting teeth. It is fixed in the mouth and does not come in and out.

Full and Partial Removable Dentures: A Full or Complete Denture is a removable replacement for a patient that is missing all of the teeth on either the upper or lower jaw or both jaws and surrounding tissues. If the patient is missing some of their teeth, sometimes dental implants can be used to support the denture as well.

The other type of denture commonly used to replace teeth are a Partial Denture. Partial dentures are used when some natural or restored teeth remain, but the patient usually would have more than 1 space on the arch that is missing teeth. Many options for partial dentures are available, depending on the patient’s situation, Dr. Mike will guide the patient to the best solution available using a partial denture.

Implant Placement and Restoration: A dental implant can be used to replace a missing tooth or multiple implants can be used to replace multiple missing teeth. Prior to placing a dental implant, a consultation where a clinical exam, impressions and the use of different dental x ray images including use of our CBCT x ray unit, which, provides a 3-D view of the jaw bone and other important anatomical features of the patient’s potential implant site will allow a specific treatment plan to be created.

The dental implant is really 3 specific parts, the dental implant, a titanium screw that intergrates or heal to the jaw bone acts as the new root. The time from surgical placement to starting the restorative portion is usually 3-4 months. Once that time has elapsed we move to restoring the implant.

The second piece is the abutment with is equivalent to the tooth under a crown.

Last, is the implant crown, which the visible and functional part of the dental implant. Dental implants allow a patient to regain form, function and esthetics, and are the most natural tooth like replacement we can offer in dentistry. In addition, dental implants can help to secure and stabilize, removable prosthetics like full dentures.