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What to Expect with Dental Veneers in Litchfield MN
Dental veneers refer to an ultra-thin layer of tooth-colored material that is bonded over the facial surface of your front teeth to correct minor, aesthetic dental issues such as uneven tooth spacing or alignment, worn tooth enamel, chipped or broken teeth, cracks, and tooth discoloration.
The Preliminary Appointment
Before veneer placement, you will consult your dentist to discuss the best options for your case, and the number of veneers that should be placed depending on the condition of your teeth and budget. In some situations, it may be necessary to undergo other treatments before getting veneers, like using braces to correct uneven or crooked teeth.
The dentist will take X-rays to evaluate the health of your teeth. This step is necessary to identify signs of gum disease, tooth decay, or other tooth defects that may need to be addressed before getting veneers. Otherwise, you’d not be a good candidate for veneers.
Starting the Procedure
On your next appointment, the dentist trims down about 0.5 mm (0.3 mm for non-prep veneers) from your tooth enamel using a grinding tool before taking impressions (mold) of the teeth. The mold is sent to a dental lab to assist in the fabrication of custom permanent veneers. This process takes 1-2 weeks, within which time you will have temporary veneers to protect the prepared teeth.
When the permanent porcelain veneers are ready, you will schedule another appointment to get them placed. The dentist examines the shape, fit, and shade of the veneers to ensure that it matches your other teeth and bite. Before placement, your teeth will be thoroughly cleaned to prevent any bacteria from getting trapped underneath the veneer, putting you at risk of decay.
Next, a grinding tool is used to create a rough texture on the front surface of the tooth where the veneer will be applied so it sticks better. The permanent veneer is then placed using dental cement and hardened using ultraviolet light.
Final Note
Traditional porcelain veneers last for many years. Taking good care of your teeth will help to maximize the longevity of your treatment.
Learn more about what to expect with dental veneers by contacting your dentist in Litchfield today!
Teeth Cleaning Near Me, Litchfield MN 55355
Teeth cleaning is one of the components of maintaining oral hygiene, which involves removing food particles and dental plaque from your teeth in order to reduce the risk of getting cavities, gum disease, bad breath, and other oral issues. Cleaning your teeth at home using good brushing technique and flossing can help to prevent most oral issues. But it is also important to visit a dentist at least every six months for professional cleaning and the removal of hardened deposits known as tartar that cannot be removed through regular brushing.
Why Get Professional Teeth Cleaning?
Your mouth is exposed to a myriad of health risks unlike other parts of the body. Besides the helpful and unhelpful bacteria living in your mouth, you’re exposed to other dangers in the food and drinks you consume. You need to take special care of this environment to avoid any problems. Daily brushing and flossing help to remove plaque on the surface of your teeth, while professional teeth cleaning removes tartar (hardened plaque). This prevents the buildup of harmful bacteria in your mouth that may lead to decay, gum disease, and other oral and body issues.
Since your mouth contains harmful bacteria and useful bacteria, your immune system is actively fighting the harmful bacteria to prevent it from causing harm. Professional teeth cleaning helps to prevent the buildup of bacteria to such an extent that it overwhelms your immune system and causes disease. Once the buildup of plaque and tartar is uncontrollable, it causes gum inflammation and bleeding, which is known as periodontal disease. If left untreated, the severity of gum disease can lead to tooth loss and the infection spreading to other parts of your body through the bloodstream. This increases the risk of diabetes going out of control, as well as heart disease, stroke, and dementia.
Final Note
Fortunately, most oral issues are treatable if prompt remedial action is taken as soon as the problem is identified. This is why you should visit your dentist in Litchfield MN for oral checkup and cleaning every six months.
Cost of Routine Dental Exam & Teeth Cleaning | Litchfield MN
A routine dental exam and professional cleaning form a vital part of preventative oral care. These preventive visits may also include additional services, such as X-rays, fluoride application, cancer examination, and so on depending on your personal dental care needs and your last oral checkup. Combined with a proper at-home oral care routine, these visits help you maintain optimal dental health, reducing the risk of tooth loss and expensive dental procedures.
But how much can you expect to pay for this routine dental exam and cleaning?
The national average costs of popular dental services such as exams and cleaning vary from one region to the other, and from dentist to dentist.
If you have a dental insurance plan, your cost of preventive care may be considerably lower, or nothing more than your monthly premium. Since dental insurance plans typically emphasize preventative care, most of them cover two annual dental checkups. That said, you should consult your dental insurance company to determine the various dental services covered by your policy, as well as the extent of the coverage.
Final Note
Dental insurance can provide savings when receiving preventive care services such as routine exams, professional cleanings, sealants for children, topical fluoride, and x-rays (usually one set per year). The frequency and benefits for each service depend on the type of plan you have, so you should always read the plan details carefully. Even if your employer does not offer dental insurance as a perk, you can purchase an individual or family plan to enjoy the reduced cost of most preventive and restorative dental treatments.
Learn more about the importance of routine dental visits by scheduling your appointment with your dentist in Litchfield today. We look forward to helping you with all your dental needs to continue maintaining your beautiful smile and oral health.
What to Expect with a Dental Exam & Professional Teeth Cleaning in Litchfield MN
Six-month preventive dental visits are important for not only ensuring your long-term dental health but also reducing the risk of emergencies. These visits typically involve professional teeth cleaning to remove tartar (hardened plaque) that may contribute to dental issues such as decay, gum disease, and bad breath, among others.
Oral Exam
Most hygienists perform the oral evaluation before teeth cleaning, as it may reveal that you need a full-mouth debridement (cleaning above and below the gums), as opposed to standard teeth cleaning of the exposed part of the teeth (above the gumline). During a routine oral evaluation, you can expect:
- Physical assessment of the state of your mouth. This involves an evaluation of your teeth, tongue, lips, mouth, jaws.
- Periodontal probing – checking gum health by physical examination and measuring your gum pockets
- X-rays are not necessary during routine dental cleaning. But your dentist may recommend them to assess the extent of decay inside or between affected teeth. Depending on the results, you may need to schedule for scaling and root planing in addition to teeth cleaning.
Professional Teeth Cleaning
After the examination, the dental hygienist will clean your teeth using special tools to remove tartar, through a process known as scaling. Next, the teeth will be polished using a gritty paste. This process is used to remove any surface stains. Finally, the hygienist uses dental floss to clean the area between your teeth.
Additional services may be necessary to ensure your optimal dental health, such as:
- Gingival irrigation – It involves spraying a stream of medicated water in the problem areas to remove bacteria hiding in areas that are hard to reach with a toothbrush or dental floss to remove foot debris and accumulated bacteria. This helps to reduce the size of gum pockets and improves your overall oral health.
- Fluoride varnish – The dentist may recommend fluoride treatment to remineralize teeth with severely thin tooth enamel, to manage hypersensitivity caused by thinning enamel, or to prevent decay.
Keep in mind that your oral health is connected with your overall health. So during your dental exam, the Litchfield hygienist can identify the signs of certain medical conditions and diseases, such as nutritional deficiencies, diabetes, hormonal irregularities, and so on, and recommend the appropriate action to help manage them and correct the problem.
What Does a Qualified Family Dentist Do? | Litchfield MN
Family dentistry is an approach to oral health care where all your needs can be met at every stage of life. Babies, children, teenagers, and adults have different dental needs at different points in time. A qualified family dentist is skilled in providing comprehensive oral care for both baby teeth and permanent teeth, as well as any tooth restorations or replacements you may require at any point in life.
Why Choose Family Dentistry
Like general dentists, your family dentist focuses on ensuring good oral hygiene and optimal condition of your teeth. However, this dental professional can address the unique needs of people of all ages for a number of conditions. Common procedures include:
- Regular professional cleanings
- Dental fillings and crowns
- Gum disease treatment
- Tooth extraction
- Root canal therapy
- Tooth replacement
- Teeth whitening
- Smile makeover
- Orthodontic care
The American Dental Association recommends that you take your child for a dental checkup as soon as the first tooth appears, or by the first birthday. This is important to prevent the most common dental problem for children, early childhood cavities, and other oral issues that can affect your child’s smile, especially by the age of four years.
As you prepare for your child’s first visit to the family dentist, you should create a list of any medical conditions, current medications, and allergies your child has. You should also note down your pediatrician’s contact information in case the dentist needs more information. In addition, it’s important to note down any harmful dental habits that your child has picked and may affect his/her smile in the long run. Sucking habits, whether it’s a finger, bottle, or pacifier may adversely affect the development of primary teeth and the jaw and should be corrected as early as possible.
Dental visits also provide the opportunity to learn about the best oral hygiene practices. Depending on your child’s age when visiting the family dentist, there are different things you may want to learn about taking care of his/her mouth. This is an important time to find out about preventative oral care, including proper brushing technique, flossing, diet, the use of sealants, fluoride treatments, and so on.
By finding a qualified family dentist near you, you can have peace of mind that all your family’s oral health needs will be met under one roof, with consistent dental history.
Schedule your family dentistry appointment by contacting a Litchfield dentist near you today!
Family Dentist Near Me, Litchfield MN
As a family dentist, we are capable of handling the oral health needs of all your family members, including children, teenagers, adults, and even seniors. We realize that your smile is vulnerable from the moment the first tooth sets in, and even before that. With our skills and experience in preventative, restorative, and cosmetic dentistry, you can have peace of mind that your entire family will have convenient access to quality, essential dental care under one roof.
Your Child’s First Visit
Studies suggest that pre-school aged children are more likely to develop cavities if their first dental checkup is delayed. Moreover, an estimated 25 percent of children develop cavities by the age of four years. To prevent this and to ensure the optimal oral health for your child, the American Dental Association recommends that you schedule your child’s first appointment with your family dentist as soon as the first tooth erupts. The Academy of Pediatric Dentistry further claims that visiting a family dentist by the age of two years can help reduce the risk of early childhood cavities.
Even if the first tooth is yet to appear, it’s never too early to visit a family dentist for your child so you can discuss oral hygiene, a healthy diet, fluoride options, and so on to give your child a dazzling and healthy smile. Family dentists are different from general dentists in that they are capable of addressing most dental issues for people of all ages, including children, teenagers, and adults. So if you already have access to a quality family dentist, then all that’s left is to introduce your children to the dental office so they can also start their journey for professional dental care.
Visit Your Family Dentist Today
Keep in mind that healthy primary teeth and gums will build a strong foundation for the healthy development of permanent teeth, which in turn affects your child’s bite, ability to chew food, and even clear speech. Moreover, by ensuring good oral hygiene at a young age, you will be helping to develop good habits that promote a healthy smile and self-confidence in the long run.
Learn more about the benefits of family dentistry by scheduling your appointment with your dentist in Litchfield MN.
Cosmetic Dentist Near Me, Litchfield MN
Your smile plays a big part in your appearance. It is the first thing that people notice about you, besides your eyes, which influences how people perceive you. A bright smile is associated with good health, confidence, and happiness, which essentially draws people to you and makes you more successful in your personal and professional relationships. This truth is why any patients visit a cosmetic dentist in Litchfield to learn more about how they can enhance their smiles.
Preparing for the Initial Visit
If you’re looking to restore or improve the health and appearance of your teeth, the first step would be a free cosmetic consultation at a cosmetic dental practice near you. To ensure the best results from your cosmetic dentistry consultation, you should have a good idea of what you want – your ideal smile – before approaching the dentist. Generally, you should know:
- What shade of white you would like your teeth to be – natural, ultra-white, in-between
- Do you want your teeth to be in perfect alignment or slightly varied?
- Do you think your smile is toothy, gummy, or awkward in any other way?
- What defects do you want to be fixed? – missing tooth, crooked or misaligned teeth, fractured teeth, stained teeth, etc.
Thanks to technological advancements, dentists today have access to tooth-colored dental materials that help to deliver natural-looking, long-lasting results. Modern techniques are also less invasive, allowing you to preserve a greater portion of your natural tooth structure during restorations. And with 3D software, your dental team can design your smile and show you the expected results of your treatment plan on a screen before the procedures start.
The Consultation Process
A typical cosmetic dental consultation is a brief appointment with the dentist to discuss any issues that you have with your teeth and smile, as well as the various treatments available and the best options for your case.
Your dental visit will also include a physical examination, a review of your dental and medical history, and dental imaging so the dentist can have a clear look at your teeth. Next, you will establish clear treatment goals based on your needs and concerns. This provides a great opportunity to ask other specific details about procedures you’re interested in.
Please contact your dentist in Litchfield MN to learn more about available cosmetic dentistry treatments, and to schedule your appointment.
Why Choose Dental Implants in Litchfield MN
Having a missing tooth or teeth can have a significant impact on your confidence and oral health. Fortunately, dental implants in Litchfield offer a tooth replacement solution that is trusted by dentists and provides long-term results for patients.
How Do Implants Enhance Your Smile?
Dental implants are an excellent solution to improve your smile if you are missing a single tooth, multiple teeth, or need to replace all of your teeth. A dental implant is essentially an artificial tooth that is placed, or implanted, into your jaw where a dental crown is then capped on for a complete tooth that looks and even feels like a real tooth. With implant dentures, you are able to replace all of your teeth with a beautiful smile that is both strong and aesthetically pleasing. In general, the best part of the new replacement tooth or teeth will function as seamlessly as your regular tooth.
Benefits of Dental Implants
As one of the most recommended tooth replacement options, dental implants in Litchfield offer patients a variety of benefits to improve their smile including:
- Preventing potential of Perio disease that could be caused by continuous bone loss
- Preserving bone and stability for your teeth
- Enhancing the appearance of your smile
Overall, dental implants provide a natural-looking tooth replacement option to help you maintain or improve your oral health. To best understand how implants can work for you, it is important to consult with a cosmetic dentist near you. After examining your teeth and gums, your dentist can determine if tooth replacement is right for you.
Schedule Your Consultation
To find out if you are a good candidate for dental implants, contact your cosmetic dentist in Litchfield to schedule your consultation. We look forward to helping you find the best tooth replacement solution to help you achieve the smile of your dreams.
What to Expect with Dental Implants in Litchfield MN
Dental implants provide the most natural tooth replacement possible. The artificial tooth comprises a titanium post that acts as the tooth root, connecting the crown to the underlying bone tissue. The result is a restoration that looks, feels, and functions like your natural tooth. It also doesn’t require any special cleaning procedures. You just need to brush, floss, and schedule regular professional cleanings like normal.
If you have one or more missing teeth, the gap in your mouth can be filled in a number of ways, including dental implants. That said, you need to visit your dentist to determine whether you’re a good candidate for dental implants.
The Initial Consultation
During your first appointment for dental implants, the dentist will review your medical history and investigate lifestyle factors that may affect your treatment, such as smoking and alcohol consumption. He will then physically examine your mouth and take x-rays, 3D scans, impressions, and photos to help design your tooth replacement and plan your treatment.
Generally, to be considered a good candidate for dental implants, the gap should have a healthy amount of gum and bone tissue. In some cases, the oral surgeon may recommend that you go through additional procedures like bone grafting to build up the bone tissue so it’s sufficient to support the implant and replacement tooth. Soft tissue grafting may also be necessary to ensure that the gums can adequately cover the new tooth root (implant).
Get Healthy for a Successful Implant Placement
The success rate for dental implants is over 95%. However, some patients are at risk of complications, especially if they smoke, consume excess alcohol, have gum disease, or are suffering from certain medical problems that prevent proper healing and timely recovery.
If the dentist identifies any oral or medical problems that may reduce the chances of a successful implant, they will try to help you manage them. Ideally, the mouth should be free of gum disease, infections, and excessive teeth wear as it could indicate bruxism (teeth grinding and clenching) that can prevent proper healing of the implant.
Please consult your Litchfield dentist for a personal examination to determine if you’re a good candidate.
Dental Implant Dentist Near Me, Litchfield MN
When it comes to repairing your smile after tooth loss, it is important that you work with a quality dental implant dentist in Litchfield with multiple options to help you attain the smile of your dreams. Dental implants provide one of the best ways to permanently replace missing teeth and restore the optimal function and beauty of your mouth.
An Artificial Tooth that Feels Natural
Dental implants are a permanent solution for restoring missing teeth that involves the surgical placement of a small titanium post that will bond to the jaw bone. The implant provides a strong anchor for the custom-made crown that will be placed above the gums to fill the gap. This post acts as a tooth root, so it continues to stimulate the jawbone just like your natural tooth. This, in turn, helps to retain your natural face structure and prevents premature aging. This is why it is beneficial to visit a dental implant dentist in Litchfield to find out if implants are right for you.
Other benefits of dental implants include:
- Dental implants fit into your mouth like a natural tooth because they’re anchored into your jaw bone, so they feel and function like your original teeth
- Permanent, long-term tooth replacement solution that should last a lifetime with proper maintenance
- Easier to speak, eat, and maintain oral hygiene – Implants allow you to bite and chew your favorite foods without fear of the replacement tooth/teeth slipping or falling out of place.
- They don’t require any special cleaning or hygiene practices. You simply brush and floss like your other teeth
- Protects healthy teeth and bone – Dental implants are standalone, meaning that they need to be supported by adjacent teeth. In fact, they fill a gap and prevent adjacent teeth from shifting, which helps to maintain proper structure and function.
Am I a Candidate for Dental Implants?
Dental implants can be used to replace one or more missing teeth, either alone or with dentures. Some additional procedures may be necessary to provide sufficient bone material to bond with the titanium post, like bone grafting. Please visit your dentist in Litchfield MN to discuss your case and candidature for dental implants.
6 Month Smiles
Six Month Smiles is a short term orthodontic treatment that involves wearing clear braces to straighten and improve tooth alignment. This alternative treatment is a convenient approach to a straighter smile without the time commitment.
Learn more