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Dental Cleanings & Checkup in Watertown MN
At your six-month dental checkup, your dentist should perform dental cleaning as a preventive procedure to maintain healthy teeth and gums. Professional teeth cleaning is necessary to remove accumulated plaque and tartar from in between your teeth and gums, which may be responsible for various oral issues such as cavities, gum disease, bad breath, oral cancer, and so on.
During your routine dental visit, which should be every 6 – 12 months, your dental hygienist will first examine your teeth before cleaning them. The examination involves physical assessment of your teeth, gums, tongue, and the entire mouth for any concerns using a small mirror. If there are any noticeable problems, the dental hygienist will consult the dentist to determine whether it’s safe to proceed with the cleaning. But in some cases, it may be necessary to first clean your teeth and then perform the examination in order to obtain an accurate diagnosis. Your dental professional will determine the right sequence for your specific case.
What to Expect
Routine dental cleaning takes about 30 minutes depending on how long it has been since your last cleaning. This is because plaque will continuously calcify and mineralize on the surface of your teeth to form tartar. During this time, the dental hygienist will:
- Use a scaler to remove plaque and tartar from the surface of individual teeth, between the teeth, and around the gum line.
- Polish the teeth using a high-powered brush with a soft rubber cup. This not only removes any surface stains, but also makes your tooth surface smooth and shiny to make it harder for plaque to form.
- Perform professional flossing in order to thoroughly clean the area between your teeth to remove any leftover plaque and toothpaste from the previous steps.
- Rinse your mouth using a solution containing liquid fluoride to remove any debris and clean your mouth.
- Apply flavored fluoride by putting it in flexible trays that are then placed over your teeth for 30 seconds. This helps to strengthen your teeth and enhance the protection against plaque and calculus.
Schedule Your Appointment
While many dental procedures can be dreadful, teeth cleanings are easily tolerated by most people because they’re not only simple and painless, but also an important part of maintaining your long-term oral health. To learn more about what to expect from a routine dental cleaning in Watertown MN, please contact our office today.
Advantages of Laser Dentistry in Watertown MN
For many patients, undergoing a dental procedure can be scary. Whether it is the tools being used or discomfort following a procedure, visiting the dentist often causes anxiety that can make you want to avoid receiving the treatment you need to keep your teeth and gums healthy. Fortunately, advances in dental technology make it possible for your dentist to treat certain issues with minimally invasive techniques. One such advancement is laser dentistry where the dentist uses a laser to correct issues such as cavities or gum surgery.
Why Choose Laser Dentistry?
Many dentists are now offering laser dentistry to treat issues as common as cavities to orthodontics and gum surgery. This new dental procedure allows the dentist to treat dental issues safely and precisely with minimally invasive tools. This mode of treatment has been used in clinical dental practice since 1989 and become popular in 1994 after FDA approval. In addition, laser dentistry continues to increase in popularity because it offers many benefits for both dentists and patients. It:
- Reduces or completely eliminates pain during the procedure
- Eliminates the need for anesthesia so it becomes an option rather than a necessity.
- Enhances precision when delivering treatment
- Reduces damage to surrounding tissues
- Promotes blood coagulation at treatment sites to eliminate or minimize the need for sutures
- Reduced recovery time
Final Note
Overall, laser dentistry is a safe and clear solution for patients who find traditional dental techniques to be a source of anxiety along with allowing your dentist to provide the best possible dental treatment to improve your oral health. Learn more about how visiting a laser dentist in Watertown MN can help improve your oral health by contacting our office today!
How Dental Implant Restorations Can Enhance Your Smile in Watertown MN
Whether you are missing a tooth or have several teeth that are beyond repair, restoring your smile will not only have a positive effect on your self-confidence but also your oral health. This is why many dentists now offer restorative dental procedures to improve their patients’ smiles for healthier teeth and gums. With dental implant restorations, your cosmetic dentist will be able to replace your missing or decayed teeth with natural-looking implant technology that look and feel like your natural teeth.
How Do Dental Implant Restorations Work?
An implant can be thought of as a replacement for the root of a missing tooth. It is placed into the bone, covered, and then allowed to heal/ integrate with the surrounding bone. Once the area has healed, your dentist may place a crown or bridge that resembles your natural teeth. Common procedures that use implants to provide a durable and natural function include:
- Implants may be used to support a free-standing crown.
- Implants may be used to support fixed bridgework.
- Implants may be used to help retain a removable appliance (denture or partial).
- Implants may be used to support a full-mouth reconstruction.
It is important to consult with a qualified cosmetic dentist to determine if implant restorations is a possible solution for your smile. Your dentist will examine your teeth and gums to verify that implants will improve your oral while enhancing your smile. Ultimately, you will discover the best procedure to restore your smile and boost your confidence. To get started, contact your oral surgeon in Watertown MN to schedule your consultation today!
How the Advancement of Digital X-Rays Benefit You | Watertown MN
You may have noticed that your dentist is now offering digital x-rays as part of their routine dental exam and wondered what’s the advantage. Simply explained, digital x-rays allow your dentist to get a better quality image of your teeth and gums for a more accurate examination. This high-quality look at your smile will guarantee the maintenance of your oral health for longterm dental care.
How Does Digital X-Ray Technology Work?
Digital x-rays are quickly becoming adopted by a large percentage of the dental industry. A digital x-ray allows the dentist to take an image of the tooth or teeth and put it into an imaging program. Within this imaging program, there are a number of tools that will allow the dentist to take a very close look at the teeth and surrounding structures with amazing accuracy.
Protecting Your Health
The advancement of x-rays to a digital format means your dentist is better able to protect you from the exposure of radiation. For comparison, a digital x-ray provides nearly 80% less radiation than a standard x-ray. This is due to the fact that the digital version of the x-ray is much more sensitive to this radiation and has been specifically designed with the patient in mind. Therefore, a dentist who uses digital x-ray technology is not only using the most advanced x-ray system to examine your smile but is also keeping your overall health in mind.
To learn more about the benefits of digital x-rays, schedule your appointment with your dentist in Watertown, MN today!
How a Routine Dental Exam Can Prevent Severe Dental Issues | Watertown MN
Tooth decay, gum disease, bad breath, and other oral problems are caused by the accumulation of bacteria-harboring plaque and tartar. Regular brushing and flossing are not enough to remove all the plaque hiding in hard to reach areas. Fortunately, a routine dental exam and professional teeth cleaning can help to get rid of the disease-causing bacteria and in the process, prevent most issues from arising in the first place, or to stop them in their earliest stages before they become severe and expensive to treat.
Teeth cleanings are usually done together with comprehensive dental exams. In most cases, dentists are able to detect potential problems before you’re able to see or feel them. With regular preventative dental appointments for professional cleanings and exams, you can successfully stave off gum disease and decay, as well as to detect the early stages of oral health problems for timely intervention before they become severe, painful, uncomfortable, and expensive to treat.
Some of the things you can expect from any appointment include:
- Oral Examination – the dentist examines your teeth/gums/mouth for existing cavities, worn dentition, damaged fillings or other restorations, gum disease, and other problems
- Discuss Your Dental Goals – After examining your mouth, the dentist will recommend the necessary treatments to address any urgent problems depending on the health of your mouth. In addition, the dentist will ask you a few questions about your goals or expectations in terms of improving the function or aesthetic of your smile.
- Treatment Planning – Based on your goals, your dental health, and the results of your examination, the dentist will come up with an appropriate treatment plan that addresses your unique dental needs and discuss it with you. In many cases, there are multiple ways to address any specific issue (fillings or crowns; bridgework or partial denture), so it’s important that you ask questions for clarification and to make an informed decision towards achieving your dental goals.
Schedule Your Appointment Today
Your natural teeth should last a lifetime, but only if you take good care of them. This requires a good at-home dental care routine and regular dental exams and professional cleanings. Call your dentist in Watertown MN today to get back on track with your oral health.
Advantages of Single Tooth Anesthesia in Watertown MN
For many patients, avoiding necessary dental procedures because of the treatment process is more common than you think. Some patients may find having part of their mouth numbed with anesthesia uncomfortable or too invasive. Fortunately, advancements in dentistry offer dentists the ability to use single tooth anesthesia to numb only the tooth that needs treatment.
What to Expect
Your dentist will use a computer-assisted system for local anesthesia called The Wand. It carefully guides your dental professional as they are performing dental injections. Patients who experience this new technology will find it offers less pain and more contained numbness for the area that is being treated by using single tooth anesthesia (STA). Additional benefits include:
- Modernization – With STA, your dentist is using the newest one-of-a-kind technology that allows a single out a tooth to be numbed.
- Protection – The patented computer system releases the anesthesia in a painless way but also in a dose that is secure for the patient. Using this procedure, you will not run the risk of receiving too much anesthetic.
- Effectiveness – STA eliminates any guessing as your dentist applies the anesthetic. The effective delivery of anesthesia means the effects are felt faster and last longer.
- Less Pain. This treatment option removes the discomfort out of the anesthesia delivery and protects the surrounding areas of the mouth.
To learn more about what to expect with single tooth anesthesia, please contact your dentist in Watertown MN today!
What to Expect with Six Month Smiles System in Watertown MN
As an adult, straightening your smile is essential for clear communication and a confident appearance in social and professional situations. Many patients find a newfound boost in their self-esteem and finding themselves smiling and laughing more in crowds because they are no longer afraid to show their smiles. Fortunately, with the Six Month Smiles System, your orthodontist can help you achieve a beautiful, confident smile quickly and discreetly.
What is the Six Month Smiles System?
Six Month Smiles is a short term orthodontic treatment that involves wearing clear braces to straighten and improve tooth alignment. For many adults, this alternative treatment is a convenient approach to a straighter smile without the time commitment. On average, Six Month Smiles treatments last just six months which makes it an attractive dental solution for many patients.
What Are the Advantages of Six Month Smiles Treatment?
Although the process is accelerated, the aligners are designed to make sure patients feel comfortable and confident throughout the treatment. Advantages of this treatment include:
- Clear brackets and tooth-colored wires that are virtually undetectable on the surface of your teeth.
- The aesthetic appearance of the brackets that are ideal for many adults.
- Custom fabrication to move your teeth into the desired position in minimal time.
- A possible convenient and often more affordable alignment solution.
Overall Six Month Smiles is a suitable solution for many adults who wish to straighten their smiles for a more confident and radiant appearance. Patients are often surprised by how quickly they begin to see results and how straightening their teeth improves their longterm oral health.
Schedule Your Consultation
To learn more about the benefits of straightening your smile, contact your orthodontist in Watertown MN to schedule your consultation today. We look forward to helping you achieve your best smile and enhance your oral health!
Advantages of Orthodontics in Watertown MN
Orthodontics is intended to improve both the function of your teeth and the aesthetics of your smile by considering your profile, bone structure, face, and muscular function, and balancing these elements precisely using advanced technologies. Successful treatment can transform your smile to boost your confidence and self-esteem while giving you an efficient bite and healthy teeth.
The Benefits of Orthodontics Include:
- Reduction of uneven wear of tooth enamel caused by unbalanced forces on the teeth
- A great smile that improves your appearance. This results in greater confidence and improved self-esteem
- Straight teeth that are easier to clean. This translates in healthier teeth and gums, resulting in reduced risk of gum disease and tooth decay.
- Correction of jaw and joint problems. Misalignment can strain the jaw joints, resulting in TMJ disorder. Temporomandibular jaw disorders (TMD) make it difficult to open and close the mouth, sometimes causing clicking and popping in the jaw, facial pain, and chronic headaches.
- To hold or create space to replace missing teeth, preventing adjacent teeth from shifting. Your orthodontist can also work with your general dentist or specialist to install dentures, implants, or bridgework to give you the best result.
- To reduce bruxism. Malocclusion can strain your jaws, causing you to grind your teeth or clench the jaws (bruxism). Over time, the increased pressure can damage your teeth and jaws. Straightening your teeth can reduce the risk of bruxism.
Final Note
Orthodontic treatment is beneficial to all people irrespective of your age. That said, the ideal orthodontic result is not simply a product of fitting your mouth with braces or aligners. It requires the patient to be proactive in their treatment by following the routine guidance and advice of your orthodontist throughout your treatment.
The more interest, enthusiasm, and dedication you show towards your orthodontic treatment, the sooner it will be complete with better results. It’s important that you attend appointments regularly, keep your braces or aligners clean and safe, and avoid hard and sticky foods that can interfere with a successful outcome.
To learn more about the advantages of orthodontics, contact your orthodontist in Watertown MN to schedule your consultation.
What Are the Benefits of My Dentist Using an Intraoral Camera During Exams? | Watertown MN
Dental technology continues to advance to better serve the dentist and patient. With the ongoing advancements, your dentist can focus their attention on providing the best quality and personalized dental for patients. An intraoral camera is the latest technology that allows the patient and dentist to get an in-depth look at the appearance of a patient’s teeth and gums during exams.
What Makes an Intraoral Camera Unique?
An intraoral camera is a tool used by dentists to examine a patient’s mouth in the most detailed way possible. The device which may resemble a large pen uses a camera to high-resolution footage of a patient’s teeth and gums in real-time. The footage is a view on a high-tech monitor for both the dentist and you to view during an exam.
Advantages For Both Dentists and Patients
The advanced technology features give the dentist the best ability to view your teeth and gums during an exam. The high-quality LED light, rotating head, and high-powered magnifying capabilities allow your dentist to see the inner workings of your mouth with extreme detail. The dentist has a greater ability to accurately examine your mouth during a routine visit resulting in state-of-the-art dental care every visit.
For patients, the use of an intraoral camera allows them to see exactly what the dentist sees in color and in real-time. It advances the communication ability between the dentist and patient because the image is more precise than that of an x-ray and the dentist can show the patient directly what the issue being discussed.
Schedule Your Appointment
If you are looking for top-notch, advanced dental care, contact your dentist in Watertown MN to learn more about how advanced imaging technology helps provide you with accurate information to make the best decisions to keep your smile healthy and beautiful.
Cost of Dental Exam & Teeth Cleaning in Watertown MN
A dental exam and professional cleaning are quite inexpensive, and should be performed regularly as recommended by dental professionals, every six months, to ensure your optimal oral health.
The cost of prophylaxis or dental cleaning partly depends on the age of the patient, with children possibly having a different rate. Primary teeth in children are also prone to stains, plaque, and calculus, which means that professional cleaning is also important for their oral health.
Associated Costs
To determine whether deep cleaning is necessary, that is scaling and root planing below the gumline, x-ray may be necessary to assess the extent of periodontal disease. That said, you don’t necessarily need to incur the extra cost of X-rays to go through a preventive procedure like deep cleaning.
Your dentist will determine which of these preventive procedures are necessary based on your dental exam, after which they will be done in a single appointment together with your dental cleaning.
Paying for Dental Cleaning
Most people with dental insurance are fully covered for up to two cleanings per year, as well as X-rays and a dental exam for new patients. For additional preventive visits, perhaps due to pregnancy, smoking, or other condition, you should reach out to your provider to determine whether they will cover the cost fully or partially. 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.
Schedule your dental exam by contacting your dentist in Watertown MN today!
New Patient Exam Xrays and Regular Cleaning $67
Includes consultation, exam, and x-rays. In the absence of periodontal disease. New Patients Only
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Invisalign
With advances in dental technologies, it is now possible to straighten your teeth discreetly without the use of traditional metal braces.
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