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Am I a Candidate for a Root Canal? | Watertown Dental MN
For many dental patients, avoiding a root canal is a high priority. However, a root canal is actually an excellent solution for saving your natural tooth. This treatment allows your dentist to remove the decayed or damaged portion of your tooth pulp while protecting the healthy portion. In the end, the procedure is worth the time and expense to keep the natural healthy part of your tooth.
When is Root Canal Treatment Recommended?
Toothaches and sensitive teeth are common issues, so it can often be challenging to determine when a dental visit is actually necessary. When your tooth pulp becomes inflamed or infected, you will begin to feel symptoms that prompt you to take action. If you experience symptoms including:
- Toothache – These are pretty common, but certain toothaches point to the possibility of an inflamed/infected pulp. If you experience sharp pain in the middle of the night that leads into a generalized headache, then your tooth’s root may be suffering.
- Abcess – If you see a bump near the top part of a tooth and/or pus present in the mouth, then there is a good chance a root canal will be required.
- Sensitivity – Extreme pain to hot and cold foods is a good indicator.
- Discoloration – Dark discoloration on the tooth points to a deteriorated pulp. This is a severe sign.
It is essential to note that if you experience constant pain to contact your dentist immediately. Waiting could potentially mean that the tooth cannot be saved and has to be removed and replaced. Saving the healthy portion of your tooth is more beneficial to the health of your overall mouth.
Schedule Your Consultation
If you are experiencing possible symptoms of tooth decay, contact your dentist in Watertown today to schedule your consultation. During your visit, your dentist will examine your condition and recommend the best treatment options for your dental health.
Teeth Whitening Near Me, Watertown MN 55388
White teeth are associated with beauty, increased confidence, and a healthy lifestyle. However, smoking and chewing tobacco, drinking black tea or coffee and wine, using medications such as tetracycline, swallowing too much fluoride, and aging can cause your teeth to become stained. Teeth whitening in Watertown MN involves the use of simple and non-invasive treatments designed to change the color of your natural tooth enamel to give you a dazzling smile.
Having white teeth is the leading aesthetic concern for most dental patients. Fortunately, there are multiple ways – including home and in-office – to whiten teeth, with varying degrees of effectiveness.
Reasons to Consider Teeth Whitening
Some of the reasons why people consider teeth whitening in Watertown MN include:
- To improve their smile
- To increase their confidence
- To prevent discoloration from worsening
Teeth whitening can be used to stop the progression of tooth discoloration, especially in combination with lifestyle adjustments
Since improving your smile is an investment, the last thing you want to see are signs of discoloration on your pearly whites coming up only a few months after treatment. To maintain your newly achieved bright smile, you should:
- Avoid stain-causing foods and drinks – Many colored foods and drinks can stain your white teeth. So, reduce or avoid your intake of tomatoes, berries, grape juice, red wine, coffee, tea, sports drinks, cola, and grape juice.
- Rinse your mouth with water after eating and drinking – Every time you indulge in items that can stain your mouth, it is important that you rinse your mouth with clean water right after. Swishing a little water after eating or drinking can help reduce staining.
- Stop smoking – Smoking is not only bad for your health, but also your teeth. The nicotine, tar, and tobacco in cigarettes, cigars, and pipes will stain your teeth.
- Practice proper oral hygiene – Daily brushing, at least every morning after breakfast and at night before bed, and daily flossing will help remove food debris and plaque and keep your mouth clean and stain-free.
Final Note
Tooth bleaching only works for natural teeth, and the results don’t last forever. Artificial dental treatments, including crowns, fillings, and veneers are resistant to stains, which means that these won’t respond to the whitening agents. Moreover, you need a touch-up every year or sooner – as advised by your Watertown dentist – depending on your diet and lifestyle to maintain your bright smile
Please schedule your consultation today to discuss ways to improve your smile.
Cosmetic Dentist Near Me, Watertown MN 55388
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 Watertown 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 your cosmetic dentist in Watertown 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 dental team in Winstead MN to learn more about available cosmetic dentistry treatments, and to schedule your appointment.
What to Expect with Dental Crowns in Watertown MN
Dental crowns are a popular treatment because they can be used to repair different kinds of tooth damage, including chips, cracks, fractures, decay, damaged fillings, and even to close small gaps between teeth. They can also be used with dental bridgework or implants to replace one or more missing teeth.
The Procedure
If you’re a suitable candidate for crowns, the dentist will complete your treatment in two appointments. The first visit is for preparing the tooth for repair. Your dentist will first numb the damaged tooth before beginning any work. If the tooth is infected, the decay will be removed and the cavity thoroughly cleaned.
The dentist will then take digital impressions that will be used to create your custom tooth cap in a dental lab, making sure to match the color of your crown to that of your teeth, or use a different shade if you wish to improve your smile. A temporary crown will then be placed to help you eat properly in the meantime.
On your next visit, the temporary crown will be replaced with the permanent one, and properly fitted to “cap” the entire damaged or decayed area of the tooth. This will make it look and function like your natural teeth.
Advantages of Crowns
- Dental crown placement is a painless procedure since the dentist administers a local anesthetic before starting any treatment on the tooth.
- Crowns are custom-made to your exact needs, including the size, shape, and shade of adjacent teeth. The crown is designed using computer-aided design (CAD/CAM) technology and fabricated through milling a ceramic block.
- While waiting for the permanent crown to be fabricated, you will be fitted with a temporary one to protect the teeth and prevent tooth sensitivity when eating.
When the procedure is complete, your Watertown dentist will advise you on how to care for your new tooth to ensure that it lasts forever. Proper care includes brushing regularly, flossing at least once a day, avoiding biting down or chewing hard foods and items.
To learn more about dental crowns and whether they’re good for you, please schedule a consultation today.
Family Dentist Near Me, Watertown MN 55388
For many families, finding a dentist that provides the best dental care for your entire family is a top priority. A family dentist understands the dental needs of children, adults, and seniors while providing convenient care all in one office. Many families choose a family dentist to ensure maintaining proper dental health continues in every season of life.
Choosing the Right Family Dentist Near You
The atmosphere of the dental practice is a significant factor for choosing the best family dentist for your loved ones. With most family dental practices, you can expect
- Advanced dental equipment to guarantee efficiency and comfort.
- High-quality care to offer the most convenient and accurate techniques.
- A relaxing waiting room.
- A friendly, courteous staff that will always welcome you with a smile.
With your dentist, you can trust that patient satisfaction is their top priority. With this in mind, most family dentists will happily provide oral hygiene demonstrations for members of your family from the youngest to the oldest to ensure your family is familiar with proper brushing and flossing techniques. Overall family dentistry offers your family the opportunity for convenient, professional dental care that is especially aware of the unique needs of each age group.
Providing the Best Dental Care for Your Children
Family dentists often have special training to meet the dental needs of the youngest members of your family. Children are often apprehensive about visiting the dentist. The staff at a family dental practice will be aware of this fact and work with your child to help them feel relaxed and comfortable during their visit.
To learn more about what to expect with family dentistry, contact your dentist in Watertown MN to schedule an appointment. There you can ask questions, express concerns, and get to know the dentist near you.
What to Expect with Teeth Whitening in Watertown MN
Proper brushing and flossing every day can help to keep your smile bright and breath fresh. Factors such as aging, consuming colored foods and drinks, and lifestyle habits such as chewing or smoking tobacco products can cause your teeth to discolor and get darker. Fortunately, there are several options for teeth whitening in Watertown to help improve the shade of your teeth and maintain the shade with follow up treatments as recommended by the dentist.
Before treatment, the dentist will examine your teeth to establish the cause and severity of the discoloration, and then propose various whitening options that will be most suitable for your case to ensure that you get the desired results and the smile of your teeth. The results may fade with time depending on your diet, age, and lifestyle choices, so subsequent treatments may be necessary to maintain a white smile.
Good Candidates for Teeth Whitening
Teeth whitening in Watertown is most effective on surface stains, and while anyone from the age of 10 years and above can be a good candidate for bleaching, there are a few cases when your dentist may prevent you from proceeding with the treatment. These include:
- Tooth and gum sensitivity – Sensitivities may disqualify you from using certain whitening techniques
- The natural color of your teeth – Intrinsic stains are harder to bleach compared to extrinsic stains
- The presence of crowns, fillings, bridges, or veneers – These do not bleach the same as natural teeth, which means that you may have to replace them after whitening your teeth to achieve a uniform look
- Exposed roots – These surfaces are harder to whiten effectively compared to tooth enamel, which means that you may have to consider alternative methods.
Your dentist will assess your teeth and mouth during your first visit to determine your suitability.
Final Note
Teeth whitening is not permanent, and people who expose their teeth to tobacco products and colored foods and beverages that cause staining may realize faster fading of the results. The more you exercise proper oral hygiene after bleaching, the longer you will stay without requiring touch-up whitening treatment.
Please contact your dentist in Watertown to discuss ways to improve your smile with teeth whitening.
What to Expect with Dental Implants in Watertown MN
A dental implant is a titanium post that is surgically placed in your jaw to form an artificial “tooth root” that functions as a sturdy support for the replacement tooth, denture, or bridge. Dental implants in Watertown MN are a popular, effective, and long-lasting solution for replacing missing teeth.
Dental implants in Watertown offer many other advantages over other tooth replacement options as follows:
- Can be used to replace one or more teeth without affecting the health or structure of neighboring teeth like conventional bridgework
- They’re natural-looking and feeling, so you can enjoy your usual foods and care for your mouth as usual without necessarily giving the new tooth any special attention
- Can be used to support a denture, making it more secure and comfortable
- Can be used to support a bridge to replace more than one tooth, as an alternative to removable partial dentures
- They stimulate the jawbone to prevent bone resorption, which can make your face appear older
Placing dental implants involves a surgical procedure that requires extreme care. The implant requires three to four months to integrate with the underlying bone tissue before crown placement. During this time, the dentist will place dentures or partials to cover the gap and allow you to eat normally. Complex cases that involve soft and hard tissue grafting will take nearly twice as long. But the actual time depends on your age, health, number of teeth, and quantity and quality of bone tissue.
The Treatment Process
The oral surgeon uses state-of-the-art 3D digital imaging and advanced implant planning software to analyze your jaw anatomy and identify the best site for the implant before surgery. This is important to reduce the recovery time to a few months. After surgical placement of the implant, you need to wait 4-6 months for the gums to heal before the replacement tooth can be placed. If your gum and/or bone tissue needs to be rebuilt, like through grafting, then the full treatment time will be longer.
Please schedule an appointment with your oral surgeon in Watertown MN for a proper assessment of your case.
Dental Crowns Cost in Watertown MN
Although fillings and crowns seem to treat similar kinds of tooth damage – chips and fractures – dental crowns provide a stronger and more durable restoration. Crowns also help to strengthen severely weakened teeth that may otherwise need to be extracted, which makes the dental crowns cost more expensive compared to dental fillings.
Here are some reasons for the popularity of dental crowns:
- Can be used to treat a wide range of problems – Fillings can be successfully used to repair minor tooth damage. However, large fillings tend to be unstable, requiring the support of a dental crown. Rather than get a quick filling that won’t last very long, you can choose dental crowns
- Cosmetic dental treatment to improve your smile – Tooth-colored crowns, also referred to as white fillings, have become increasingly popular because they blend in with your natural teeth and make the repair unnoticeable, producing an even, white smile.
- Strong and durable materials – There are many different materials that can be used for dental fillings to provide a strong and durable restoration for your molars.
Dental crowns give you value for your money, even if you spend a little more than fillings. However, the procedure should be done by a skilled and experienced dentist. So when considering the cost of dental crowns, it’s best that you don’t simply choose the least expensive dentist without fully understanding the reasons for the low-cost treatment.
The cost of getting a crown varies depending on the material used and the amount of tooth preparation needed before placement. Naturally, a severely damaged or infected tooth that requires a core build-up will increase the overall cost of the procedure. You don’t necessarily have to pay the total cost of treatment out-of-pocket. Many insurance providers cover about 50% of the cost, though this also depends on your type of insurance and the specifics of your case.
To find out the actual cost of your crown placement procedure, please schedule an appointment with your Watertown dentist today.
Good Candidates for a Cosmetic Smile Makeover | Watertown MN
Your smile forms a central part of your image, which means that it affects both your professional and social relationships. Thanks to advancements in dentistry, there are many cosmetic smile makeover procedures, technologies, and tooth-colored materials that can be used to improve your smile. Even a subtle change to your smile can make a huge difference in the way you look, the way you feel about yourself, and the way others perceive you.
You may be a candidate for a cosmetic smile makeover to address:
1. Stained or Discolored Teeth
There are many things that contribute to tooth discoloration, including age, food, medications, smoking, and other lifestyle factors. Your dentist may recommend an appropriate teeth whitening or bleaching solution to whiten your teeth or conceal severe stains and brighten your smile.
2. Tooth Decay
Decay occurs due to the buildup of plaque, causing it to eat away your tooth structure and create cavities. Depending on the extent of damage, your dentist will remove the infection, treat the site, and then fill the cavity to stop further deterioration.
3. Chipped or Fractured teeth
Teeth can break due to any kind of trauma in an accident, due to a sports injury, or even bad habits such as chewing ice or opening soda bottles with your teeth. Broken teeth can be repaired in a simple in-office procedure to restore the aesthetics of your smile.
4. Crooked, Overcrowded, or Misaligned Teeth
Orthodontic issues typically require the use of custom dental appliances to gradually move your teeth to the desired position. The treatment may take longer than one year depending on the severity of the problem, age, and the health of your gums, teeth, and supporting bone. But modern teeth-straightening procedures allow you to see the results to expect at the end of your treatment, which helps to keep you committed.
5. Missing Teeth
There are several options for replacing missing teeth. You simply need to choose between temporary or removable options and permanent options. That said, the best treatment for your case depends on different factors, including the health of adjacent teeth, the health of the gum and jawbone tissues, age, and personal preferences, among others.
If you’re self-conscious about your teeth or want to improve your smile, please visit your cosmetic dentist in Watertown MN to discuss your case.
Dental Implant Dentist Near Me, Watertown MN 55388
Dental implants are a safe, reliable, and highly successful solution for replacing one or more missing teeth permanently. The treatment involves implanting a small titanium screw into the jawbone, so it acts as the foundation for your new tooth replacement. Consulting with a dental implant dentist near you will give you better insight into the proven success of implants and if you are a candidate for treatment.
The technology behind dental implants has been around since the 1960s and has been well-proven to replace one or several missing teeth in both the upper and lower jaws. The result is an attractive, durable tooth replacement that stimulates the underlying bone, contributing to healthy gums around the new tooth.
Other benefits of dental implants include:
- Secure and permanent tooth replacement
- Look, feel, and function like natural teeth
- Stimulate the surrounding soft and hard tissues – helps to maintain the facial structure
- No interference with the surrounding healthy, natural teeth
- The comfortable end result with no adhesives or routine adjustments required
- Easy to care and maintain your new teeth, with normal brushing and flossing
What to Expect
Dental implants are made from a biocompatible material that completely integrates with your bone tissue. If your dentist determines that you’re a good candidate for implants, the dental implant dentist will surgically insert the implant, which is usually in the form of a screw, into your jawbone. Dental implants come in different sizes to suit the quality of your jawbone.
As it heals in the next few months, the screw will integrate with the underlying bone through a process known as osseointegration. This will provide strong and sturdy support for your new teeth that function as the root of your tooth replacement.
When the implant has healed, an abutment is attached to it on one side to hold the tooth in place. Your replacement tooth is then connected to the abutment on the other side. The tooth is custom made to match the shape and color of your existing natural teeth.
Are Dental Implants Right for Me?
Dental implants are the ideal tooth replacement option for anyone missing one or several teeth. Each solution is custom designed for your specific situation, with some patients requiring additional treatments such as bone grafting to ensure a successful tooth replacement.
Please visit your dentist in Watertown to learn more about dental implants and whether they’re right for you.
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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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