Accepting New Patients

Preventive Care and Cleanings

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"--never has that statement been more true than in dentistry. Your teeth were designed to last you a lifetime. Regular visits to the dentist along with routine follow-up care at home can ensure that you will be smiling and eating with comfort and good health into and through your golden years.

Regular Checkups and Continuing Care

Regular checkups are important. At regular checkups dentists check the state of your complete oral health. They look for tooth decay, tooth wear, gum disease, tumors, abscesses on the root tips of teeth which can only be seen by X rays, conduct an oral cancer screening and assess the general health of your mouth.

Regular checkups allow any small problems or conditions to be corrected before they become serious. Poor dental health can affect how you look and feel and it can sometimes lead to very serious complications such as infections and even oral cancer. Your dentist will use his or her professional experience and diagnostic aids such as X-rays to determine the state of your oral health in order to make recommendations or a treatment plan to fix the problem areas.

Regular Cleanings

In office dental cleanings (or prophylaxis) helps you to care for your teeth and gums and is a front line defense against gum disease. When a dental hygienist or dentist cleans your teeth they use cleaning tools or instruments that are small enough to reach the areas that your toothbrush misses. They remove any buildup of plaque and hardened plaque called tartar that is irritating to your gum tissue (or gingiva.) If this tartar is not removed, it will irritate the gums so much that you can develop gum disease (periodontal disease) that causes bad breath, irritated, sore and bleeding gums, receding gums and in the chronic later stages, bone loss and loose teeth.

Your dentist will recommend a routine cleaning schedule for you based upon the state of your oral health. Usually, most patients with good oral health have their cleanings every six months. However, if problems exist, you may need to be seen more than twice a year. Whatever your frequency of visits, dentists and hygienists agree that preventive trips can be the most important time spent to support your oral health.