Periodontal diseases are infection of the tissues holding the teeth in place. The symptoms are halitosis (bad breath) that won’t go away, red or swollen gums, tender or bleeding gums, painful chewing, loose teeth, sensitive teeth, receding gums or longer appearing teeth. The first nonsurgical step usually involves cleaning or scaling to remove plaque and deposits on the tooth and root surfaces. Certain gum diseases or periodontal diseases need further treatment such as nonsurgical root planing and surgical procedures to maintain periodontal health. It is highly advised to have regular dental visits and oral prophylaxis to prevent having periodontal or gum diseases.
Dental implants are replacement of tooth roots for extracted or missing tooth. It provides a strong foundation for crowns, bridge and removable dentures. It eliminates the need to remove additional tooth structure on the adjacent teeth.
Orthodontic treatment and braces are used to correct malocclusion (crowding/ spacing in the dentition). Tooth alignment problems may be inherited or could result from early/late tooth loss, injury or habits. Not correcting an abnormal bite could result to affected speech/chewing, abnormal wear of tooth surfaces, jaw problems and tooth decay if oral hygiene cannot be performed properly due to the position of the teeth. Proper treatment planning is to be done to avoid further damage to the teeth and gums. Diagnostic procedures such as panoramic radiograph, cephalometric radiograph, impression taking, intraoral and extraoral pictures are needed for assessment. One of the option for aligning teeth are braces. Braces consist of small brackets cemented on the teeth, connected by a wire which is regularly tightened by the dentist to gradually shift the teeth.
There are cases when the damage on the teeth cannot be fixed. A tooth is indicated for removal if there's a severe attachment loss and/or the tooth is badly broken down. There are also cases wherein the tooth should be removed for orthodontic or prosthetic purposes.
Dental caries is the most abundant dental disease. It leads to infection of the pulp/nerves inside the tooth. Composite/ amalgam/ crowns/ veneers cannot fix the damage inside the tooth. Root canal treatment removes the infected pulp/ nerves/ bacteria/ debris inside the tooth. It is a chemomechanical procedure that use irrigating solutions and handheld/rotary files. The root canal is cleaned and shaped which is to be filled and sealed with a suitable material. A restoration will be placed on the tooth after root canal treatment to protect and restore it to full function.
Teeth are often damaged due to dental caries or trauma that lead to fracture. Dental restorations or dental fillings are used to restore the function, appearance and integrity of tooth. There are different materials such as composite, amalgam and glass ionomer. The material to be used depends on the condition of the tooth.
Crowns and bridges are fixed prosthetic procedure used to restore badly broken down teeth and replace missing teeth, respectively. Preparations on the teeth will be done to provide space for the crown.
Veneers are tooth colored custom-made shells designed to cover the front surface of the teeth. They are an option for correcting stained, chipped, decayed or crooked teeth and for closing spaces in between teeth.
Tooth loss can cause problems in speech, chewing and appearance. Removable dentures are an option to replace extracted/missing teeth and to improve appearance in patients with collapsed lips. Complete dentures are used when all teeth are missing and partial denture are used when some natural teeth remain. Different materials are used depending on the case. They can be made of metal, acrylic, flexible material or combination.
The teeth can be stained by tea, coffee and red wine and cigarettes. Aside from oral prophylaxis which removes the plaque on the teeth, whitening can improve the appearance of the the teeth. Teeth whitening can lighten the color of the teeth. There are different procedure depending on the condition of the tooth and the patient's preference. There are take home teeth whitening systems and in-office whitening treatment.
Oral hygiene of kids are often neglected due to the misconception that it is "just" baby teeth. The primary or baby teeth is very important for a number of reasons. It serves as space maintainer for the permanent teeth. It has an effect on the self-esteem of the child and will affect how the child will give importance to oral health. It has an impact on the entire health of the child as it aids in the chewing of food. If a child has health baby teeth he/she will less likely to have carious or decayed permanent teeth as the bacteria in his/her mouth is less and oral hygiene is reinforced while growing up. Taking care of healthy teeth can lead to less problems with the permanent teeth and can save a lot of time and expenses becuase invasive dental procedures will be prevented. It is advised that a child's first dental visit is at age 1 or 6months after the first tooth erupts. Aside from the benefits in the child's teeth, early dental visit can lead to less stressful dental visits and can avoid dental trauma.
Our dental X-ray services include 3D/CT scan, panoramic, cephalometric, occlusal and periapical radiographs.