The Difference Between Dental Bonding and Veneers

A dental bonding can be used to repair a number of surface imperfections with your teeth. Learn how they’re different from veneers today!

Many times, when a patient is trying to find a dentist for a cosmetic dentistry procedure, they are expecting to receive either a dental bonding or a dental veneer. But in many cases – they actually don’t know which is which.

So what’s the difference between a dental veneer and dental bonding?

What is Dental Bonding?

A dental bonding is used to cover and smooth out the surface of your teeth. Most frequently, bonding is used when a patient has suffered from an injury like a chipped tooth.

Bonding is a very popular procedure for one very popular reason: it doesn’t require any extensive tooth alteration – just some minor “roughing up” to ensure that the bonding has a surface to stick to. On top of this, the procedure is inexpensive, fast, and quite simple.

First, your dentist chooses a composite resin that matches the color of your existing tooth.

Next, your dentist will rough up the affected area to make sure that the resin properly adheres to your tooth. For a vast majority of patients, this part of the process is painless, and doesn’t even require any anesthesia.

Your dentist will then apply multiple thin layers of resin which is then hardened with a UV light. This is repeated, layer after layer, until enough resin has been applied to your tooth to even out the surface and repair the imperfection.

Before you go home, your dentist will polish the resin to ensure that it matches the surface of your teeth in both color and feel.

How Long Does a Dental Bonding Last

For many patients, with proper care and oral hygiene – a dental bonding can be expected to last up to 10 years with its original color and shape. After this point, it could need to be repaired or replaced.

When Dentists Use Dental Bonding

In many cases, dental bonding is used when the damage or imperfection is relatively minor. Also, dental bonding is frequently used as a “first option” that can inexpensively repair minor surface damage sufficiently enough to rule out more expensive and involved procedures.

Bonding is used to repair or correct a number of conditions, including:

Chips
Cracks
Gaps in your teeth
Eroded teeth
Exposed roots
Dental stains
Misshapen teeth
And more…

While dental bonding uses a composite material to touch up and even out the surface imperfections caused by the above conditions, veneers take it to a whole new level and actually cover up the teeth to take care of larger areas.

Check back tomorrow to learn more about dental veneers, and how they’re different from dental bonding.

Are you looking for a dentist experienced with cosmetic dentistry? Do you have questions about your teeth or oral health? Don’t wait! Putting off dental care can encourage problems to

become worse and more expensive to treat. If you’re hoping to find a dentist in the Garden Grove area that makes a life-time of confident smiles a reality, look no further.

How to Prevent Loss of Taste with Dentures

Is food losing it’s taste after you got dentures? Follow these tips to fix it!

When we go beyond some of the most common complains new denture wearers have about their dentures like – slippage or sore spots – we land on one of the problems that many denture wearers encounter weeks or even months after they begin wearing their dentures: food starts tasting differently, or it doesn’t taste like anything at all!

Our denture dentists in Garden Grove have heard this one before, and fortunately – your dentures aren’t the end of great tasting food as you know it. (They also don’t deserve all the blame). But as is always the case with dentures – getting your food’s taste back usually just takes some small adjustments.

Did You Know?: We Lose Taste as We Age

Many people don’t realize that we do tend to lose our taste as we age. This is why many people tend to start using more salt on their food, or eating lots of sweets. The fact is, though, that not all flavors are treated evenly and everyone is different.

In addition to the simple fact that our taste-buds grow weaker over time, dentures can also affect your taste. Because your upper denture covers your upper hard palate (which contains taste buds), some loss in flavor can result. However, this is different for every patient.

Fortunately, one of the greatest factors that impact taste is how well you clean your dentures – which is completely within your control. Old food deposits and other debris can get stuck in your dentures and ultimately lead to altered or even bad tastes in your mouth. In addition, if you’re using too much denture adhesive (a sign of poorly fitted dentures) you may also notice a diminished sense of taste.

3 Ways to Eliminate Loss of Taste With Dentures

There are generally 3 methods to regain your sense of taste with dentures. This is important, not just because why wouldn’t you want food to taste good but the fact that food tasting good encourages you to continue eating healthy. If food didn’t taste good, malnourishment and an over-reliance on bad food choices (like salty foods and sweets) would ultimately lead to other problems, like diabetes or high blood pressure.

Make sure you clean your dentures properly, and thoroughly
Remember: an over-reliance on denture adhesive is the first sign of dentures that fit poorly. Find a dentist that can offer you affordable dentures that fit well. Adhesive is just a backup!
If you’re already cleaning your dentures properly and you’re not over-using adhesive – could it be that your taste buds on your upper palate are too-shielded by your denture? Consider trying an implant supported denture, which doesn’t require covering your upper palate.

Do you have questions about your dentures? Primary Dental Care – in addition to being a family dentist in Garden Grove – is also an expert when it comes to providing high quality, affordable dentures. Get in touch with us today to learn how we can help you get your smile and your confidence back.

How to Make Your Dental Bridge Last for Years

For anyone that’s done any amount of research about the cosmetic dentistry procedures available to replace a missing or badly damaged tooth, it’s no secret that dental bridges are a relatively fast and inexpensive way to replace a tooth. Even better is the fact that they’re more than just relatively effective. In fact, they’re very effective at replacing teeth. But many patients wonder how to make their dental bridges last.

At our dental practice in Garden Grove California, we’ve had the opportunity to be there for patients hoping to find a dentist that can restore their confidence with a renewed smile.

Ultimately, a number of factors will impact how long your dental bridge lasts. These factors range from the bite forces you subject your bridge to and how well you take care of it, to how often you see the dentist, your dentist’s technique, and the materials used in your bridge. On average, most dental bridges last between 5 and 10 years. However, it’s not unheard (and for many dentists, it’s even common) for a dental bridge to last upwards to 2o years.

Three major factors will ultimately ensure that your bridge lasts for many years.

A Solid Oral Healthcare Routine: By keeping your gums and your teeth healthy, you get more and more longevity out of your dental bridge. By brushing with fluoridated toothpaste after meals and flossing daily, you protect the teeth throughout your mouth. In doing so, you protect the teeth supporting your bridge and elongate the life of the bridge itself.

Don’t Become a Stranger at the Dentist’s Office: Visiting your dentist regularly (in most cases, twice a year) ensures that he or she has the opportunity to identify any problems that are developing and ensure they are solved without unnecessary damage to your remaining teeth or your bridge.

Be Careful: In order to keep your bridge for as long as possible and become one of the few, proud patients with a bridge that lasts for decades, you’ll also have to be careful about damaging your bridge or the supporting teeth. This isn’t actually very hard, it just comes down to avoiding foods that are very. On top of this, definitely stay away from chewing ice, hard candies, and bad habits like biting your nails. A dental bridge doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the foods you ate before , it just means you need to be careful.

Recovering from Tooth Extraction Before Getting Dentures

While it’s hardly uncommon for the average dental patient to experience the need to remove a tooth here and there that’s either been injured or damaged by decay, the removal of many teeth is a different story.

In most cases, if you’re either getting dental implants or your denture dentist is preparing your mouth for a full or partial denture – tooth extraction can take some time, and involve a rather protracted recovery time. However, by following some simple recovery suggestions and guidelines you can drastically minimize the chance for complication and infection, while minimizing pain and swelling.

It’s important to remember that after your teeth have been extracted, your mouth will instantly begin a gradual process of healing and adjustment. If you opted for an immediate denture to avoid being without teeth throughout the this period (which is very common), you might experience some sore spots on your gums. Typically, one of our specialized denture dentists will work with you to make any of the adjustments necessary to minimize this discomfort and eliminate the sore spots.

After Extraction

Bleeding, swelling, and tenderness are to be expected in the days after the surgery, and your dentist will recommend a specific care routine to help ensure your recovery is as painless and simple as possible.

The First Two Days: The first two days after tooth extraction surgery often involve the most discomfort and swelling.

After the Third Day: After the first two days, your swelling should go down (though possibly not all the way), and you should be feeling more comfortable. You should also be able to begin introducing some new and more substantial foods into your diet. After the first week, you should begin to notice gradual improvement, day after day and week after week. If this isn’t something you experience, or the swelling, bleeding, and discomfort persist – contact your doctor soon.

What to Do with the Plastic Syringe

Many times, patients who have had a tooth extraction will be given a small plastic irrigation syringe. It’s important not to use this until after roughly 5 to 7 days. After this point, you should be using it daily to make sure that the tooth socket doesn’t have any food or debris inside it. Once it’s closed and the risk of food or other debris getting into the socket is gone, you can generally stop using the syringe.

Wearing a Temporary Prosthesis

If you’re using a temporary prosthetic like a partial denture or flipper, it’s important to remember that you should really only use the prosthetic in social settings. Do your best to take these appliances out of your mouth in order to give it the space and time it needs to properly heal. However, this isn’t the case if you’ve had all of your teeth removed and your dentist has already given you a complete denture. If this is the case, it’s very important that you leave this denture in for at least 24 hours. This ensures a good fit. If you remove it, there’s a good chance – due to swelling – that you won’t be able to place it back in your mouth with any degree of success. After this 24 hour period, you should take your denture out and cleanse it out every night.

Have questions about the extraction process or concerns about recovery? Contact our friendly dental team in Garden Grove today.

Root Canal Recovery: What to Expect and What to Do

As an experienced root canal dentist in the Garden Grove area, Primary Dental Care has had the opportunity to relieve pain and save teeth for countless dental patients across Orange County.

But chances are, if you’re searching for information about root canal treatment recovery – the hard part is already over. You’ve made it. You survived the most dreaded procedure in dentistry. But it wasn’t that bad, was it? That’s right….root canal treatment has come quite a long way in the past couple decades, making it little more daunting than getting a simple filling. In fact, the reaction most patients continues to confirm the fact that root canal treatment is never the nightmare that its made out to be.

While its scary reputation seems to be spread due to misinformation, and the procedure becomes associated with the pain that makes it necessary in the first place – our goal is to stop the misinformation and change the perception of root canal treatment.

While we’ve covered a number of topics relating to root canal treatment in the past, today we’re focusing on the recovery process.

Eating

When the anesthesia from your procedure wears off, you can continue eating and drinking as you normally would. If you begin to feel any sensitivity, rest assured that it is completely normal and should go away after the tissues and nerves in your mouth begin to recover from the procedure.

Resuming Activity

After your root canal treatment, it is perfectly okay to resume your regular daily activities. Generally, most patients wait for their anesthesia to wear off.

Residual Pain

While your mouth heals, it’s also very normal to feel some discomfort. However, it should be nowhere near the amount of pain you experienced before your root canal treatment. While there isn’t any nerve in the affected tooth anymore, the surrounding tissues will still be healing. In most cases, over-the-counter anti-inflammatory aids like Advil are often recommended. If the pain you experience is hard to tolerate, do contact your dentist to make sure everything is okay.

Follow Up Care

After your root canal procedure, your dentist will typically install a permanent post and filling. Due to the fact that your tooth will now be “hollow” since the pulp and nerves have been removed – it can sometimes lead to a tooth that’s more brittle. In many cases, especially if the damage was severe, your dentist will recommend a crown to protect it. In other cases, sometimes a filling is all that’s needed.

Have questions about dental pain or root canal treatment? Our dentists are here to help. Having provided too many root canals to count, we’re the local experts in Garden Grove. To learn more about how we can help relieve your dental pain, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.

When a Dental Bridge Needs Repair

Does your dental bridge need repairs? Learn what to look for today.

Do you remember when you lost your first tooth? Chances are it was an incredibly stressful event.

“What are people going to think?!”

“How much is this going to cost!?”

“Will my smile look the same?”

On top of all these questions, there’s a good chance you didn’t wait to find a dentist to help restore your smile.

Fortunately, at the time you didn’t quite understand how easy, painless, and cost-effective it was to get a dental bridge. However, as many patients with dental bridges understand – they aren’t indestructible.

A fixed dental bridge can last decades and will successfully help you continue eating the same foods you’ve always enjoyed while encouraging natural speech and preventing your remaining teeth from falling out of line. However, they aren’t without their weak points.

Most dental bridges are composed of porcelain or ceramic that’s been fused to a metal framework. Ultimately, the most common source of failure for these appliances is poor oral care. If bacteria enters the bridge through one of the adjacent crowns, or if decay has an opportunity to form in one of the teeth supporting the dental bridge, the whole bridge structure is at risk. These are factors that your dentist will pay careful attention to, making regular checkups a necessity when it comes to protecting your investment and ensuring your smile stays the way you want it to.

In addition to decay or bacteria undermining your dental bridge by way of the abutment teeth, problems with the actual dental bridge can arise as well. These generally occur due to some sort of breakage in the dental bridge’s porcelain/ceramic and metal structure.

How to Know You Need Dental Bridge Repair

One of the most common causes behind dental bridge breakage is due to the fact that, because the dental bridge covers a number of teeth, the underlying decay isn’t always obvious. For this reason, you should be extra vigilant about any new signs of sensitivity in or around the location of your dental bridge.

On top of this, there could also be a chance that the ceramic or porcelain on your dental bridge is actually cracking or chipping away. If this happens, you might actually notice the material breaking away. But pain or sensitivity could also be present. If you experience any of the above symptoms – don’t hesitate to contact your dentist to fix your bridge and prevent the further spread of damage and/or bacteria.

How Long A Dental Bridge Can Last….and How to Prolong It

A dental bridge, if you didn’t know already, is a dental appliance used to replace one or more missing teeth. They are called this for a reason, for the way that a dental bridge literally closes the gap between two spaces – very much like a physical bridge spans the gap between two pieces of land and an impassable body of water.

The cost of a dental bridge will often depend on the type of bridge that your dentist recommends, and your dental insurance will usually cover a part of the treatment. This is due in part to the fact a dental bridge is generally much less expensive than a dental implant for a couple reasons. Firstly, implants require more visits and more extensive surgery. On the other hand, dental implants generally last much longer. In fact -they can last for a lifetime. Compared to dental bridges, the time frame is quite a bit different. Because a dental bridge relies on the surrounding teeth for support and doesn’t gradually fuse itself to the rest of your bone structure – it isn’t permanent.

That said, a dental bridge can last many years. On average, a dental bridge will often last between 5 and 15 years – which is all dependent on good oral hygiene and consistent checkups with your dentist. For many patients with good oral hygiene habits, a dental bridge that lasts more than 10 years is fairly common. For other patients, it’s not unheard of to have a dental bridge (especially in a low-impact area) that lasts for even longer than the average.

Caring for a Dental Bridge

Proper care for a dental bridge is the most important step in protecting your investment for the long-term. The first step is making sure that your remaining teeth stay healthy and strong, since your dental bridge relies on these teeth for support. This isn’t hard. All it takes is brushing twice a day and carefully flossing around and under your dental bridge and remaining teeth. In addition, eating a balanced diet, seeing your dentist, and never taking your oral hygiene for granted are the three pillars of protecting your smile for years to come.

Dental Implants or Dentures? That Depends…

Listen to a joke, meet an old friend, or simply tell a story and there’s a great chance your teeth will make an appearance. For people of all ages and backgrounds, it’s nearly impossible to go through life without someone noticing your teeth. For that reason, the prospect of losing any amount of teeth can make even the bravest dental patient a bit worried.

Fortunately, if you’re facing the prospect of needing replacement teeth – you have options. As a top denture dentist and dental implant specialist in Garden Grove, we’ve helped countless patients restore their confidence with replacement teeth – but what solution is right for you? Well, that depends.

Dental Implants

First, we have dental implants. Dental implants are unique when compared to the other options available. This is because they, unlike any other solution, effectively replace the roots of your natural teeth with titanium posts that are bio-compatible – meaning they fuse with your own natural bone. On top of these titanium posts your dentist installs durable and attractive prosthetic teeth that look, feel, and function like your natural teeth. This makes dental implants one of the most effective methods for replacing teeth.

Dentures and Partial Dentures

Partial dentures are made up of a series of one or many false teeth that – like traditional dentures – are fixed to a composite framework. If you’re not a candidate for dental implants and the abutting teeth are not strong enough to support a bridge, partial dentures are often the next best tooth replacement of choice.

Which is Right for You?

Cost

As can be expected, dental implants are a more expensive choice than dentures due to both the extensiveness of the procedure, the number of procedures required, and the custom nature involved with the actual prosthetic teeth. While dentures are often covered by dental insurance plans, dental implants are not – which can help make the decision easier for many patients.

Longevity

Dental implants are nearly as strong as your natural teeth and – when cared for – can last for the rest of your life. On the other hand, dentures will have to be replaced eventually. This isn’t just because dentures can break, in fact – as long as you take care of your dentures they probably won’t break. However, because the underlying bone of your jaw relies on the stimulation of your teeth – full extraction can mean that your dentures will gradually start to feel loose over time. This is one of the most common reasons for denture replacement, and one of the greatest benefits of dental implants. Because of their bio-compatibility, they continue to engage your jaw and help support long-term oral health.

Appearance

Fortunately, advances in denture technology have enabled dental laboratories to create dentures that are nearly indistinguishable from your natural teeth. While they still might not function like your natural teeth or dental implants, chances are only your loved ones (and maybe an observant dentist) will know you have dentures.

Your Oral Health

Ultimately, apart from cost one of the most important factors that will dictate the choice of tooth replacement you ultimately settle on will be your oral health. If your jaw has deteriorated to the point where it wouldn’t be able to support dental implants, or the teeth adjacent to a missing tooth aren’t strong – dentures are typically the only remaining option. Fortunately for patients everywhere – our experienced denture dentists are experts when it comes to providing lifelike dentures that fit well and look great.

For more information on getting dentures in the Garden Grove area, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today.

Finding a Dentist for Your Cosmetic Dentistry

When it comes to improving our appearance, it’s not always easy to choose a provider. With cosmetic dentistry, finding a dentist can often seem like a chore for patients everywhere. However, this doesn’t have to be the case.

By considering a few key factors and asking a couple important questions – you can be well on your way to finding a dentist that can provide the smile (and the confidence) that you’ve always wanted from your teeth.

Consider their Experience: Does your dentist specialize in cosmetic dentistry? Is there a cosmetic dentist on staff? Many times, patients don’t want to have to go to a different provider for care. For this reason, it can often be beneficial for patients to choose a dentist that offers a wide range of specialties and services. While not every cosmetic dentistry procedure requires specialization (such as with dental implants), they can be a vital part of a dentist’s experience that can ultimately impact the level of care you receive.

Explore a Range of Services: What exactly would you like to “fix”. Do you feel self-conscious about teeth that have gone yellow or lost their vibrancy over time? In-office teeth whitening is one of the fastest and most-effective methods to get an instant boost to your dental confidence. Other procedures range from bonding and tooth repair to dental veneers and total tooth-replacement.

Get a Consultation: In most cases, a consultation for cosmetic dentistry is one of the most important factors you should be aware of. Once you find a dentist, what you can expect from your consultation is relatively simple. Your dentist will have you describe – in detail – what you like and dislike about your smile, and what exactly you’d like to change. If you’d simply like to restore your teeth to who they used to look, bringing a photo can never hurt.

Since many cosmetic problems are linked to underlying issues, your cosmetic dentistry consultation will likely also involve a thorough oral examination. Once this is complete, your dentist can begin making some concrete suggestions on what can be done to fix your smile (and what it will cost).

What Procedures are Considered “Cosmetic”

Generally, any procedure designed to improve the aesthetic appearance of your teeth is considered a “cosmetic procedure”. However, many of them will also improve the underlying health and structure of your teeth as well. Treatments include:

Whitening
Bonding
Veneers
Inlays and onlays
Invisalign and traditional braces
Gum surgery
Tooth reshaping
Porcelain crowns
Porcelain bridgework
and more…

Are you hoping to find a dentist that can give you the confidence of a perfect smile? We can help! Get in touch with the team at Primary Dental Care of Garden Grove to learn more.

How Long You Can Wait Before Getting a Root Canal

Throbbing pain, sensitivity, and sore gums are just a few of the most prominent signs that you might have a root canal in your future. But how long can you wait?

This is actually one of the more common questions that gets asked when patients learn their teeth are infected. But ask yourself, if you looked down at a cut you happened to get on your arm, leg, or finger and happened to notice the telltale signs of bacterial infection (redness, swelling, fever, etc) would you stand-by and do nothing?

Probably not. Chances are, you might get a little concerned. So why would you put off treatment of an infection in your mouth?

The stone-cold truth is this: infection is dangerous, and infection wants to spread. Once your dentist or endodontic specialist (root canal doctor for short) tells you that your tooth is infected, the very real reality is that it’s just waiting to move on to greener pastures with more opportunities to feed and spread. While the pain might get a bit better due to the nerves gradually dying, you’ll eventually begin to feel more pressure and you’ll experience more swelling. At its worst, a tooth infection – left untreated – can continue to spread through your blood to even more vulnerable parts of your body like your heart.

Did you know it’s possible to die from a tooth infection?

Granted, modern dental technology has made it all but unheard of these days. But it just goes to show that ignoring the problem is no way to solve it – only make it worse.

So, to answer the question: Don’t wait long!

Immediately upon discovering an infection, your dentist will likely prescribe you an antibiotic that will help control the infection. But even then, the underlying cause of the infection still isn’t treated, and antibiotic will only buy you a handful of weeks. After this, the tooth has to be treated in order to be saved.

While many patients think that they’re saving money by putting off root canal treatment, the opposite is actually true. Waiting to fix your teeth is like waiting to exterminate the termites eating away at the foundation of your home. The longer you wait, the longer the “infection” has to work away at the structure of your teeth, and the more expensive it will be to repair the damage. In some cases, waiting too long can even make the damage irreversible – meaning you’ll need to spend even more to fully replace the tooth.

Are you experiencing a sharp, prolonged tooth pain or sensitivity? Have you noticed swelling or a white, pimple-like dot on your gums in the same area as dental pain? Find a dentist nearby immediately to minimize the damage and get back to living your life pain free.

Garden Grove Dental Arts : Marianna Ibrahim DDS

714-537-5700

Monthly Archives: June 2016