 When natural teeth are damaged or lost due to trauma or disease, a number of options are available to restore your smile and balance your bite. Following a comprehensive examination of your teeth, supporting bone and gum tissue, we will offer you our recommendations and develop a treatment plan with you to restore health, beauty and function to your smile.
Dental technology, techniques and materials currently available offer a myriad of options to solve even the most complex smile challenges, including cases which involve multiple missing teeth, the inability to chew properly, or severe jaw pain that requires full mouth rehabilitation.
Nitrous Oxide Sedation
This gas, used for patient comfort, can be used during restorative procedures. Drs. Bragg and Moody will be happy to discuss the indications for nitrous oxide use at your request.
Dental Fillings
Composite resin fillings are available in natural looking tooth shades and may be used to restore small areas of teeth that have minor damage from decay or chipping.
Composite restorations are a relatively simple procedure, and can usually be completed in one appointment. Plastic resin material engineered for strength and the ability to reflect light is bonded to the prepared surface of the tooth, shaped to fit, and hardened with a special light designed to activate the "cure" process.
While not as durable or stain-resistant as porcelain crowns or veneers, composite fillings are a practical means of restoring small defects with minimal removal of natural tooth structure, or, as a buildup material in preparation for a permanent crown or veneer. Our practice uses only mercury-free filling materials.
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Dental Crowns, Inlays & Onlays
When decay or trauma substantially weaken tooth structure, stronger restorations are necessary to restore vital function and bite balance. Crowns offer full coverage, while inlays and onlays are used when only a portion of the tooth structure requires rebuilding. Restorative materials are selected for durability and esthetics, and include semi-precious metals, gold and porcelain.
Crowns, Inlays, and Onlays are usually accomplished in two visits. During the initial visit, damaged areas are removed and the tooth is shaped to support a restoration that fits your bite, is easy to maintain and meets your esthetic goals. A final impression of the tooth is then sent to the lab along with the doctor's specific design instructions to fabricate your custom-made restoration. We provide you with a temporary bridge while the lab builds your final restoration.
At your second visit, the restoration is delivered and checked to confirm fit, proper bite balance and speech function. After seating and bonding the restoration, you leave with a tooth that has been beautifully restored back to proper chewing and bite strength.
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Occlusal (Bite) Adjustment
The forces of your bite can sometimes affect the positioning of your jaw and teeth. Through minor polishing of the enamel surfaces or small changes to fillings, Drs. Bragg and Moody can help redistribute and redirect the biting forces. These types of adjustments can often eliminate headaches that occur as a result of irregular biting patterns.
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Coordination with Dental Specialists
As part of your restorative plan, we may recommend treatment by Dental Specialists, such as Oral Surgeons, Periodontists (gum specialists), and Endodontists (root canal specialists). We will work closely with these specialists to ensure that you receive the very best care possible.
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Root Canals
When the tooth nerve is damaged and becomes infected due to extensive decay or trauma, a root canal is often the necessary treatment. The infected nerve is removed from the tooth and the canals are disinfected and cleaned to remove destructive bacteria. The canals are then filled and sealed to prevent further entrance of bacteria into the tooth structure.
Teeth that have had root canal therapy lose vitality, which makes the enamel more susceptible to cracks and breakage. These teeth should always be protected with a dental crown after root canal treatment.
If it is possible to save an infected tooth, a root canal is usually the recommended procedure rather than removing it. With root canal treatment, a tooth can continue to serve its primary function to the body by remaining in position and supporting the bone structure and opposing bite forces in the mouth. By removing the tooth, this function would typically have to be replaced with an artificial tooth via a dental implant or bridge, which are more costly procedures.
In some cases, our Doctors may recommend that a root canal specialist, or Endodontist, perform the root canal procedure. We then work closely with the Endodontist to coordinate placement of the dental crown following root canal treatment.
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Tooth Replacement
Losing your teeth due to dental disease or trauma continues to affect your bite long after the teeth are gone. Without a resistant opposing force, adjacent teeth will try to move into the empty spaces created by tooth loss. In some cases, these teeth will extend so far that they become loose and are at risk of being lost as well.
Not only does tooth loss affect the appearance of your smile, it can make chewing difficult and result in jaw pain due to a poor bite. In some cases, the digestive processes are negatively affected due to improperly chewed food.
Replacement of missing teeth is nearly always recommended to protect the bite and prevent further health complications. There are a number of options available in dentistry today to replace missing teeth, including dental implants, bridges and partial and complete dentures ("false" teeth).
Artificial tooth replacements can serve a cosmetic purpose as well as restoring the function of your natural teeth. Restorative materials such as porcelain and acrylic are available in natural looking shades to compliment your smile. We will work very closely with you to ensure that we restore your bite to proper function and create the smile appearance that you want to achieve.
Options for tooth replacement include:
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Dental Implants
A revolutionary solution for restoration of missing teeth, dental implants offer multiple options to replace a single tooth, multiple teeth, or to secure a denture.
Read more about Dental Implants
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Partial Dentures
Partial Dentures are removable appliances used when multiple teeth have been lost due to disease or trauma. A removable partial typically has clasps that rest on natural teeth to secure a metal or acrylic base structure mounted with artificial teeth to fill spaces left by missing teeth.
Special precision attachments are also available to make removable dentures fit more snugly in the mouth. In cases of multiple tooth loss, partial dentures are often combined with dental implants to further improve biting and chewing capabilities. As part of our comprehensive examination process, we will evaluate any missing teeth and offer our recommendations for the use of removable partial dentures as replacements.
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 Complete Dentures
When most or all of the natural teeth are lost due to trauma or disease, complete dentures (or dental "plates") can be designed to replace missing teeth.
In most cases, removal of remaining teeth to replace them with a full set of complete dentures is the last option considered. With no teeth or opposing forces in the mouth, jaw bone levels can deteriorate over time. If all of a patient’s teeth are lost at an early age, this can result in serious conditions in later years.
We explore all other replacement alternatives prior to recommending dentures. When designing new or replacement dentures, we will schedule several preliminary appointments for “fitting” the dentures, as well as multiple appointments to make sure they fit well after they are placed. We work diligently with our patients’ goals in mind to design attractive and durable dentures.
If you have multiple broken or missing teeth and are considering full dentures, we invite you to call us for a comprehensive dental examination prior to making a final decision. Our goal is to save your teeth whenever possible. We will offer our recommendations and assist you in the decision-making process.
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Bridges
A dental bridge is a fixed replacement which relies on adjacent teeth to support a “false” tooth (or multiple teeth) and fill the space created by tooth loss. A bridge can be supported by natural teeth, or is sometimes supported by dental implants. As with crowns, bridges are custom-made using restorative materials such as semi-precious metals, gold or porcelain depending on location in the mouth and necessary tolerance to biting and chewing.
We work closely with our dental laboratory to create a solid, well-designed bridge that looks naturally beautiful. Following a complete dental analysis with xrays, we will evaluate any missing teeth and offer our recommendations for the use of bridge replacement.
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