Dentures and Dental Implants Seattle

Everybody wants the best smile possible and there’s no need to have it spoiled by gaps in your teeth or by teeth that are stained or badly shaped. Whether the problem was caused by nature or by an injury, you may be able to have a veneer placed on top of your teeth to restore or improve your smile. Veneers are thin, custom-made shells crafted from tooth-colored materials designed to cover the front side of teeth. Your dentist will usually make a model of your teeth and the veneers will be made by a specialist dental technician. A small amount of enamel has to be removed from your teeth to accommodate the shell so having veneers is usually an irreversible process. In order to make the most of your veneer, your dentist may suggest that you avoid foods and drinks that could discolor them, such as coffee, tea or red wine. It’s also possible that veneers might chip or fracture. But, for many people, veneers are well worth it as they give them a completely new smile.

Dental implants are increasingly popular as a way to replace missing or damaged teeth. Their great advantage is that they look natural and feel secure helping you to restore your smile and eat more easily. Implants are an ideal solution for many people but they are not an option for everyone. Placing implants requires some surgery so patients must be in good health, have healthy gums and have adequate bone to support the implant. They must also be committed to taking action to maintain their oral hygiene and to visiting the dentist regularly. The process for placing implants is as follows: First, surgery is performed to place the anchor. This can take up to several hours. Following the surgery, you may need to wait up to six months for the bone to grow around the anchor and firmly hold it in place. Sometimes follow up surgery is required to attach a post to connect the anchor to the replacement teeth. Alternatively, the anchor and post may already be attached and are pl...

People at any age can have a condition that makes it difficult for them to look after their own dental health. This could affect people who suffer from a wide range of conditons such as stroke, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, mental retardation, Down syndrome, genetic disorders, Alzheimer’s disease or arthritis. However, people in all of these categories have the same dental needs as everyone else – they need daily brushing and flossing, regular dental visits and a balanced diet. There are some steps caregivers can take to make it easier to look after people in those categories. If the person is uncooperative or uncontrollable, try to explain what you are about to do and schedule the task for a time of day when they are rested. Move in a calm, slow, reassuring manner to avoid startling them. Give praise and encourage them when they help themselves. Support the person’s head, and take special care to prevent choking or gagging when the head is tilted back. If t...

Modern cosmetic dentistry has created many opportunities that did not exist before for people to improve their appearance and change the way they feel about themselves. Although cosmetic dentistry really did not exist a few years ago, it now attracts interest from a wide range of people. There are few people who don’t want to improve their appearance by making their teeth straighter and whiter so that they look better when they smile. New technology and procedures have created many more opportunities for dentists to help patients look better. One of the most important opportunities for doing this is porcelain veneers. These are custom-made wafers that the dentist places over the front of the teeth to repair damage and make them look better. They can overcome many cosmetic dental problems such as whitening stained or discolored teeth, closing gaps between teeth or correcting a crooked smile without the need for braces. They can also cover up chips and imperfections so t...

Removable partial dentures usually involve replacement teeth attached to plastic bases, connected by metal framework. They attach to your natural teeth with metal clasps or precision attachments. Precision attachments generally look better than metal clasps and are nearly invisible. Crowns may be required on your natural teeth to improve the fit of a removable partial denture. When you first get a partial denture, it may feel awkward or bulky. But you will gradually get used to wearing it. It will also take a bit of practice to get used to inserting and removing the denture. It should fit into place easily and you should never force it. Your dentist may suggest that you wear your partial denture all the time at first. While it will be uncomfortable for a while, it will help you identify if any parts of the denture need adjustment. After making adjustments, your dentist will probably recommend that you take the denture out of your mouth before going to bed and replace it in the morning....

Your smile is a major factor in the impression people get when they meet you. And the good news is that you now don’t have to settle for a smile spoiled by stained, chipped, or misshapen teeth. Advances in dental treatment mean there is a wide range of choices to help you get the smile that you want. Here are some of the options: – Tooth whitening (bleaching) can help brighten teeth that have become discolored or stained. It can be done in the dental office or with a system the dentist can give you to use at home – Bonding improves the appearance of teeth that have become chipped, broken, cracked or stained. This is done by bonding tooth-colored materials to the tooth surface – Enamel shaping involves modifying teeth to improve their appearance by removing or contouring enamel – Veneers are thin custom-made shells of tooth-colored materials designed to cover the front side of teeth. They are used to treat spaces between teeth and teeth that are chipped, stained or poorly shaped. – Brac...

Root canal therapy is an important treatment that can save a tooth with a diseased nerve and which in the past would probably have needed to be removed. Inside each tooth is the ‘pulp’ which runs like a thread down through the root and provides nutrients and nerves to the tooth. It is the soft tissue that contains nerves, blood vessels and connective tissue. If the pulp is diseased or injured, the pulp tissue dies. The most common cause of pulp death is a cracked tooth or a deep cavity. Both of these problems can let bacteria enter the pulp. So, if you don’t remove it, your tooth gets infected and you could lose it. After the dentist – or endodontist (a dentist who specializes in problems of the pulp) – removes the pulp, the root canal is cleaned and sealed off to protect it. Then your dentist places a crown over the tooth to help make it stronger. Most of the time, a root canal is a relatively simple procedure involving one to three visits with little or no discomfort. Your restored t...