We all have heard about the root canal procedure done by dentists to get rid of dental problems and to ensure healthier teeth. We will have a look at how the root canal treatment is done in detail as well as the things you need to keep in mind while going for a root canal treatment for your dental ailment.

Root canal treatment is generally done by a root canal specialist, called an endodontist, who works in conjunction with your dentist. The treatment involves several steps, which are discussed in detail below.

The first step of the treatment procedure involves the dentist performing a series of X-Rays on the region where the root canal is needed to be done. These x-rays help the dentist to know the extent of the damage as well as help him deduce the correct way to move forward in order to perform the treatment. The second step involves the administration of a local anaesthetic that numbs the specific region of the mouth where the procedure is to be performed to ensure minimal or negligible pain to the patient.

The next step involves the dentist putting a mat like a thing on the affected region, to ensure that the teeth remain dry during the process. This mat is usually made of waterproof material like rubber or plastic. This mat also prevents the patient from swallowing undesirable substances which are used during the treatment process. The dentist would then remove the crown in order to gain access to the soft pulp to remove the infected tissues. If he or she finds any abscesses during the procedure they would be drained to provide long-lasting relief.

Post the clean-up, the dentist would enlarge the canal so that it can be easily filled. To do so, the dentist would use an assortment of files that would make the region easier to be filled in as well as would give it a proper shape. This part of the process is long-winded and it may take more than a single session to pass through this stage of the treatment process. The dentist would apply for some medicine in the region between treatment sessions to ensure that the pathogens do not come back to attack the affected region. Antibiotics may also be provided to ward off any allergies or fever that may arise due to the process.

The last part of the treatment involves the sealing of the root canal to prevent further infection as well as the placement of a crown to prevent breakage or other damage. In some cases, the dentist may also suggest a treatment for the discolouration that may occur due to a root canal.

Post the root canal treatment process, it becomes extremely important to practise proper oral hygiene to ensure that the teeth survive longer. Generally, teeth that go through the root canal process, survive a minimum of 8 years if proper care is taken.

Belvedere Family Dentistry specializes in the root canal treatment process as well as other dental procedures to help you get relief from your dental ailments. Their team is helpful yet professional and ensures that their patients have happier and healthier smiles.

Diabetes is a serious disease with a wide variety of negative implications on the human body. The negative effects of diabetes include effects on the teeth and gums. We take a look at oral problems to be aware of when living with diabetes.

Gum Disease

There are two major types of gum diseases which are common in diabetic patients – gingivitis and periodontitis. The early stage of gum disease is called gingivitis, but if left untreated, can lead to periodontitis. While gingivitis can be prevented or controlled by proper gum care, periodontitis cannot be treated using the process as the body’s fighting ability to infections becomes inhibited due to diabetes. Thus, immediate dental supervision by a dentist is needed as having gum disease can lead to the body unable to regulate its glucose levels, which in turn, would worsen the diabetic condition.

Cavities and Dry Mouth

Cavities are caused when pathogens attack and invade the tooth. They start by eroding the enamel and progressing forward even attack the inner tooth layers and the blood vessels and nerves. Diabetics are more susceptible to having cavities due to the fact that they produce less saliva, which protects the teeth and inhibits the attacking power of the pathogens. Another reason for diabetics being more susceptible is the presence of excess glucose in their body, which cannot be regulated properly due to the lack of insulin.

Dry mouth is also a major reason for cavity formation, and diabetics have to ensure that their mouth is not dry all the time. In addition, dry mouth can lead to bad breath. Hence diabetics are advised to use mouth fresheners and mints to ensure freshness.

Oral Care for Diabetic Patients

The increased risk of oral problems due to diabetes makes it extremely important to practise ways and measures for proper oral and dental hygiene. Some tips for maintaining oral hygiene for diabetics include-

  1.    Brushing and flossing your teeth – One should brush their teeth at least twice per day, preferably after waking up in the morning and before heading to sleep for the night. One should also floss their teeth at least once a day. These measures will prevent plaque build-up and help to avoid tooth and gum issues.
  2.    Managing diet – Patients with diabetes already have a plethora of restrictions on their food, with a lot of food items barred for consumption as it could lead to complications. On top of these restrictions, making sure to avoid foods rich in sugar would also help to maintain oral health and prevent tooth decay.
  3.    Making your dentist aware – An extremely important step is to let your dentist know about your diabetes as it would help him or her to schedule your dental appointments better as diabetics are more susceptible to oral and dental diseases and better scheduling would help them detects problems early on.

Belvedere Family Dentistry specializes in oral and dental treatments for diabetic patients as well as non-diabetic patients of all age groups. Their team involves professional and caring staff that is quick yet efficient in providing the best care for your tooth and gums.

After a visit to your dentist's office, you leave with a radiant, confident smile. So, how do you  keep that smile working for you all year round? The trick is to keep up with your dental hygiene routine but to also avoid foods that can stain your teeth. That's right- there are foods out there that can do damage to your teeth, giving them the appearance of being dull and yellow.

A person's self-esteem and confidence is so tightly tied to the color of their teeth and oral health that it's worth it to avoid foods that will make your teeth stained. Here are a few foods that you should avoid:

Acidic foods with citric acid

One of the biggest culprits of yellowing teeth is from nutritious citric fruits. Sure, these fruits are packed with vitamin c and are great for your health, but go easy on them. The wonderful fruits can erode away your enamel, making your teeth sensitive to cold and heat. When your enamel is eroded away, you also reveal dentin, which is a yellowish tissue underneath your enamel.

Sugary foods and drinks

Both sugary foods and drinks will stain your teeth because the sugars create a playground for bacteria to feed off of. The more sugary foods and drinks you take in, the more bacteria will wear away at your teeth, causing holes. These bacterias release acids that cause things like tooth decay, which will definitely put you on the fast track to stain your teeth a much darker color. Reduce the amount of sugary foods and drinks you put into your mouth to avoid stained teeth.

Coffee

Coffee is another culprit when it comes to acidic foods and drinks that can stain your teeth. Experts advise drinking coffee with a top lid instead of a straw or an open cup, in order to reduce the amount of coffee that makes contact with your teeth. Like the other acidic foods and drinks mentioned about, coffee also erodes away at the teeth's enamel and allows other foods to continue to do damage, staining your teeth.

Wine

Yet another delicious treat that we need to talk about, wine can actually create holes in your teeth that help other foods stain your teeth, just like coffee. On top of that, wine is known to give your teeth a dull, gray colored stain, which is more difficult to remove than yellow stains. The plus side is that red wine is thought to help prevent cavities, so keep your wine drinking in moderation.

Keep these foods in mind while protecting your teeth

Foods that stain your teeth can do incredible damage to both your smile and your self-esteem. Avoiding the foods and drinks talked about above is the best way for you to maintain a wonderful smile year round. Also, remember to come to Belvedere Dentistry for your yearly cleaning and for a dental check up. We will help you keep your smile radiantly confident, stain-free, and welcoming throughout the year.

Wisdom teeth surgery is often downplayed as a minor procedure. However, Wisdom tooth removal can put a great deal of strain on you. It can involve hard tugging, numerous injections and even cutting in the worst cases. Skilled Uptown Charlotte dentists can take steps to minimize the amount of pain you feel, however. The following are some things that you can do to prepare for the extraction, get through it and decrease your recovery time.

Have a Huge, Fattening Dinner
One way you can prepare for wisdom teeth surgery is by having a huge pre-midnight dinner the night before. You will not be able to eat full meals for some time after your surgery is complete. Therefore, you will want to ensure that you take in a meal that has plenty of good fat and protein so that your body can tap into the reserves when you get hungry. You should also make sure that you take a multivitamin so that you can ward off infections and build strength in your teeth.

Clean Your Mouth Well
Clean your mouth well before you go in for the wisdom tooth removal. A good rule-of-thumb practice is to brush twice, floss and then use hydrogen peroxide to rinse your mouth. This helps you to prevent infection. Also, you should apply lip balm or Vaseline to your mouth before you go in for surgery. The dentist is going to hold your mouth open very wide. The Vaseline can help you prevent crackling and chapping.

Bring a Support Person
Bring someone with you who can drive you home and support you emotionally before and after your surgery. Your partner could be a family member or friend.

Find Your Happy Place
Think of a situation, person or expression that makes you happy and puts you in a positive mood. Focus on it when your are sitting in the dentist’s chair, and it will help you get through the procedure.

Tell the Dentist of Your Worries
Let the dentist know of any worries that you have about procedures, risks, concerns and the like. A reputable dentist will not hesitate to discuss such things with you.

Call our office if you are ready to tackle that pesky wisdom tooth. You can contact us by telephone or short online form. Someone will schedule a meeting for you to assess the problem that you are facing with your wisdom tooth.

Many people are afraid of visiting their dentist for a general checkup, but this is a vital step for good dental health. There are several reasons which are regularly cited by the reluctant dental patient for avoiding the pursuit of general dentistry:

 

There is No Need to Feel Embarrassed

It’s surprising how often this comes up, but it probably shouldn’t be. We’re all more socially conscious than we like to admit. However, if you need stitches or to have a bone set, you don’t avoid going to the emergency room out of embarrassment. The doctor’s only concern is to fix the problem while helping you to avoid a recurrence. The same is true of general dentistry. Your dentist has seen worse mouths than yours, guaranteed. A regular checkup with your Uptown Charlotte dentist is just the thing to make sure that this stays true!

Dentists Practice Effective Pain Management

It’s no laughing matter: many people with serious tooth pain avoid going to the dentist out of fear of experiencing additional pain. However, their dentist will preface any painful procedures with the generous use of a variety of anesthetic agents. Tooth pain is piercing and intense, but your dentist is the one who can make it all go away.

The Cost of General Dentistry

Most dental practices are less expensive than otherwise comparable medical procedures involving other parts of the body, and dental insurance is a relatively inexpensive form of insurance to procure for oneself. If money is still the major concern, the best way to avoid the expense of complicated dental procedures is to have regular checkups. A simple cleaning, coupled with other regular maintenance, is the best way to ensure that more serious problems never rear their ugly heads.

Toothache is a Pain; Call Today for an Appointment!

If you are a resident of the Uptown Charlotte area and you are suffering from pronounced tooth pain, don’t spend a moment longer than you have to suffering from such discomfort. Give our office a call, and have a qualified Uptown Charlotte dentist make your problem go away. You’ll smile wider without all of that pain in the way!

Summer is the peak season for weddings to happen. Whether you are getting married yourself or watching someone else do it, you need to look good. Your three main goals are to lose weight, buy a nice outfit and improve your smile for the pictures. When it is time to focus on your hygiene, focus on several ways to create a smile that is ready for the camera.

Teeth Whitening

Everyone has heard of teeth whitening, but few people know how the process works. You can buy over-the-counter products that allege to whiten your teeth and clean your gums. However, the more effective option is to work closely with a general dentist.

Teeth whitening is mainly accomplished with the use of several chemicals, including peroxide. The amount of chemicals found in store-bought products are significantly less than the amount found in dentist-provided supplies. A dentist has access to the best chemicals and treatment options for your whitening.

Veneers

Veneers cover the gaps and cracks that make your smile imperfect. Celebrities are known to get veneers along with people involved in serious accidents and those with poor health. The devices are made out of porcelain and bonded onto the teeth for a permanent result.

A general dentist should be able to install veneers within the office. The process takes 30 minutes to an hour without anesthesia. Earlier, a dental technician has to create the veneers in a lab. After the procedure, you have to follow up with one or more appointments. Then, you can maintain the veneers on your own and make sure they last for many years.

Cleanings

No one can visit the dentist without getting the teeth cleaned. Teeth cleanings are the main reason why people visit Uptown Charlotte dentists.

It may not seem important, but teeth cleaning is a very important way to improve your appearance. Cleaning teeth is the first step toward restoring your health and improving your smile.

During the summer, you want to dress less, smile more and still look good. When you are not planning for your vacation, you are getting wedding invitations left and right. Summer is also the time when you check up on your health. It is important to visit a dentist and get a professional evaluation of your teeth and gums. Uptown Charlotte dentists are there to help you schedule an appointment and improve your smile in time for any summer event.

When you lose a tooth, you have several options for replacing it. A dental bridge is a cost effective solution for a replacement tooth that stays in your mouth and is very similar to having a natural tooth. A bridge costs much less than a dental implant and can last about 10 years before needing replacement.

How a Bridge Works

A bridge works by placing an artificial tooth in the gap where your tooth is missing and supporting it with two crowns on either side. This is the most common type of bridge used for the replacement of a single missing tooth. The first step in getting a bridge is for your Uptown Charlotte dentist to prepare the teeth on either side of the gap to be fitted with crowns. These crowns are the support system for the artificial tooth, called a pontic. The pontic fits into the gap and the bridge is cemented in place.

Why Get a Bridge

A dental bridge could be considered cosmetic dentistry, but it is important for your oral health to replace missing teeth, even teeth in the back that don’t show when you smile. Just one missing tooth can cause problems including:

• Shifting of other teeth
• Oral hygiene problems from buildup of bacteria in the gap
• Problems with chewing or changes in speech
• Jaw soreness or TMJ symptoms

Other Types of Bridges

A bridge can be used to replace up to three consecutive missing teeth. If a missing tooth is on the side and has no tooth alongside of it, a different type of bridge can be used. This is called a cantilever bridge, and it relies on support from the teeth that are present on the other side of gap. This type of bridge is not as strong as a traditional bridge and may not last as long.

Materials Used for Bridges

Bridges and crowns are made of materials that are used in many restorative and cosmetic dentistry procedures. Porcelain is the most natural-looking material used in dentistry. Bridges can also be made of metal or porcelain that is fused to metal. Composite resin materials are cost effective and a popular choice for dental work.

Find Out More About Bridges and Crowns

Call our Uptown Charlotte dentist now if you’d like to learn more about bridges, crowns or any other restorative or cosmetic dental services. We can set up an appointment for you to come in and chat with us or have an initial exam.

Beside manner is a term that most adults know. They understand that visiting the local dentist office is more than just receiving tips on good dental hygiene; they also recognize how important feeling comfortable and connecting with the dentist is. However, when it comes to their children’s dentist, they may say that beside manner doesn’t really matter. After all, most kids don’t have a grasp on the denotation of that term anyway.

Kids Do Understand
Just because children do not know what the words mean or imply does not preclude them from understanding connections with other people. Children who are under the care of dentists exuding mean, harsh or ambivalent behavior are likely to feed off of that energy. On the other hand, kids who feel as though their dentists understand their struggles and connect with them may very well have more positive dental hygiene experiences throughout the course of their lives.

Questions and Answers
Kids must go to the local dentist’s office to keep their teeth in good shape. However, these regular appointments also help them to develop useful skills for the future. One day, they will act as the masters of their own dental destiny. Dentists who have strong bedside manner create a more comfortable environment in which children can ask questions. Kids who learn how to ask appropriate questions and to recall the answers are developing important skills for when they take themselves to the dentists.

Future Fears
Kids who have bad experiences with dentists when they are little may never forget about these issues. Even if they go to a new dentist with better bedside manner, they may still have a great deal of trepidation. In fact, when they grow older, they may begin to avoid the dentist entirely, thereby spreading this fear to their own children. Having positive experiences with dentists from the start can set kids up to care about their dental health and to develop better exchanges with the professionals as they grow older.

Children often understand more than people give them credit for, and in that sense, they can appreciate good bedside manner. Parents want to help their kids have this experience from the early days of their dental visits, so they should give us a call to schedule an appointment.

When you have a tooth that has died or decayed beyond repair, your dentist may suggest performing a root canal treatment. Your local dentist office will extract the pulp from the middle of the tooth and replace it with a filling. This will promote healing of the tooth and protect against infection. If you are having a root canal performed, here is what you can expect:

You Will Not Feel a Thing

Your dentist will want you to be as relaxed as possible. Before starting the root canal treatment the dentist will inject local anesthetic around the gums. Your gums, teeth, tongue and the surrounding skin will feel completely numb. You may feel slight pressure, but you should not experience any pain during the procedure.

Removing the Pulp

With special tools and a drill, your dentist will carefully extract the pulp from the decayed tooth. Your dentist will take special care to make sure all of the pulp is taken out to avoid infection or complications. Next, medicine will be inserted, along with material that will provide a filling for the tooth.

You Get Crowned

Oftentimes, after a root canal the tooth will then need a permanent crown placed over it. The dentist will make an impression of the tooth to design a crown that will be a perfect match to cover the existing tooth. The crown may take several days to construct, so your dentist may put on a temporary crown until the permanent one can be bonded to the tooth.

After the Root Canal

After the procedure your lips and gums may feel numb for a few hours. This is perfectly normal and will wear off gradually. Later you may experience some pain that may last one to two days. An over-the-counter pain medication, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen should relieve your discomfort.

Your teeth and gums are an important part to your overall wellbeing. Keep them healthy with regular check-ups and maintenance. Call our local dentist office today to schedule an appointment.

Although dentistry has evolved incredibly, many Americans still suffer loss of teeth through decay, gum disease and accidents. For many years, the available dental treatments for these misfortunes were bridges and ultimately, dentures.

Today a cosmetic dentist can provide teeth that look, feel and perform just like natural teeth.

What are dental implants?
Dental implants are the perfect way to regain natural, beautiful teeth.
Implants provide a root structure for new teeth, with special titanium posts placed in the jaw bone. When bone grows and affixes around these posts, they become part of the natural structure of the jaw. When artificial teeth are attached to the posts via individual implants or a denture bridge, they provide a strong, stable structure much like natural teeth.
With proper oral hygiene, implants may last a lifetime.

Am I a candidate for implants?
Commitment to routine dental visits and good oral hygiene are a prerequisite for successful implants. An x-ray will determine if you have enough bone in your jaw to hold the implants firmly. Special evaluation must be considered if you suffer from chronic disorders such as diabetes, or if you smoke. These factors may affect the successful outcome of the implant procedure.

What happens during an implant procedure?
A cosmetic dentist will devise an individualized plan for you. A coordinated team trained in oral surgery will work to provide your treatment.
A surgical template, or guide, is made for your individual dental structure.
A tooth root implant made of titanium is placed into your jaw by the cosmetic dentist. An oral surgery procedure places the implant underneath the gum and against the bone. Integration with the bone mass must occur, which can take from six to 12 weeks.
When healing is successful, the surgeon connects a post to the titanium root, called an abutment. This will be the connecting point for new individual teeth or a special denture.

Is this process painful?
Most people are surprised at how little discomfort they experience. Local anesthesia is provided. If you are anxious about your surgery, the dentist can provide an intravenous sedative.

Success rate
Discomfort is minimal and the success rate for bone healing is 95-97%. The procedure is team-organized and carefully constructed.

If you would like to regain your natural smile through beautiful implants, click here for an appointment now.

Uptown Charlotte Dentistry & Orthodontics

Specializing in Invisalign, Composite Bonding, Veneers and Crowns.

We do our best to make it easy for you to get the beautiful smile you deserve! Our office accepts nearly all major insurance plans. Even though dental insurance is a private arrangement between you and your company, we will file your claim, handle all the paperwork, and help you get maximum insurance benefits.

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