Which Common Procedures Fall Under General Dentistry?
Regular visits to a general dentist are essential to ensure the teeth, gums, and mouth remain healthy.
General dentistry involves various treatment options and procedures that protect and maintain a good oral health standard. Treatments are available to keep your gums, teeth, mouth healthy and pain-free.
Are you seeking general dentistry in Tracy, CA? Smile Shine Dentistry provides several services, including dental exams, cleanings, extractions, root canal therapy, and much more. Fill our online schedule to book an appointment with us.
Restorative Procedures
- Dental Exams And Cleanings
A dental examination creates your personal dental plan. It helps a general dentist to come up with the best treatment required for your continued oral health. There will be a thorough inspection of your mouth, teeth, neck, head, gums, and jaw joints during the examination. That will help to identify any underlying oral health issues like tooth decay, cancer, and disease.
The dentist will also:
- Look for cavities or signs of dental decay
- Execute thorough teeth cleaning
- Check for problems that are hard to feel or see
A regular exam takes about 45 minutes. It involves detailed teeth cleaning, which includes polishing and rinsing the teeth to get rid of tartar and plaque on the tooth’s surface.
Dental exams can spot signs of irregularities and treat them before they progress.
- Dental Crowns
Dental crowns are used to repair teeth with extensive damage as a result of decay or injury. They are also used to correct cosmetic imperfections, and they help to hold a dental bridge in place. Crowns are the only dental restorations that can save a damaged tooth from extraction.
They can be made out of porcelain, silver metals, gold, ceramics, and composite resin. It only takes two appointments with a dentist in Roseville to complete the procedure. That is because most crowns are created in a dental laboratory.
A crown restores a tooth by covering it completely, protecting it from further damage, decay, or infection.
- Dental Bridge
Dental bridges are artificial replacements for missing teeth. A false tooth replaces the missing one, and crowns on the neighboring teeth hold the bridge in place. That eliminates the gap in a smile, reinstates a normal bite, and aids in keeping the mouth healthy.
- Fillings
A filling procedure involves extracting decay from a tooth and filling the hole with various materials such as porcelain, gold, amalgam, composite resin, or silver.
Fillings can also be used to treat decay or cavities and to repair fractured or broken teeth.
Getting a filling is a painless procedure that takes about 30 minutes. The first step of this procedure is numbing the tooth. The dentist then uses a dental drill to extract any decayed tissue in the tooth. Next, the tooth is cleaned with water before sealing it with a dental filling.
With the right filling material, fillings can last for several years and give you the appearance and functionality of an intact tooth. You can also visit a dentist near you to know more about fillings.
- Tooth Extractions
Some situations make it necessary for a tooth to be fully extracted from the mouth. Some of them include:
- A misshapen baby tooth or long roots that stops it from falling out as it’s supposed to
- A tooth with so much decay that there’s a high risk of spreading it to the surrounding teeth
- Issues with a wisdom tooth
- Infection
After extracting the tooth, either a crown, bridge, or implant is placed to fill the gap. That is because a missing tooth can make other problems arise, including teeth shifting.
If the tooth with the problem is above the gum, to remove the tooth, the dentist loosens it from its bone socket and pulls it out. Minor oral surgery may be required if the tooth causing trouble is under the gum.
- Dental Implants
An implant can be used as a replacement for a missing tooth. It is a permanent solution that entails minor oral surgery to put the implant in your jawbone.
Although the process takes several months and procedures to complete, the implants act just like real teeth.
An implant is composed of the body that replaces the missing root and a crown placed over the implant. The dentist can also use it to anchor dentures.