No matter what type of oral health problem you’re dealing with—from missing teeth to cracked enamel to gum disease—our Saint Louis dentists are here to help you restore and even rebuild your smile. Here are some of the treatments and technologies that we utilize to help our patients overcome oral health issues:

• Root canal therapy: timely root canal treatment can literally save a tooth that would otherwise fall out or need to be pulled. Our dentist will go into the core of the tooth, to the dental pulp and nerves, and clear away this sensitive and vulnerable material. Once we have sterilized the remaining portions of your tooth we place a custom restoration, so that your smile looks natural and functions well.

• Custom crowns: when a tooth becomes infected or damaged, our team uses high-quality restorations to rebuild missing portions of the affected tooth. The crowns we use are shaded to match your smile and shaped to resemble the contours of your natural teeth.

• Dentures: these dental prostheses are designed to replace many consecutive teeth. Traditional dentures sit on top of your gum tissue; the base of a removable denture is molded to fit snugly over your gum and jawbone tissue.

• Dental implants: individual implant replacement teeth are permanently embedded in a patient’s jawbone with titanium roots, which fill the spaces where natural tooth roots used to sit. 

• Implant Smiles: our team uses implant roots in combination with dentures to permanently replace a number of teeth at once. A huge advantage of Implant Smiles treatment is that a full upper or lower denture can be secured with only a few mini dental implant roots.

If there is one thing that you take away from this article, let it be the reassuring truth that no smile is “too far gone” or “beyond health.” To learn more, please feel free to reach out to our Saint Louis dentists to schedule a personal consultation.

Are you already doing a great job cleaning your smile every morning and night, but you are still looking for a way to improve your oral health? It might be time to a look at what you are eating and drinking every day. Because these substances coat our teeth and oral tissues throughout the day, they are quite impactful when it comes to dental health. Keep reading to learn more from our Saint Louis dentists...

To get it started, let’s review what refined carbohydrates are; these are carbohydrates that have had the fiber, nutrients, and brans taken out of them. For example, white bread is a refined carbohydrate while wheat bread is less processed, and thus retains fiber and nutrients. If a bread, dough, or pastry is made with white flour, it is a refined carb. 

It is important to be aware of what your consuming, because oral bacteria use sugars and refined carbs as fuel. So, if you are eating a diet rich in sugar, you are providing an ideal environment for the very bacteria that cause dental cavities and gum disease.

There are some simple things that you can do to limit bacterial growth:

• Minimize your consumption of carbs and sugar
• Rinse your mouth with water after you eat or drink
• Switch out complex carbs for more refined carbohydrates
• Indulge in treats sparingly  
• Eat and drink all in one go, rather than continuously
• Clean dental debris from between your teeth using floss
• Wait 20 to 30 minutes after eating or drinking to brush your teeth; your enamel is temporarily softened during this period 

Try implementing a few of these tips into your regular routine to refresh your smile. As always, our Saint Louis dental team is here to provide you with any additional guidance or support you need. Together we can make sure that you reach your short-term and long-term dental goals! 

Our Saint Louis dentists make it a priority to provide fast, effective, and convenient treatment options to our patients. We know that you are busy, and that it can seem daunting to fit dental care into your existing schedule. That is why we offer a number of treatment options that take just one day to complete. Keep reading to learn more.

Custom Crowns

It used to be that repairing dental damage with a restoration took multiple appointments. Because dental crowns were crafted in an off-site lab, the patient would need to schedule three or four appointments so that the dental team can complete different phases of treatment.

CEREC technology has greatly streamlined the treatment process. Our dental team can design, craft, fit, and place your custom crown in just one appointment. And, because we control every aspect of the restorative treatment process, you will end up with a crown that is perfect for your unique smile.

Professional teeth whitening

Whitening treatment will help refresh your smile by minimizing discoloration and restoring your teeth to their natural shades. Many people are able to achieve whiter, brighter smiles in just one appointment. Keep in mind that the formulations our dental team use in-office are much more potent and effective than those formulations that are available over-the-counter.

Dental bonding

During the dental bonding process our dentists apply custom-shaded composite resin to the natural tooth surface. Once the resin is shaped and refined, we cure it so that it bonds to the tooth. Using dental bonding we can cover unsightly enamel, repair damaged teeth, close gaps in your smile, and even lengthen worn down enamel. The entire treatment process is completed in just one appointment.

You can achieve your oral health goals even if you don’t have a lot of time to devote to professional dental care. Our Saint Louis dentists are happy to give you more information, and to help you schedule a personal consultation. Give us a call!