General
The best way to protect your beautiful smile is by preventing problems before they start. Most of the conditions that negatively affect your smile can be avoided with regular care. Dr. Rista, Dr. Bongarzone, and the Twenty-First Century Dental team are committed to answering your questions about proper hygiene and providing you with the most advanced preventive dentistry available.
Perio Therapy
Fifty percent of all adults have some form of Periodontal Disease... often without realizing it. Periodontal disease is chiefly responsible for adult tooth loss, bleeding gums, bad breath, and receding gums. The truth is periodontal disease is easily prevented with proper hygiene, home care, and professional treatment. If diagnosed in its early stages, periodontal disease treatments are easier, less invasive, and more effective. Your visit with your dentist includes a complete evaluation of your gums and supportive tissues. You will have access to advanced periodontal therapy to heal and restore your oral health.
Signs and Symptoms of Periodontal Disease include:
Root Canals
Damage to the nerve tissue inside of a tooth sometimes requires a root canal procedure. Your dentist takes advantage of advances in technology and dental techniques that make root canal procedures more effective, while also taking less time. The procedure involves removing the soft tissue within the tooth when it has become infected and inflamed. Your dentist gently removes the infected tissue and fills the void with an inert material. The procedure is completed with the placement of a crown.
Tooth Extractions
In some cases, injury or decay damages a tooth extensively and an extraction is the proper treatment option to start you on the path toward complete dental health. Your dentist can remove your troublesome tooth and can give you the treatment options for replacing that tooth in order to restore your beautiful smile.
Fillings
Are you embarrassed about your smile because of decayed, disfigured, or discolored teeth? If so, you may be a good candidate for composite resins (also known as tooth-colored fillings or restorations). When the decay has been removed from the tooth, it is replaced with "filling" material. In the past, amalgam (silver) fillings were placed into the cleaned-out portion of the tooth. With new advancements in dentistry, you can now have tooth-colored fillings instead of silver fillings, resulting in a longer-lasting, brighter, whiter smile. The new tooth-colored material is bonded to the teeth for a stronger restoration.
Oral Cancer Screenings
As a comprehensive dental practitioner, Twenty-First Century Dental offers routine oral cancer screenings to you as a patient. Your dentist is the only medical professional in a position to routinely evaluate and detect abnormalities. Early detection is important. There will be 41,000 Americans diagnosed with oral cancer this year, resulting in 12,500 deaths. The death rate from oral cancer is especially high due to late discovery of the disease. Prognosis is more positive with early detection. A patient who does not seek regular continuous care from a dental professional is putting their health at risk by delaying a diagnosis in the early stage of oral cancer. We are dedicated to providing this potentially life-saving procedure for you.
Oral Cancer Statistics:
- Deaths due to oral cancer equal 1 person per hour, 24 hours per day
- Death rate is high not due to difficulty of diagnosis but due to late diagnosis
- 90% success rate if detected early
- Three times more common than cervical cancer
Nightguard
Many people notice chipped or cracked teeth, but don't remember when the injury occurred, damaged their teeth while they were sleeping. Grinding or clenching your teeth during the night will cause your teeth to chip, crack, and even break. To keep you from seriously damaging your teeth, we recommend a dental appliance called a nightguard, which protects your teeth from grinding and clenching in your sleep. Your dentist takes great care in making sure you have a proper fit to prevent pain in your jaw joint. Do you suffer from headaches? If so, you may also find that a side benefit of your night-guard is headache prevention. Many headaches start during the night, caused by the extreme pressure generated as you grind and clench your teeth. Ask your dentist about having a nightguard custom created especially for you.
Fluoride Treatment for Children
Research shows that fluoride reduces cavities in children by halting tooth decay. It also helps repair the early stages of tooth decay even before the decay becomes visible. Interestingly, many people continue to be misinformed about fluoride and fluoridation. Fluoride is a safe chemical component when used correctly. When your dentist applies fluoride to your teeth, usually in the form of a fluoride varnish, gel, or foam, that fluoride is more concentrated than the fluoride contained in toothpaste or mouthwash. The ADA recommends that dental professionals use any of the professional strength, fluoride varnish, gel, or foam products carrying the ADA Seal of Acceptance.
Recall Visits
The best way to protect your beautiful smile is by preventing problems before they start. Hygiene appointments every 6 months are an important part of maintaining your oral health. The Twenty First Century Dental team is committed to answering your questions about proper hygiene and providing you with the most advanced preventive dentistry available.
Cosmetic Services
Most people who are unhappy with the appearance of their teeth do not realize the numerous ways that cosmetic care can heal a smile. Cosmetic dentistry can correct crooked teeth, spaces between your teeth, chipped teeth, broken or missing teeth, stained or discolored teeth, and having a "gummy" smile. Drs. Rista and Bongarzone will create a customized treatment plan for you based on your age, your goals, and your financial comfort level.
Porcelain Veneers
Imagine a whiter, more brilliant smile! Placement of porcelain veneers is a conservative cosmetic treatment that makes a dramatic difference in the appearance of your teeth. If you have crooked teeth, chipped teeth, gaps in teeth, or dull, stained teeth, veneers may be the perfect solution. Your dentist will skillfully create a straight, brilliant smile that enhances both your appearance and your self-esteem.
Teeth Whitening – At Home
You can have the confidence that comes from a bright, white smile. If you are happy with the alignment and spacing of your teeth, a teeth whitening procedure may be all that separates you from a dazzling smile. Teeth whitening is safe, effective and long lasting. Your home whitening kit includes a special tray that is customized to fit over your teeth to evenly disperse prescription whitening gel, which is inserted into the tray before you wear it. You can expect the entire home whitening process to take between two and four weeks, leaving you with a whiter, brighter smile. With home whitening, you can reuse your trays to touch-up your smile whenever it needs a little boost. If you are thinking of other cosmetic improvements, such as crowns, porcelain veneers or replacing old discolored fillings, consider whitening your teeth first. Any future restorations will be matched to your whitened teeth, giving you fantastic results.
Teeth Whitening – Rembrandt Sapphire® (In-Office)
For immediate results, Twenty-First Century Dental offers an in-office whitening procedure: Rembrandt Sapphire®. With this easy, one-hour procedure, you can have a dazzling white smile in just one trip to the dentist! During your Rembrandt Sapphire® procedure, your dentist will paint your teeth with a whitening gel and then activate the gel with the patented Sapphire plasma light, making your teeth up to 10 shades whiter with no overnight trays necessary. Talk to your dentist about using Rembrandt Sapphire® to whiten your teeth.
Invisalign®
You can straighten your teeth without metal braces. Invisalign® is an FDA-approved system that uses clear, removable aligners to incrementally straighten your teeth. There are no uncomfortable brackets or wires, and because you remove the aligners to eat and drink, there is no need to worry about food restrictions or problems with brushing or flossing.
Invisalign® begins with the use of 3D computer imaging to map out your entire treatment plan in advance. This imaging allows you to see what your final straightened teeth will look like before you begin treatment. Then, using the imaging, a series of custom aligners will be created that will incrementally move your teeth. You will replace each aligner every two weeks with the next aligner in the sequence. Average treatment time from your initial teeth position to a brilliant, straight smile ranges from nine-to-15 months. The best part is that most people will never even notice you are undergoing treatment!
Porcelain Bridges
If you've lost a tooth, a large gap in your smile can create significant problems for your dental health if left uncorrected. Gradually, your bite pressure may shift to other parts of your mouth to compensate for an inability to efficiently chew in the area of the missing tooth. Neighboring teeth may begin to move into the gap, resulting in discomfort, pain, and more problems in the future. After some preparation of the two neighboring teeth, crowns are created for them. A prosthetic tooth (pontic) is fused between the crowns. Fixed bridges literally "bridge the gap" in your smile. Your dentist will create a functional, life-like bridge to correct your smile, restore your bite, and alleviate your discomfort.
Porcelain Crowns
You can erase years of wear and tear with porcelain crowns. Your dentist uses a tooth-like crown made of porcelain to restore your tooth after the decay has been removed. Crowns are also used to restore chipped teeth, broken teeth, gaps in teeth, and other damage. Also called "caps," porcelain crowns mimic natural-looking teeth in both shape and color.
Tooth-Colored Fillings
Are you embarrassed about your smile because of decayed, disfigured, or discolored teeth? If so, you may be a good candidate for composite resins – also known as tooth-colored fillings or restorations. When the decay has been removed from the tooth, it is replaced with "filling" material. In the past, amalgam (silver) fillings were placed into the cleaned-out portion of the tooth. With new advancements in dentistry, you can now have tooth-colored fillings instead of silver fillings, resulting in a longer-lasting, brighter, whiter smile. The new tooth-colored material is bonded to the teeth for a stronger restoration.
Bonding
Bonding is a tooth-colored material applied and adhered to the surface of the tooth, often without reducing the structure of the tooth. The bonding material is sculpted by your dentist to resemble a natural tooth, correcting chipped, broken, stained, or discolored teeth, and in some cases, correcting gaps. While it is less of an investment than porcelain veneers, bonding doesn’t last as long and can sometimes become stained from foods and beverages. We encourage you to come in and talk with the Twenty-First Century Dental team about your options.
Recall Visits
The best way to protect your beautiful smile is by preventing problems before they start. Hygiene appointments every 6 months are an important part of maintaining your oral health. The Twenty First Century Dental team is committed to answering your questions about proper hygiene and providing you with the most advanced preventive dentistry available.
Implants
Are you missing teeth? Have you postponed getting a bridge or denture? Do you wear ill-fitting, loose dentures right now? At Twenty-First Century Dental, we want to improve your quality of life with dental implants.
As the prosthetic that most closely mimics nature's design, dental implants serve as substitute tooth roots. Each implant is strategically placed in the jaw, where bone integrates with it to create a solid foundation for a crown, bridge, or denture. With proper care, dental implants can last a lifetime.
Benefits of Dental Implants include:
- Promote bone retention
- Eliminate slipping, loose, wobbly dentures
- Don’t require support from healthy teeth
- Can last a lifetime
- Look, feel, and function like natural teeth
Implant Supported Dentures
While typical dentures shift and require the use of denture adhesives to keep them in place, implants fit solidly, reducing the problems associated with traditional dentures, such as gum sores and difficulty speaking and chewing. Implant-supported dentures distribute your biting pressure more like natural teeth than traditional dentures, stimulating the supportive structures of your teeth and preventing the bone and soft tissues from shrinking away. You can replace an entire set of teeth with beautiful, natural-looking implants.
Dentures
A properly fitting denture is very important. A good fit ensures that your dentures will allow you to retain much of your function, which is important for maintaining natural muscle tone in your face and jaw. Dentures will keep you looking and feeling healthy, and will help you retain a natural lifestyle. A lifelike smile and the best possible fit are two of the primary goals your dentist will achieve if you need dentures to restore your smile.
Partial Dentures
Partial dentures are used if you have several teeth missing that cannot be corrected with a bridge. A partial denture is created to replace those teeth. The partial denture is removable and designed to fit comfortably and blend in with any remaining teeth. This type of denture is made from a synthetic material that is supported with a lightweight metal. It mimics your gum tissue and teeth to create a natural looking smile while still remaining functional. The partial denture is important once the teeth have been removed in order to preserve the bone and to keep existing teeth from tilting and growing in towards the gaps.
Crowns
You can erase years of wear and tear with crowns. Your dentist uses a tooth-like crown made of precious metals or tooth-like porcelain to restore your tooth after the decay has been removed. Crowns are also used to restore chipped teeth, broken teeth, gaps in teeth, and other damage. Also called "caps," porcelain crowns mimic natural-looking teeth in both shape and color.
Bridges
If you've lost a tooth, a large gap in your smile can create significant problems for your dental health if left uncorrected. Gradually, your bite pressure may shift to other parts of your mouth to compensate for an inability to chew efficiently in the area of the missing tooth. Neighboring teeth may begin to move into the gap resulting in discomfort, pain and more problems in the future. After some preparation of the two neighboring teeth, crowns are created for them. A prosthetic tooth (pontic) is fused between the crowns. Fixed bridges literally "bridge the gap" in your smile. Your dentist creates a functional, natural-looking bridge to correct your smile, restore your bite, and alleviate your discomfort.
TMD (TMJ)
You may suffer from headaches, a popping jaw when you open or close your mouth, and pain in your jaw joints and muscles. This could signify problems with your Temporomandibular Joint. A healthy jaw joint does not make any noise. Clicking or popping in the joint may be an indication of strain or long-term injury. The joint problem may be a result of trauma, complications with your bite, or grinding or clenching your teeth... or of a combination of these factors. TMD, or Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction, is a condition that affects many people, but the good news is it can often be treated. Based on the severity of your condition, we can recommend a course of treatment that will help alleviate your pain making your day-to-day activities more pleasant. If you are experiencing or have experienced clicking, popping, or pain in your jaw joint, ask a Twenty-First Century Dental team member today if you might benefit from this treatment.
Invisalign®
You can straighten your teeth without metal braces. Invisalign® is an FDA-approved system that uses clear, removable aligners to incrementally straighten your teeth. There are no uncomfortable brackets or wires, and because you remove the aligners to eat and drink, there is no need to worry about food restrictions or problems with brushing or flossing.
Invisalign® begins with the use of 3D computer imaging to map out your entire treatment plan in advance, allowing you to see what your teeth will look like before you begin treatment. Then, using the imaging, a series of custom aligners will be created that will incrementally move your teeth. You will replace each aligner every two weeks with the next aligner in the sequence. Average treatment time from your initial teeth position to a brilliant, straight smile ranges from nine-to-15 months. The best part is that most people will never even notice you are undergoing treatment!
Technology
Your enjoyable dental experience depends on your comfort and safety. The Twenty-First Century Dental team utilizes the latest technological advances in dental equipment and techniques to ensure your satisfaction with your visit and your continued excellent health.
Digital X-rays
Digital radiographs (X-rays) are a technological advancement that results in less exposure to radiation for our patients and an almost instantaneous picture for your dentist. You will appreciate a more comfortable visit, as well as quicker treatment.
Sleep Apnea/Snoring
Millions of people suffer from sleep apnea. In a patient with sleep apnea, the position of the structures of the mouth obstruct air flow during sleep, causing the patient to snore, and at times, to stop breathing for up to a minute or more at a time. The quality of sleep for both the patient and their partner suffers tremendously, and if left untreated, sleep apnea can be very dangerous. Twenty-First Century Dental can help patients with sleep apnea overcome their condition. After a sleep study is completed, treatment may include the use of a customized mouthpiece, which comfortably repositions the structures of the mouth, allowing for clear breathing and uninterrupted sleep. If you suffer from snoring, ask a dental team member today about sleep apnea treatment!
Intraoral Camera
An intraoral camera lets you see inside your mouth during both treatment planning and dental procedures. Our intraoral camera displays your teeth on a monitor or iPad, allowing your dentist to walk you through your proposed treatment. The use of this camera allows us to work with you as a team to meet your dental goals.
Digital Photography
Digital photography gives your dentist instant images to use for cosmetic imaging or to keep on file to track your progress. Digital images can be electronically saved and are more efficient than traditional photographs, which must be taken off-site for development.