List
of Procedures
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Choose
Eric, for all your dental needs. Schedule your next dental
appointment now.
Give us a call today, you deserve it, 209.358.0800
(Best time to reach us: 9am to 1pm, 2pm-4:30pm Monday
to Thursday)
Or
text us at 209.358.0800
Or fill
in your information
and we will call you to schedule your next appointment.
Preventive
Care
Preventive
care and good oral hygiene are our main focus. Eric performs
the dental exam, cosmetic dentistry such as tooth whitening,
tooth color fillings, porcelain crowns and veneers, dental
implant restorations, and also professional cleaning,
night guard, anti-snoring device, root canal treatment,
extraction, partial and complete dentures.
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Cleaning
A
standard prophy or a professional cleaning is generally
done above and slightly below the gumline. Harmful bacteria
gather together around the gumline to form the biofilm
or plaque. A cleaning is to disrupt the bacteria and the
biofilm to keep cavity and gum disease away.
There are couple steps in the professional cleaning appointment.
Polish is the first step to remove any loose and some
attached bacteria or plaque from the tooth surface and
also aids in stain removal.
Next step is to floss under the gumline to remove more
bacteria and plaque.
An ultrasonic cleaning device uses water spray and vibration
to finish removing plaque and the hard deposits called
tartar or calculus. Tartar is calcified plaque and will
not come off with brushing or flossing.
Then
light hand scaling smooths the teeth. Always we will review
your oral hygiene and help find ways to fine tune your
home care to get the wanted results on your gum, your
mouth and your body.
Here
is a short video about gingivitis
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Debridement
When
there is just too much tartar buildup for us to do our
exam, debridement is performed to clean enough so Eric
can do his exam. It is an additional procedure to cleaning,
so it is not very common and only if you need it.
Here
is a video about debridement
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Probing
depths/measuring the pocket depths
During your exam at Atwater Family Dental, besides checking
your teeth, soft tissues, head and neck area, your gum
will also be examined too. Probing or measuring the pocket
depths gives a blueprint of how your gums are attaching
to the roots of your teeth.
Imagine
your tooth as a castle and the gums are the moat around
the castle. The deeper the moat, the more things could
stay there, the more infected and unhealthy your gums
are. Also, moat is not filled with lava at peace time.
Similarly, healthy gum does not bleed. Healthy pocket
depths range from 2-3 millimeters without bleeding while
probing the pockets.
Pocket depths greater than 3 millimeters can shrink after
a proper professional along with daily flossing prior
to brushing twice daily. This healing and regeneration
depends on the severity of the infection. Gum disease
ranges from gingivitis to severe gum disease where considerable
bone is lost due to the chronic inflammation and infection
eating away the supporting bone. Without bone, the tooth
will come off.
Let's
watch a short video about Probing
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Deep
Cleaning
Deep
cleaning is officially called Scaling and Root Planning
(S/RP). Using the pocket depths measurement as a guide
to remove bacteria, plaque and tartar buildup underneath
the gumline. Anesthesia is generally used to around the
gum tissue to make you comfortable. The ultrasonic machine
is used to go deep into the pocket to remove the hard
deposits of tartar.
Next special design hand instruments are used in the deep
pockets to make the roots smooth. Then an antimicrobial
solution irrigation kills bacteria chemically.
After the visit, you are in charge of your home care and
will be seen and re-measured every three months. When
your pockets improve or reduce to 2-3 millimeters, the
cleaning appointment will go back to every 6 months. However,
if your pockets do not improve and your gum stays inflamed
or gets worse, Dr. Eric will recommend sending you to
the periodontist, the gum specialist, for an evaluation
when gum surgery will likely need to be done.
Please
spend the time on home care to prevent gum disease and
get treatment early so the disease does not progress.
Here
is a video about gum
disease or periodontal disease
Here
is a video about deep
cleaning
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Oral
Cancer Exam
At
each exam, Eric check the soft tissues in your mouth,
tongue, and glands for abnormal tissues and screen for
oral cancer. Please let us know if you have any blister
or sore that does not go away.
Oral cancer risk factors are not limited to smoking and
drinking any more.
One of the fastest cancer group is caused by the HPV or
Human Papilloma Virus could cause oral cancer. Oral HPV
is about three times more common in men than in women.
Each year about 8400 Americans are diagnosed with oral
cancer that is caused by HPV.
The signs may include persistent sore throat, earaches,
hoarseness, enlarged lymph nodes, pain when swalloing,
and unexplained weigh loss while some people have no signs
or symptoms.
Oral HPV is relatively new, so there is no testing or
no vaccine. The point is everybody could be at risk of
cancer.
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Night
Guard
After
years of grinding and clenching, your teeth are wearing
away. Rather than grinding on your teeth or crowns, grind
on the night guard. It is a lot cheaper to replace the
night guard than your teeth.
Here
is a video about tooth
wear
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Mouthguard
Mouthguard
or sports guard is very important for any athletes.
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Anti-Snoring
Device
Snoring
could annoy your significant other. This is different
than sleep apnea appliance. Sleep apnea is when someone
stops breathing when that person sleeps. Wearing an anti-snoring
device will not prevent sleep apnea.
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Tooth
Whitening
Atwater
Family Dental makes customized take-home teeth whitening
tray for you. You can control the degree of color change.
Keep the trays for touch ups or next whitening treatment.
Here
is a video regarding bleaching
tray
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Tooth
Color Filling or composite filling or bonding
When
the cavity reaches dentin, we have to take out the cavity.
If the size is small, we fill it up with a filling. There
is the controversial silver filling that has mercury alloy.
I do not remove silver fillings just because of mercury.
If the filling starts breaking down, if the patient thinks
they are ugly, I change them into tooth color filling.
Here
is a short video about tooth
color filling on your front tooth
Here
is a short video about tooth
color filling on your back tooth
Take
a look at this video about filling
versus crown. When you need a filling,
don't wait too long or it will turn into a crown which
costs 3 or 4 times as much.
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Veneer
Veneer
is used to enhance smile without taking away a lot of
tooth structure. With advances in bonding, veneer is getting
thinner and more predictable. Planning is the key.
Here
is a video about veneer
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Inlay/onlay
If
you want to save as much tooth structure, inlay and onlay
are partial coverage crown to preserve and replace tooth
structure. Your oral hygiene needs to be excellent. Otherwise,
cavity can happen elsewhere on that tooth.
Here
is a video about inlay
or onlay
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Crown
or cap
If
the cavity is too big to hold a filling, crown is used
to cover the whole tooth. Crown is also used to wrap around
fractured teeth and hold them together.
Here
is a short video about crown
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Bridge
Bridge
is a method to replace one or more missing teeth. The
two adjacent teeth are prepared and a bridge is made to
connect all three teeth. Floss threader is recommended
to keep the area underneath the bridge clean.
Here
is a short video about bridge
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Root
Canal Treatment
When
the nerve in the tooth goes bad, you will be in severe
pain and likely have an infection too.
(Please see preventative and home care so you never
hear these three words)
Here is the progression. Bacteria goes deep into the tooth
and into the pulp where the nerve is. Pain and discomfort
until the nerve is dead. Then surprisingly no pain. Bacteria
do not go away, but keep growing. Once bacteria go out
to the end of the tooth into the gum and bone area, that
is where the pain is coming from. At this point, when
you see me, I will give you some antibiotic and bring
you back for root canal treatment. At the root canal appointment,
we get your numb. We clean out the cavity and the pulp.
Then we fill in the root canal system and seal the tooth.
Here
is a video about root
canal treatment
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Extraction
Wisdom
teeth and breaking down teeth along with bone graft or
bone augmentation
Wisdom teeth are usually the last teeth in our mouth.
When they are underneath the gum, we need to check the
position to make sure they will not damage your other
molars. When the wisdom teeth are partially out in the
mouth, we need to clean that area very well to avoid food
traps and discomfort. When the wisdom teeth are out, we
need to make sure we keep them clean. Otherwise, the wisdom
teeth will grow bacteria and spread to your other teeth.
Dental
implant is growing in popularity. If there is only a hole
or socket, there is no bone to hold onto the implant.
In addition, gum and bone shrinks after extraction. This
is especially important for front tooth extractions. Imagine
a big gap between your restored tooth and the gum. Bone
graft or bone augmentation is a solution. After the extraction,
a filling material fills the socket.
Here
is a short video about wisdom
teeth removal
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Implant
Currently,
dental implant is the closest thing to a root of a tooth.
It acts similar to a screw on the wall. The crown on top
of the implant is like a picture that hook on to that
screw. Just like the wall and the underlying wood, the
implant needs good bone to support the crown.
The interesting thing is bone will integrate with the
implant, but it does take time. Just like anything in
our mouth, we need to have good oral hygiene to keep those
implant in place.
Here
is a short video about implant.
Keep in mind, each site is different. Some site allows
same day treatment, but usually, this process takes places
about 6 months to a year.
Having
a hard time deciding a bridge or an implant. Here is a
video
Another
video. Implant
on your back molar
Bone
graft / Bone Augmentation / Socket Preservation
Implant
needs enough bone. Gum disease causes bone loss. Bone
in certain part of the mouth is just too thin or not ideal.
Then we need to perform bone graft to fill in those area,
so an implant could be placed.
After
an extraction, the remaining bone and gum will shrink.
With previous bone loss, the bone will not be thick enough
to place a long lasting implant successfully. One solution
is to add bone after the extraction to keep the level
of bone. If you are thinking about implant, but do not
want to do it right away.
Here
is a short video about bone
graft
Please
consider socket preservation because subsequent bone graft
will be more expensive and need even more time to heal.
For example, the back teeth on the top are near the sinus.
Sinus is not filled with bone. If the implant is 10 mm
(just an example), but the bone is only 5 mm. Where do
we get the extra bone? One solution is sinus
lift. ** Warning ** This following
video is graphic and may not be suitable for everyone.
Basically we perform a surgery to push away the sinus
and place bone. Let it heal and place implant. Let it
heal and restore the implant with an implant crown. The
process could take more than a year and multiple surgery,
so this is why I highly recommend socket preservation.
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Emergency
appointment
You
waited and waited. The tooth hurt and hurt some more until
you cannot stand it. Do not need to suffer. Please give
us a call: 209.358.0800,
so we can help to get you out of discomfort.
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Partial,
stayplate, valplast, immediate dentures, dentures
There
are various options to replace your missing teeth with
something that you take out everyday/night.
Partials are removable appliances
to replace some of your missing teeth.
A stayplate is an interim
partial to replace the extracted tooth or teeth for esthetic
purpose until the area heals.
Valplast does not have metal
and is more flexible. However, it relies on teeth for
support.
Dentures or complete dentures
are removable appliances if there are no teeth on the
top or the bottom arch.
Immediate denture is the denture used right after extractions
of remaining teeth. Since the gum and bone shrinks after
extractions, immediate dentures will need a reline to
fill in the missing space.
Here
is a video about partial
and complete dentures
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Oral
Conscious Sedation
With
special permit, Dr. Eric prescribes medication to our
patients who are anxious. You will still be awake while
you are comfortable during dental visits. Someone needs
to give you a ride though. Please let us know at the first
appointment so we can arrange it for you.
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Choose
Eric, for all your dental needs. Schedule your next dental
appointment now.
Give us a call today, you deserve it, 209.358.0800
(Best time to reach us: 9am to 1pm, 2pm-4:30pm Monday
to Thursday)
Or text us at 209.358.0800
Or fill
in your information
and we will call you to schedule your next appointment.
A
Saturday a month, Dr Tung, oral maxillofacial surgeon,
will perform difficult extractions.
Please call 209.358.0800
for detail.
Imedia West