Preventive Dental Care Services Windermere
Preventive Dentistry
Preventive dental care is essential for keeping teeth healthy for a lifetime. Preventive dentistry recommends regular check-ups, dental hygiene, and good practices that start early childhood and continue throughout your life. Some of the best practices we follow include:
Comprehensive Exams
A comprehensive exam is the best way to ensure that your mouth is healthy and beautiful.
In this exam, we take photographs of your oral cavity and soft tissue. We also take an impression of your teeth, if required, to study the jaw. These tools help us make a diagnosis and make recommendations for further treatments. Comprehensive exams lay the base work for future dental care. Visit your full mouth construction dentist in your area for more info.
Dental Hygiene
A regular visit to a dental hygienist is the best way to prevent dental emergencies and periodontal diseases such as gingivitis, periodontitis, receding gum, bone loss, loose teeth, and halitosis (bad breath).
We recommend you visit your dental hygienist regularly to rid your teeth of calculus or tartar that causes inflammation of gums and bad breath. During the hygiene visit, a dentist checks your mouth to make sure everything looks healthy and polishes your teeth at the end of the visit. The fluoride application prevents plaque accumulation and strengthens your teeth.
Dental hygienists recommend following at-home oral hygiene practices such as brushing and flossing teeth at least twice a day. Regular dental visits for a comprehensive checkup are also a good idea. As a preventive measure, we also recommended tooth cleaning for children as their first teeth appear and visit a pediatric dentist during their first year.
Dental Sealants
Sealants are thin shields that protect molars and premolars from decay. These teeth with pits and grooves are difficult to clean and develop cavities. We recommend sealants for adults with an increased risk of developing cavities or in an initial stage of decay or cavities.
Dental sealant treatment is a painless procedure (compared to other restorative treatments) and doesn’t take more than 45 minutes. The procedure involves a thorough cleaning of the tooth surface followed by the application of an etching solution. Once the surface is dry, the sealant material is applied and hardened using a high-intensity light. As long as the sealant is intact on the tooth surface, food particles and bacteria cannot penetrate. This will keep cavities at bay.
Sports Mouth Guards
If you are an athlete or a sportsperson, you will need a sports guard that protects your teeth and jaw from accidental strikes or fall during your activities. Sports guards act as a shock absorber redistributing the force of impact and reducing teeth knock-outs and fractures.
Different types of inexpensive sports or mouth guards are available over the counter, but we recommend custom-made sports guards from your dentist. Custom-made guards offer the best fit and comfort over drug store versions.
Bruxism Guards or Night Guards
Bruxism is the clinical term for grinding teeth or clenching jaws at night. Grinding your teeth at night can erode your teeth, leading to TMD (Temporomandibular Disorder). Symptoms include headaches, sleep apnea, damage to teeth structure and enamel, increased teeth sensitivity, fracture of teeth, or restorations. If your partner hears you grinding at night and your TMJ (temporomandibular joint) is sore in the morning, we recommend an evaluation.
Teeth grinding can be treated, and damage can be fixed with occlusal adjustments and with the use of a custom night guard. A teeth protector does not cure bruxism but acts as a shield protecting your teeth and jaws from further damage.
Oral Cancer Screening
Oral cancer is dangerous but curable if diagnosed at an early stage. Oral cancer develops inside the mouth on lips, tongue, gums, the inner lining of the cheeks, or on the roof or floor of the mouth. Your dentist will catch early signs of oral cancer during your dental screening.
Patients at higher risk include heavy smokers, a family history of oral cancer or immunodeficiency disease, or manifesting cancer-like symptoms. Such individuals should consult Glenriding Dental in Edmonton and book an appointment for an oral cancer screening.