We understand that dentistry can be difficult for some people to understand. Whether it’s your first visit in a long time or you’ve never missed a dental appointment, our goal is to help educate patients in every way possible and address their specific questions and concerns. For your convenience, we’ve included some frequently asked questions and answers.
We recommend scheduling routine visits to our dental office every six months for a comprehensive exam and teeth cleaning. These appointments ensure your home oral care is effective and allow us to detect any potential issues early. Depending on your oral health and risk factors for cavities, gum disease, and oral cancer, some patients may require more frequent visits.
Absolutely! Our dental office provides custom-made restorations designed to last and look incredibly natural in your smile. Whether you need a dental filling or crown, it’s imperative that you complete treatment to protect your tooth and prevent it from breaking down further. After all, the enamel will not repair itself; only a dedicated restoration can help you avoid future damage. We’re not sharks- once we have our adult teeth, that’s all we get!
As an active member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, Dr. Long has you covered when it comes to cosmetic dental treatments! Not only does she place porcelain veneers to restore teeth to a beautiful luster, but she can even complete dedicated smile makeovers for those looking to pursue multiple treatments.
Tender, sensitive, red, or bleeding gums are signs that require professional treatment. In the early stages of gum disease (gingivitis), improving your at-home oral care and scheduling regular professional hygiene appointments may suffice to address infected gum tissue. However, for more advanced gum disease, we offer scaling and root planing to directly treat the infection at its source.
Sensitive teeth could be a result of many issues, including untreated tooth decay. However, there’s also a chance that you have an underlying teeth grinding habit that’s slowly wearing down your enamel. For issues like these, we recommend a custom-made nightguard. This oral appliance works to protect teeth while you sleep, which is when teeth grinding and clenching most commonly occur.
Our dental office is happy to provide alternative solutions to silver/amalgam fillings, including tooth-colored fillings that make use of composite resin to repair teeth. Not only can these restorations be color-matched to your enamel, but they won’t expand and contract when exposed to hot and cold temperatures in the same way that metal fillings tend to do. We can also keep the treatment more conservative when placing composite fillings versus amalgam fillings.
Our dental office partners with dental implant specialists in the area so you can receive the most comprehensive dental care possible. We’re happy to provide you with restoration options to cover your newly placed dental implants.
At Westlake Hills Dental Arts, our team is committed to providing patients with only the best, so if you’re interested in a more advanced method of treatment that can produce faster results – CEREC dental crowns allow us to offer this unique solution. With CEREC, there is no need for a temporary crown and you only need to visit our dental office once.