When you visit your dental office in Bel Air, MD to receive treatment for a cavity, there are times when your dentist may recommend a root canal . Continue reading to learn more about this commonly performed dental procedure.

Allowing Cavities to Progress

Cavities occur when bacteria cause damage to the surface of a tooth and begin to penetrate the enamel. When left untreated, a dental cavity can become severe enough that bacteria can make their way into the tooth. Once a tooth becomes infected, the tissues inside can become inflamed. The swelling can cause the individual a great deal of discomfort which is frequently what leads them to see a dentist for treatment. In addition to cavities, cracked and broken teeth can also be vulnerable to infection.

Examining the Tooth

Once a tooth is infected, parts of it can become damaged and, in some cases, the swelling prevents proper blood flow to the tooth which can kill the tissues inside. When you visit your dental office for a toothache, your dentist will examine your mouth, and he may also take X-rays of the painful tooth to get a better look at the extent of the damage. Depending on how big the cavity is or what damage the infection has caused, your dentist may tell you that you need a root canal.

Performing the Root Canal

Root canals are safe procedures that are frequently performed in dentistry, and they can provide patients with relief from the pain that they are experiencing while avoiding the need to extract the tooth. First, your dentist will numb the area. Next, he will drill a hole into the tooth to remove the infected tissues inside. Then, he will treat the infection, clean out the tooth, and fill the canal with a special type of tooth filling material. Finally, your dentist will use a filling or a crown to seal the tooth and restore its dental function. The site may feel tender for a few days, but patients usually feel much better following their root canal procedure and can enjoy restored function of their tooth.

Children should have their first visit to a dental office once a tooth comes in or before their first birthday to allow dentists to check the growth and development of their teeth. This initial visit is important because, as soon as her first tooth appears, it can develop a dental cavity. When you are scheduling the appointment with a pediatric dentist in Bel Air, MD, try to select a time when your child tends to be more cooperative. For many children, morning appointments work best.

On the day of her appointment, provide her with a light meal, but avoid giving her snacks in the waiting room, as this can make the examination more difficult since she is likely to have food on her teeth. Finally, if you have dental insurance, contact your provider to ensure that your child is included in the plan before her pediatric dentist appointment.

As a parent, it is important to teach your children proper oral health habits and hygiene. While cavities may be an unavoidable problem for some families, there are steps that you can take to help prevent a dental cavity in your child’s smile. A kid’s dentist in Bel Air will be able to gently clean your child’s teeth and check for the early signs of decay. Your pediatric dentist can also instruct your son or daughter on proper brushing and flossing techniques. To help you avoid the stress of a dental cavity, here is a look at some tips for helping your kids avoid tooth decay.

Brush and Floss Regularly

One of the most effective measures for preventing tooth decay is to encourage your children to brush and floss their teeth regularly. For optimum oral health, your child will need to brush and floss at least twice a day. Young children should be supervised throughout the brushing process. To help prevent cavities, you can also make sure that your kids use toothpaste that contains fluoride.

Eat Nutritious Food

Your child’s diet has a strong correlation with his or her oral health. Very sugary foods, such as candy or soft drinks, will cause harmful bacteria and plaque to build up in your child’s mouth. Over time, a sugar filled diet can cause cavities and other oral health issues. To ensure the proper oral health of your child, you will want to encourage him or her to eat a healthy diet that is filled with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Schedule Dental Visits

Regular trips to the dentist will keep your child’s teeth in great condition. Children of all ages should visit the dentist at least once every six months. The twice yearly dental exam will allow your kids dentist to perform a thorough cleaning and check for any early signs of decay. During your regularly scheduled dentist appointments, your dentist can also make sure that your child is brushing and flossing correctly.

Sports drinks might seem like a healthy choice, perhaps because they are marketed toward fitness enthusiasts. However, pediatric dentists in Bel Air, MD, warn parents that sports drinks can actually be just as harmful for teeth as soda. They can increase the risk of dental cavities, which require tooth fillings to correct. One way that sports drinks are harmful for teeth is the amount of sugar. The bacteria in the mouth thrive in sugary environments. As the bacteria feast on sugar, they produce acids as a byproduct. These acids wear away the enamel on the teeth and create dental cavities.

Some sports drinks might seem to be healthier for teeth because they are sugar-free. But in fact, even sugar-free drinks can wear away as much enamel as sugary beverages can. This is because these beverages tend to contain phosphoric acid, citric acid, and tartaric acid. The acidic nature of these beverages has a corrosive effect on the teeth. Instead of sports drinks, pediatric dentists recommend drinking milk or water.

Your smile says a lot about your personality. Unfortunately, many people feel as though they must cover up their smiles because of concerns about the appearance of their teeth. If you’re dissatisfied with your smile, it may be time to make an appointment at a cosmetic dentistry office in Bel Air, MD. There are many cosmetic dentistry options that can brighten your smile, resolve chips and cracks, and even address misshapen teeth and unsightly gaps.

Identify your concerns and goals for your smile.

Consider making a list of all of the things that bother you about your smile. You might be upset that your teeth look dingy or downright discolored, or you may be concerned about that gap between your front teeth. Consider which changes to your smile would give you a boost of self-confidence.

Schedule a consultation with a cosmetic dentist.

Once you have identified the problem areas that you would like to resolve, it’s time to schedule a consultation with a cosmetic dentistry provider. When you arrive at the clinic, be sure to share your full medical history, including any medications you’re taking. This is particularly important if you’re concerned about discoloration; certain medications are a common cause of tooth discoloration. During your visit, your dentist will carefully examine your teeth, including the way the upper and lower jaws fit together. He or she will ask you about your goals for your pearly whites and then design a customized treatment plan that’s right for you.

Learn about your cosmetic dentistry options.

Many people can achieve incredible results with tooth whitening alone. In office whitening procedures are particularly effective. The BriteSmile method is particularly effective. It involves applying specialized teeth whitening gel to your teeth. Then, the BriteSmile blue light is applied to activate the gel. During your treatment, you can relax comfortably while your teeth are undergoing a much-needed makeover. If you have deeper tooth discoloration, such as discoloration caused by medications, then you might need a more intensive treatment. Your dentist might recommend Lumineers, which are porcelain veneers that are bonded to the front sides of your teeth. Lumineers are an effective way to instantly camouflage a wide range of dental imperfections-from discoloration and chips to gaps and misshapen teeth. These are just a couple of the cosmetic dentistry options that may be available to you. Your dentist can help you decide which one is right for you.

Do you have sensitive teeth? You may need to make an emergency dental appointment with a dental clinic near Bel Air, MD to help find the root cause of your tooth pain. Read on to learn more about what your dentist might say is behind your current tooth sensitivity.

Tooth Sensitivity and Tooth Structure

In order to gain a better understanding of why your teeth have become sensitive, it’s important to first understand how the teeth are structured. The hard outer layer of your tooth is called tooth enamel. It protects the inside of your tooth, which mainly consists of dentin, a tissue filled with small tubes containing microscopic nerve endings. Your teeth may become sensitive when your tooth enamel is worn down, exposing the nerve-filled dentin below. This can potentially be very painful, especially when you eat foods that are hot, cold, acidic, or sticky.

Tooth Sensitivity and Dental Issues

Several different dental issues can cause your tooth enamel to become worn down and eroded. Even using a hard toothbrush during your daily dental care routine and brushing too aggressively can weaken your tooth enamel. Likewise, grinding your teeth at night can also damage tooth enamel. Ask your dentist to check for signs of grinding and excessive wear patterns on your teeth; he or she may recommend using a mouth guard at night so that the problem does not become exacerbated.

Tooth Sensitivity and Diet

If you tend to consume highly acidic foods and drinks, such as sodas and certain fruits, you may also be weakening your tooth enamel. Limit your intake of acidic foods and aim to brush after meals to get rid of leftover acid in your mouth. Finally, tooth decay, damaged fillings, and broken or chipped teeth can expose your tooth dentin—as can gum recession. Your dentist should be able to locate and repair broken dental work that may be causing your tooth sensitivity. As for gum recession, it’s important to maintain a proper daily dental hygiene routine in order to prevent additional gum recession and the pain that goes along with it.

If you feel insecure about your smile , your dentist in Bel Air, MD, may have suggested Lumineers. Lumineers are porcelain veneers that are designed to treat a wide range of problems in cosmetic dentistry. With Lumineers, your dentist can help you achieve whiter and perfectly aligned teeth. If you want to achieve the smile of your dreams, talk to your dentist about porcelain veneers. Keep reading to answer some frequently asked questions about how Lumineers work.

What Are Lumineers?

Lumineers are tooth-colored sheaths that fit completely over the fronts of teeth. These veneers are crafted from thin porcelain that can be matched exactly to surrounding teeth. Unlike traditional veneers, which can be thick and require a dentist to remove surrounding tooth structure, Lumineers are digitally designed to be ultra-thin. Lumineers have about the thickness of average contact lenses, so they can be placed precisely over teeth and blend in seamlessly with your smile.

What Kinds of Problems Do Lumineers Correct?

Dentists use Lumineers to correct many cosmetic problems. Lumineers can completely cover a chipped or cracked tooth. Because Lumineers can be crafted from any color, they can also mask even the darkest tooth discolorations. If your teeth are dark or yellow due to age, medications, smoking cigarettes, or years of drinking coffee and wine, Lumineers are the best way to achieve a whiter smile. While teeth whitening is also successful for many people, even teeth whitening cannot correct deep, internal stains as Lumineers can. These porcelain veneers mask any imperfections, which means they can also correct misaligned, gapped, or overlapping teeth.

How Does the Lumineers Procedure Work?

If you decide to invest in Lumineers, your dentist will first meet with you to discuss your treatment plan. You can decide to achieve a whiter, better aligned smile with just one Lumineer or with a full set of Lumineers that covers all your teeth. During your first visit, your dentist will create a customized mold of your teeth. After that, your porcelain veneers are custom-made in a laboratory. Dentists can place a complete set of Lumineers in just one quick and painless visit.

When it comes to cosmetic dentistry, teeth whitening in Bel Air, MD , is one of the most popular procedures. Today, professional teeth whitening can lighten your smile by several shades in just one visit to the dentist. Teeth whitening is also completely painless—and more affordable than ever. If you want to improve your oral health and cosmetic appearance, ask your dentist about your teeth whitening options. Keep reading to learn why a whiter smile is so important, including that it improves oral health, boosts self-esteem, and creates a younger appearance.

Improves Oral Health

Most people know that teeth whitening makes you look and feel better. But in addition to its cosmetic dentistry benefits, a white smile also improves your oral health. Whiter teeth deliver a smile that looks happy and healthy. When you invest in teeth whitening, you will feel motivated to take the best care of your smile, including brushing and flossing regularly.

Boosts Self-Esteem

Teeth whitening has given millions of people an essential boost in self-esteem. The teeth can become dark or yellow for many reasons, including as a natural side effect of aging, due to many dental procedures, or as a result of bad habits like smoking cigarettes or drinking coffee. When you whiten your teeth, you no longer need to feel insecure when you laugh, smile, or eat. That means you can enjoy a much more active social life. Whiter teeth can also help you excel at work. With your new confidence, you will feel more comfortable than ever meeting with clients—or asking your boss for a raise.

Creates Younger Appearance

Many people invest in teeth whitening because it is one of the quickest and most affordable ways to look and feel younger. As dentists know, everyone’s teeth are perfectly white and shiny when they are born. Yet, over time, everyone’s teeth also become darker. Instead of letting your smile make you look older than you feel, ask your dentist about your options for teeth whitening. With healthy gums and a bright smile, you are guaranteed to take years off your appearance.

A dentist in Bel Air, MD, has many techniques for restoring your smile . If you are missing teeth or suffer from tooth decay, ask your dentist about restorative dentistry.

With dental restoration, a dentist can help you achieve a healthier and better looking smile. If you have lost teeth due to accidents or tooth decay, your dentist may suggest dental implants to restore your smile. Dental implants are tiny titanium screws that fuse with the jawbone to provide permanent anchors for a dental bridge or crowns. A dental clinic should also regularly perform root canal procedures. With root canals, your dentist removes inner tooth pulp that has become infected. As long as the infection is caught early, a root canal can help preserve the natural tooth. However, your dentist may also use crowns to strengthen the tooth. Dentists also offer dentures and partial dentures for individuals who have lost all or most of their teeth due to age or periodontal disease. Finally, if you have cavities, dentists use composite fillings to repair the affected teeth. All of these techniques ensure that you can have a full and healthy smile.

Teeth whitening is one of the most in-demand procedures for cosmetic dentistry in Bel Air, MD . Watch this video to learn more about how professional teeth whitening can help you achieve a beautiful smile.

Teeth whitening uses the latest technology in cosmetic dentistry to deliver a white smile in just one visit to a dentist. At-home teeth whitening kits contain only low levels of bleach. Dentists are able to use high-powered bleach, which means you can brighten your teeth by many shades after one pain-free procedure. The teeth can become dark or stained for many reasons, including smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee, taking certain medications, or having certain dental procedures. If you have always wanted a brighter smile, ask your dentist if professional teeth whitening may be right for you.