San Marcos Smile Dental

Protecting Your dental Implant

 

Now that you’ve invested all that time & money into your dental care it’s time to protect it.

How do you protect your dental restorations? By investing into a night guard to protect your dental implant and the rest of your teeth.

 

While we sleep and even throughout the day many of us grind our teeth unknowingly. This can cause:

-Discomfort of the jaw
-Headaches
-Fracture teeth
-Wear & tear of tooth structure & dental restorations
-Loosening of teeth
-TMJ Pain

 

 

 

Now let’s look at how the dental implant process works:

  1. Tooth is extracted– The reason you need a dental implant is because you having a missing tooth or you will be getting a tooth extracted. Once the tooth is removed if nothing is done to it to replace that tooth immediately over time the bone will continue to shrink due to nothing being in place. This is where the bone graft comes into play.
  2. Bone graft– In order to maintain the bone level of an area of an extracted tooth, a bone graft will be recommended. This means that bone will be placed in the socket of the extracted tooth site to help maintain the bone level where it is.
  3. Implant is placed – The dental implant process itself takes 3 steps. The placement of the titanium screw, the placement of the abutment and the final step is the delivery of the crown.
  4. Occlusal guard– The occlusal guard helps protect your investment. The guard helps reduce the wear and tear from clenching, grinding and tapping our teeth. When you grind your teeth the force of the implant pushes against your tooth and this can lead to damaging of your natural teeth and/or the implant.

Taking care of your teeth requires  a lot of your time and money, and it’s important to take care of the restorations you get as well as take care of your natural teeth.

That is why it is highly recommended to get a night guard to protect not only your dental implant but your other teeth as well and prevent new or further damage from happening to your teeth and existing dental restorations.

If you think you need a night guard or to take advantage of our Dental Implant Special call our team at (760)536-3648 to schedule your consultation or Click Here to schedule your appointment online!

Protect your investment! Schedule your appointment today!

Dental Guard – Protect Your Investment!

Dental Guard –  Protect Your Investment

 

The time and money you put towards your health is an investment! There are many other things you can choose to do with your time and money and you may or may not be able to protect what you’ve invested into it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s take the example of buying a new cell phone. You spent A LOT OF MONEY buying a new phone and it only makes sense to protect your phone, therefore you need to buy a cell phone case to protect it.

 

 


Now let’s see how that applies to your teeth:

You visit your dentist twice a year to help maintain good oral health. That means taking time off from work or away from your loved ones, THAT IS AN INVESTMENT of your time!

When you have dental work done, typically you pay a fee or copay, that is an investment towards your health. Your paying money to get your teeth restored and the last thing you want is that dental work to fail. (See images below)


So how do you protect your dental work?

 

By using an occlusal guard (Nightguard) to prevent wear and tear to your teeth and existing dental restorations.

While we sleep and throughout the day our teeth have a mind of their own. Many of us grind, clench and tap our teeth unknowingly, this is also know as Bruxism, and that can lead to fracturing of teeth and existing dental restorations (as seen on the image above). Other possible symptoms caused by Bruxism are dull headaches, sore jaw, painful teeth and even loosening of your teeth.

 

 

 

 

You may be wondering why this even happens. Well there are a quite a few factors that take place, bruxism can be caused by stress, anxiety, sleep disorders and TMJ problems. If you feel that you are experiencing symptoms of bruxism or if you would like to prevent those symptoms before they start contact our team at (760)536-3648 or Click Here to schedule your appointment online.

 

Soda- To Drink or Not to Drink?


Soda Pouring

That’s a tough question. So let’s look into that a little further:

Soda comes in many different yummy flavors that it’s hard to stay away from them, especially while enjoying your meal.

 

Dentist love Soda

As dental professionals we understand, because we get those cravings too. As a matter of fact we even have a team member that loves Coca Cola (can you guess who that is…), but knows that they should limit those super sugary drinks to no more than 1 a day.

The things with soda is that it first of all stains your teeth (dark soda especially). Secondly the sugar in the soda along with the germs, a.k.a bacteria,  in our mouth love to work together to create an acid that loves to destroy our enamel, the protective layer of the tooth.

Stained Teeth from Soda

Once the enamel layer is destroyed our teeth are very vulnerable to cavities seeing as that bacteria can now stick to our dentin (the soft part of our tooth) and eat away at our tooth even faster. When that happens cavities begin to form and that leads to needing fillings.

Front Teeth Cavities

Does that mean I need to stop drinking soda?

Not at all, it means there are a few things to keep in mind when you want to enjoy a nice cold glass of soda.

  1. Don’t sip all day– Enjoy your soda and be done with it. If you sip all day you never give your mouth a break to wash down all the sugar and keep it from destroying your enamel.
  2. Rinse with water after – After enjoying your soda get in the habit of rinsing with water to help wash away all of the sugar that remains in your mouth before it starts to destroy your enamel.
  3. Use a straw – Using a straw reduces the chances of letting the sugar get to your teeth.
  4. Brush at least twice a day – Don’t do it immediately after you’ve had soda, wait at least an hour. brushing twice a day helps minimize the sugar and bacteria in our mouth from having a cavity party.
  5. Visit your dentist at least twice a year – Visiting your dentist and getting your dental cleanings done at least every 6 months helps catch problems early and maintain a happy and healthy smile!

Happy Teeth Happy Heart

Is it time to schedule your dental exam and cleaning? Click here to schedule your exam today!

We are open and we’re here for you!

San Marcos Smile Dental New Patient Exam

These past few weeks have been challenging for everyone, and we hope that you are all safe and healthy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We feel extremely fortunate to be able to welcome our patients back to the office. As the state of this public health emergency changes from day to day, we will remain focused on keeping our employees and our patients safe, healthy, and informed. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the activities of these agencies so that we are up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued.
Here are some of the extra steps we’re taking to help keep you and our staff safe…
1. Pre-screening: when confirming your appointment you will be asked some pre-screening questions as well as when you arrive to the office. 
2. Masks: Patients will need to wear a mask when you arrive to the office. Once you are in your room and in the patient chair you can remove your mask. (If you do not have a mask, we will provide one for you)
3. Temperature Check: At the time of check-in, one of our staff members will check your temperature.
4. Waiting Room: At the time of your appointment, we ask that only the patient come in to the office unless it is a minor or someone that needs assistance.
5. Air-Purifiers: We have placed various air-purifiers throughout the office to help minimize airborne pollutants.
In order to minimize the spread of any virus, in addition to our traditional universal infection control protocol, we are now disinfecting our reception area and all door handles every 2 hours. As well as ensuring our staff are washing and sanitizing their hands throughout the day.