General Services

An oral examination is a visual inspection of the mouth, head, and neck, performed to detect abnormalities.  Radiographs allow for a more complete examination, helping the doctor to detect cavities, problems in existing dental restorations, gum and bone recession, or other abnormal conditions within the mouth, head, and neck area.

A dental cleaning, also known as an oral prophylaxis, is the removal of dental plaque and tartar (calculus) from the teeth. Specialized instruments are used to gently remove these deposits without harming the teeth. First, an ultrasonic device that emits vibrations and is cooled by water is used to loosen larger pieces of tartar. Next, hand tools are used to manually remove smaller deposits and smooth the tooth surfaces. Once all the tooth surfaces have been cleaned of tartar and plaque, the teeth are polished.

Many sports require athletes to use a mouth guard to protect their teeth while practicing and playing. Frequently used in contact sports, the mouth guard covers the gums and teeth to provide protection for lips, gums, teeth, and arches. A properly fitted mouth guard can reduce the severity of dental injuries.

Pre-formed, ready-to-wear mouth guards can be purchased inexpensively at many sporting stores, but they do not always fit well. They can be uncomfortable and can interfere with talking and even breathing.

Sporting goods stores also offer semi-custom mouth guards in which the plastic is heated and then the athlete bites on it while still warm to provide some level of custom fit.

Our office can make a custom mouth guard by taking an impression of your teeth and then creating a device fitted to your mouth for the highest level of both comfort and protection. A custom fitted mouthguard can be particularly important for athletes who wear braces.

Be sure to bring your mouthguard to your dental appointments, so we can be sure it still fits you well.

Composite fillings use tooth-colored material to restore teeth with cavities and maintain a natural appearance. Once the decay is removed, the tooth is filled with a composite material which is then cured using a specialized light to harden the material. Composite fillings can be done in one visit.

An inlay or onlay is a partial crown restoration that can be placed when there is not sufficient tooth structure to support a filling but enough tooth structure left that a full crown is not needed. Inlays/onlays are made of porcelain or gold, and they aesthetically and functionally replace the missing tooth structure.

A crown is a dental restoration that completely covers the outside of a tooth that is cracked, broken, worn down, or severely decayed. Dental crowns are usually completed in two visits. During the first visit, the tooth is prepared (shaved down) and an impression is taken. A temporary crown is placed while the permanent crown is fabricated. During the second visit, the permanent crown is carefully fitted and then cemented into place.

A bridge can replace missing teeth without the use of a denture or dental implant. A bridge is composed of two crowns and a replacement tooth or teeth. Crowns are typically placed on the teeth on either side of the space, with the fabricated tooth or teeth attached in between.

For multiple missing teeth, an implant may be used to anchor the bridge. Learn More About Implant Supported Bridges

Having a beautiful smile and the confidence that comes with it are important. Dental implants can play a big role in giving you that confidence, while maintaining oral health.

Once a tooth is lost there is a negative impact on appearance as well as health. Dental implants are the replacement of tooth roots which provide a strong foundation for fixed or removable replacement teeth.

We would be happy to assist in your decision making process of dental implants!

Learn More About Dental Implants

When missing teeth and adjacent tissues, dentures are the primary option for the majority of patients. Over a series of appointments, Lans Family Dentistry will help you determine what type of appliance is the best fit for your mouth.

The Process

To start, we take multiple impressions of your jaws, measuring to ensure accuracy and determine size and space relative to each other. We then replicate the shape and position of your jaw into models for you test out multiple times before we cast your perfect set.

Signs It’s Time for Dentures

• Tooth Decay – When a tooth becomes unsalvageable, it rots deep enough to touch a nerve, causing great pain and discomfort.
• Gum inflammation – Flares up with symptoms like tenderness, redness, bleeding or swelling of the gums.
• Bone Loss – rears its ugly head through shifting or loose teeth.
• Missing Teeth – As teeth go missing, people feel greater pressure on other teeth.
• Difficulty Eating – When chewing becomes challenging to break down hard or chewy food, severe aches can happen.

Advantages of Dentures

• Functional – Dentures are primarily made to help you feel zero discomfort while chewing, but they serve a much greater utility. They are comfortable, slip-resistant, and give you a great confidence to go about your daily activities, such as eating and talking, without skipping a beat.
• Great Looking – Manufactured in porcelain or plastic materials, dentures lend a natural appearance to your teeth and ensure you’re always ready to crack a beautiful smile.

Types

• Partial Dentures – These most often consist of replacement teeth connected to a pink (gum colored) plastic base. This solution comes in handy for patients with one or multiple existing natural teeth
• Complete Dentures (CD) – Patients with all their teeth extracted are perfect candidates for complete dentures. CD come in immediate and conventional varieties. Immediate dentures can be worn directly after tooth removal and are molded before your procedure. CD are the more affordable option, but they require more adjustments over time after you jaw heals fully.

If you are one of the many people who wish to have whiter teeth, we offer three types of whitening at our office. They vary from in office whitening to take home trays. We would love to talk to you more about the different options and find the type of whitening that will work the best for you!

Invisalign® takes a modern approach to straightening teeth, using a custom-made series of aligners. These aligner trays are made of smooth, comfortable, and virtually invisible plastic that you wear over your teeth. Wearing the aligners will gradually and gently shift your teeth into place, based on the exact tooth movements our office plans out for you. There are no metal brackets to attach and no wires to tighten. You just switch to a new set of aligners approximately every two weeks, until your treatment is complete. You’ll achieve a great smile with little interference in your daily life. The best part about the whole process is that most people won’t even know that you’re straightening your teeth.

Learn More About Invisalign®

Porcelain veneers are thin pieces of porcelain used to recreate the natural appearance of teeth. To place a veneer, a thin layer of the original tooth enamel must be removed. Afterward, an adhesive layer is placed between the prepared tooth and the veneer. The adhesive is then hardened with the use of a specialized curing light.

Cosmetic bonding is the process of filling or restoring teeth with a tooth-colored material in order to improve a tooth’s appearance. In order to bond a tooth, composite material is added to the tooth structure to adjust the size, shape, or color of the existing tooth.

This technique can minimize or eliminate stains, yellowing or spots by removing a very thin layer of the tooth’s enamel.

Your gums, or gingiva, are directly correlated to your overall physical health. They are made of a very soft tissue created to provide cover for the bones of your teeth. Your gums form to create a tight fitting seal that provides each tooth a natural impediment from bacteria and plaque. When plaque accumulates, toxins that irritate and inflame the gums are released, often resulting in gingivitis. Our office provides periodontal therapy to maintain oral health.

Click Here to Learn More about Periodontal Therapy

Scaling and root planing is a non-surgical procedure used to treat gum disease. During the scaling process, specialized dental instruments are used to remove dental plaque and calculus from beneath the gums. Planing is the procedure used to smooth the tooth roots after the scaling process. Root planing helps the gums heal and reattach themselves to a cleaner and smoother root surface.

Traditional Metal Braces

Metal braces made from stainless steel brackets and wires remain the most popular choice for braces and are very effective.

Self-Ligating Braces

Self-ligating brackets have some advantages over traditional metal braces. The primary difference is that they do not use elastics or metal ties to connect the archwire to the brackets. There are several potential benefits to choosing self-ligating brackets if it is determined that they are a good option for your treatment.

• Aesthetics – Brackets may appear smaller than traditional brackets.
• Cleaning – The absence of elastics and ties can make these braces easier to clean than traditional braces although special care to daily cleaning and maintenance is important with any type of orthodontic treatment.
• Time – Adjustment appointments are often shorter with this efficient system and overall treatment time can sometimes be reduced compared to traditional orthodontic treatments.

 

Laser therapy practices are gradually becoming a reliable alternative to traditional drilling practices in dental procedures. At Lans Family Dentistry, we offer laser therapy procedures as part of our full complement of services.

When are lasers used?

• Teeth Whitening
  • Referred to as power whitening, we place a rubber dam over your teeth to protect your gums and then paint a bleaching product onto your teeth. We then take the laser and shine it on your teeth, thus activating the whitening chemical. The power of the laser accelerates the chemical reaction which causes the color to change in usually around one hour, and whitening can last for many years.
• Tooth Decay
  • When you are suffering from symptoms of tooth decay, it was once accepted that you would be forced to undergo painful and costly surgery to fix the issues. Lasers are a more sensitive means of targeting and treating tissue decay, often rendering the removal of tooth bits with a drill unnecessary.
• Gum Disease
  • When applied to gum tissue, the laser removes the inflamed (or infected) area of your gums from around the root of your tooth. One the root is exposed, we will scrape off the gunk and plaque that have accumulated below the gumline. Lasers are precise in targeting infected areas, may help you avoid anesthetics, and allow you quicker healing time. Plus, it’s less invasive and can reduce pain, swelling, and bleeding.
• Biopsy
  • If we determine you have a suspicious area of soft tissue, lasers are a very useful tool at instantly removing lesions, which are tissue damaged through injury or disease.

Disadvantages of Lasers

Lasers are unable to be used in many garden variety dental procedures such as filling cavities between teeth and around old fillings among others. In some instances, lasers still require the use of a drill to complete operations.

 

Sleep apnea is a disorder in which one experiences one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths during sleep.  For mild sleep apnea, a custom fitted mouth piece or some lifestyle changes (weight loss, smoking cessation, clearing nasal passages) may be helpful. Our office can create a custom-fitted oral appliance for patients to wear when they are sleeping that can aid patients during sleep by positioning the lower jaw and tongue in a way that minimizes airway obstruction.

Snoring can be a problem for both children and adults. Although it may be perceived as a small nuisance or inconvenience, disrupted sleep is a problem that may need to be addressed. The use of a snore guard during sleep is often a simple and effective solution.

Click Here to Learn More About Snoring Therapy

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is similar to a sliding hinge that connects your jawbone to your skull. TMJ disorders can cause pain in the jaw joint and in the muscles that control jaw movement.

To treat TMJ disorders, first the cause has to be identified. In less severe cases, TMJ disorders can be treated with self-managed care (eating soft foods, using ice packs, avoiding extreme jaw movement) or nonsurgical treatments (anti-inflammatory medications, Botox® injections, stabilization splints).

Root canals are most often necessary when decay has reached the nerve of the tooth or the tooth has become infected.  When root canal therapy is performed, infected or inflamed pulp is removed from the tooth chamber. The inside of the tooth is then cleaned and disinfected before being filled and sealed to limit the possibility of future infection.  Soon after the root canal is performed, the tooth is restored with a dental crown or filling to protect the tooth and restore normal tooth function.

A tooth that can not be saved with restorative materials may need to be removed. Before removal of the tooth, the area will be numbed with anesthesia. The tooth is loosened from the jawbone and surrounding ligaments and tissues with a gentle rocking motion. Once it is loose, it is gently removed. Stitches may be necessary after the removal of a tooth.