What It Might Take to Restore Your Smile
Preserving your healthy, natural smile is the ultimate goal of your dental hygiene and professional dental care routines. However, that sometimes requires more than regular preventive care, such as checkups and cleanings. For many patients, the time will come when preserving their smiles means proactively addressing a concern that has developed, despite their best preventive efforts. Today, we explore a few ways in which we can help you better preserve your smile by designing the right restorative treatment.
Treating tooth decay
The most common concern to threaten your oral health is tooth decay, and if you haven’t already developed a cavity, there’s a good chance that you may at some point in the future. In fact, more than 90% of people will have to deal with a cavity at some point, and will need custom restorative treatment to save their teeth from it. The specific treatment you need for your tooth decay will depend on how severe it is, but the most common treatment is to clean the cavity and fill it with tooth-colored, biocompatible material. If the decay is too far progressed for a tooth-colored filling, then your tooth might require root canal treatment to successfully remove the decayed tissues and tooth structure.
Fortifying and protecting a tooth
Dealing with tooth decay is common, but for some patients, the threat to their tooth structure doesn’t emanate from a tooth infection. For example, if your tooth is fractured or broken, or if it’s been substantially worn down, then a custom restoration could be necessary to restore its strength and protect its remaining healthy structure. This may include placing a custom-designed dental crown over the tooth, which can keep it from sustaining further damage while also restoring its ability to absorb your bite’s pressure. Often made from lifelike materials, like dental porcelain, modern dental crowns can also closely mimic the color, shade, and appearance of your healthy tooth structure, improving your smile’s appearance as well.
Replacing a lost/extracted tooth
In some severe oral health situations, restoring your smile will require replacing a lost tooth, or one that you’ve had to have extracted. Replacing a missing tooth is important for many different reasons, though the most immediately obvious one may be to restore your smile’s appearance. In addition, it will also restore your bite’s balance and ability to function properly without causing extensive damage to your other teeth. With a dental implant, we may be able to replace the lost tooth root, as well, helping you better preserve your healthy, natural smile following tooth loss.
Learn how we can restore your smile
The right restorative dental treatment can help you overcome most oral health concerns and restore the health and integrity of your teeth. To learn more, call our Cleveland Family Dentistry office in Cleveland, TX, today at (281) 592-1234. We also serve the residents of Kingwood, Conroe, Livingston, and all surrounding communities.