Smile Point Dental Victoria

4109 Houston Highway, Suite 200, Victoria, TX 77901
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Dental care

Cosmetic Dentistry Gets You A Smile Of Your Dreams

Admit it or not, your smile is the first thing that people notice about you. Having a smile that is bright, healthy and appealing will make you feel confident about yourself. These days cosmetic dentistry is on the rise owing to which it has become quite simpler to improve the appearance of your smile. With the advancement in dentistry on the rise, cosmetic dentistry procedures have evolved from simple color correction to replacement of a missing tooth and so on.

Procedures Involved In Cosmetic Dentistry

Dental Veneers
Dental Veneers are the perfect solution for a cracked, chipped, misaligned or discolored tooth. The porcelain with which veneers are designed helps to hide these issues, thereby offering you a natural appearance of your smile. Veneers are highly resistant to stains. So, you get brighter and whiter teeth by choosing veneers for your teeth. So, if you are disheartened with the color of your smile, porcelain veneers turn out to be the right solution.

Tooth Bonding/Contouring
Are you unhappy with the way your teeth are positioned within your mouth? If yes, dental bonding is an ideal choice for you. Dental bonding is used for treating other issues as well like space irregularities, discoloration, chips in teeth and so on. It is a quick procedure that uses tooth-colored material to replace the damaged area. Our dental bonding services are relatively affordable and yield the best output.

Dental Crown
Also referred to as “Cap”, a dental crown fits over and replaces the entire damaged tooth above the gum line. This restores the shape, strength, size, and appearance. Crowns can be used cosmetically to cover badly colored tooth. Crowns are also composed of acrylic or porcelain. In cosmetic dentistry, a crown is also used to treat teeth that are poorly shaped, have large fillings, decayed or broken.

Dental Implants
Dental Implants are a permanent replacement for missing teeth. It helps to keep gum tissue and jaw bone healthy. The implant is secured in the jaw using a Titanium root so it looks and feels like a natural teeth. It also functions similar to natural teeth. There are no difficulties while eating or cleaning the teeth. Dental implants maintain the structure of your mouth. They are completely reliable. With proper care and maintenance, dental implants last lifetime.

Teeth Whitening
Teeth whitening is one of the best cosmetic dentistry procedure that allows your dentist to perform whitening or bleaching after removing plaque. The debris and plaque is removed from the surface of your teeth to restore the natural appearance of your teeth. Teeth may get stained over a period of time due to food, drinks, medication and other personal habits like drinking or smoking. Teeth whitening helps to remove these stains and offer a shiny cover to your teeth.

Cosmetic Teeth Shaping
Also known as “Enamel shaping”, teeth shaping re-modifies the tooth by filling or removing the enamel. This process is not painful and offers immediate results.

Dentures
Dentures are used to replace a missing tooth. The motive behind using dentures is to protect your tooth the negative effects of tooth loss. It also eliminates issues like facial sagging that often occurs owing to missing teeth.

So, these are top options available in cosmetic dentistry. To know more about them, leave a message to our specialists.

Book Appointment to find out which treatment might be best for you.

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Dental care

Suffering From Jaw Pain?

Here’s What You Need To Know
Jaw pain is one of the most common issues people are facing these days. The reason for the same could either be incorrect positioning of teeth or imbalance in the oral architecture. The extent to which pain occurs depends on its root cause.

Symptoms of Jaw Pain
Severe pain in jaws, morning headache, ear pain wherein the jaw pain radiated to the ear and causes a ringing sensation. This might result in a locked jaw.

Causes of Jaw Pain
The pain in your jaws can be very troubling. Identifying the issue is the first step towards treating jaw pain. Some of the common causes to look out for jaw pain are:

Abscessed tooth
Tooth abscess is an infection that occurs between the gum and a tooth. The most common cause of a tooth abscess is tooth decay. An abscess should be treated and diagnosed by a dentist. If left without treated, an abscess transforms into a worse infection that spreads elsewhere and puts you at a risk for tooth loss.

Teeth grinding
Teeth grinding is one of the known causes of jaw pain. Some people grind their teeth while sleeping and the other grind them when they feel stressed. When teeth grinding is left untreated, it results in other dental issues. Some of the ways to stop teeth grinding are wearing a mouthguard or practicing stress relieving exercises.

Nerve damage
Sometimes jaw pain is a result of nerve pain. Trigeminal neuralgia which is caused by compression on the trigeminal nerve arouses sensation to the face, including the upper and lower jaw. If you think you are experiencing such signs, consult your physician as soon as possible.

Dental conditions
Other causes of jaw pain may include cavities or tooth decay. Although these issues do not affect the jaw directly but the pain radiates to the jaw area. Individuals having gap in between their teeth or suffering from damaged teeth may also experience jaw pain while biting or chewing. Therefore, it is recommended to practice a good oral health care routine. To reduce the risk of developing such conditions, it is recommended to visit a dentist.

Sinus pain
Sinus allergies or infections can be one of the causes of jaw pain. You can try nasal spray for short-term, however, if the pain does not vanish, it’s time to see a dentist.

Wrong biting habits
In a “good bite”, all your teeth are lined up while chewing the food. However, with a “bad bite”, you only have a few teeth lined up. Bad bites can be in the form of an overbite or an underbite. An uneven bite means your jaw isn’t functioning the way it should. This results in wear and tear along with pain in jaw bones and muscles.

Are you also seeing any of these signs? If yes, schedule an appointment with us. Our experts will connect with you right away to get all your jaw pain issues treated.

Book Appointment to find out which treatment might be best for you.

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Dental care

How To Get Rid Of Bad Breath

Getting a fresh breath along with maintaining the health of teeth and gums is equally possible at the same time. To make your mouth feel fresh and floss, we are presenting these simple tips. Try them and let us know if it works for you.

Rinse your mouth often
Using a mouthwash not only keeps your breath fresh but also adds an extra layer of protection, thereby helping you get rid of bacteria and germs. Be sure to choose a mouthwash that kills the germ causing bad breath. Rinse often on a regular basis to cure bad breath at its source. Other than this, you can try to swish your mouth with plain water after you finish eating. This helps to get rid of food particles that get stuck in between the teeth.

Avoid foods like onion and garlic
Such type of foods makes their way into the blood and travel to lungs from where they are breathed out. The best way to prevent bad breath is to stop eating or avoiding them.

Keep your tongue clean
Your tongue also makes space for bacteria, dead cells, and food debris. Therefore, it is important to keep your tongue clean either by using a tongue cleaner or a toothbrush.

Drink a lot of water
Dry mouth is caused when your mouth does not have enough saliva. The role of saliva is to keep your mouth clean and wash away any kind of food particles. Drinking a lot of water the entire day stimulates the saliva formation.

Brush and floss regularly
To come across with the best results, it is recommended to brush and floss your teeth twice a day. This will help effectively remove the food and bacteria trapped between your teeth and gum line. Similarly, flossing in the right manner cuts down on plaque, bacteria, and smell-causing food particles. Flossing also prevents periodontal disease, which is another cause of bad breath.

Stay away from the tobacco habit
Bad smoking habits not only lead to cancer but also damages gums, causes stains and eventually gives a bad breath.

Chew sugar free gum
Chewing gum leads to the production of saliva which acts as a natural defense against plaque or acids that causes tooth decay or a bad breath. So, instead opting sugar-filled mints, go for a sugar-free gum that reduces the risk of tooth decay and bad breath. Some experts have also suggested that a gum stick after each meal helps to maintain oral health.

So, these are some quick tips you can try at home, however, if you can still sense that foul smell. It’s time to ring up the doctor. It could be a sign of an advanced dental problem. So, hurry up and schedule an appointment soon. Our experts will get in touch for the best solution.

Book Appointment to find out which treatment might be best for you.

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Dental care

How To Take Care Of Your Child’s Teeth

Taking care of your child’s oral health is equally important. A good oral care must start even before the teeth appear. Babies and toddlers are at an increased risk of cavities and tooth decay. When it comes to protecting your child’s teeth, a bit of effort goes a long way. As a responsible parent, you should start giving attention to your baby’s oral care at an early stage. Babies with good oral hygiene stay healthier during the teething period. Pediatricians also recommend following a healthy oral care routine at the early stages of development. Without proper care, baby teeth can also host a lot of problems like painful teeth/gums, difficulty in chewing, eating and sleeping and gum disease.

Here are a few ways that can help your child with a beautiful and healthy smile:

Brush for, with and beside them
When your child’s teeth start growing, you will have to start by brushing their teeth for them. The best way to do is by putting your child in a reclined position while brushing their tooth. The most effective way to brush your child’s teeth is to hold the bristles of the toothbrush at the gumline and then sweep it down the tooth in a downward direction.

In the later stages, when the child is able to hold the toothbrush, you must guide them by moving the toothbrush around their mouth with your own hand. This will make them learn the proper technique.

Once your child starts brushing on their own, you can participate with them and do the same activity together. This way they will continue brushing the teeth and also enjoy doing so.

Keep them away from sugar
Making wise decisions with food choices is not easy for children. To help them in making the right choices, you should always offer them a healthy substitute. Limit sugar as much as possible and avoid putting sugary food drinks and juices in their diet.

Teach them the importance of flossing
Flossing prevents gum disease along with the other health complications associated with it. So, it is important to make them realize the importance of flossing.

Get rid of their thumbsucking habit
Many children suck their thumb. However, this habit can result in misaligned teeth and lead to malformation of the palate. Therefore, you need to ensure that thumb sucking does not become a long-lasting habit. To prevent this habit, you can use a pacifier to suck instead of thumb. Pacifier can be removed as the child grows and thumb sucking will not transform into a habit.

Healthy eating choices
Other than keeping your child away from sugary food items, you should also make a note of giving them healthier food options like Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts & Seeds, Meat, Cheese, Coleslaw, Plain yogurt, Eggs, Enriched or Whole-wheat bread.

Going for regular checkups
Detecting and preventing problems in the earlier stages can avoid painful and expensive procedure in the future. Therefore, investing in regular checkups is a crucial investment in your child’s overall health.

Putting oral health tips into practice is a little harder, however, if done in the right ways, it will definitely help your kids achieve a healthier smile in the long run.

If you are looking for a consultation, contact us. Our pediatricians will deeply analyze the root cause and suggest the best possible routine plan for your child’s dental health.

Book Appointment to find out which treatment might be best for you.

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Dental care

Dental Implants Or Dental Bridge: A Quick Comparison

Are you looking a replacement for your missing tooth or teeth? If yes, there are two best options you can trust blindly, one is dental implants and another is dental bridges. However, the question is which one of the two goes best with your needs. If you are confused between the two, let us help you by illustrating a quick comparison of the two.

So, let’s start with dental implants.

Dental Implants
Dental implants are used to replace missing teeth. The process involves inserting a manmade root inside the bone. A small titanium tooth root is anchored or fixed in place of a missing tooth. For protective covering, a screw is placed on the implant and it fuses with the jaw bone. This process is termed as osseointegration. The process ends up taking up to 6 months to attain stability. In the latter stages, this protective cover is replaced by a temporary crown. Over a couple of months, new bone grows around the implanted metal. Once the new structure is analyzed by your dentist, a crown is screwed on top of the implant and sealed.

How is a dental implant useful?

  1. Dental implants have a lifespan of approximately 8 years which means they are longer lasting as compared to dental bridges.
  2. The bone structure is entirely preserved using dental implants. They also prevent bone deterioration.
  3. With dental implants, the need to grind down surrounding teeth gets eliminated.
  4. With implants, the possibility of teeth damage is also reduced.
  5. Implants also enhance your overall personality by allowing you to feel more confident while talking, eating or improving facial contours.
  6. The costing is comparatively equal or sometimes lower to dentures.

Owing to its longtime duration, dental implant treatment is limited to a small number of people. However, there are some practices that use immediately using implants. It all depends on the requirement of patients.

Dental Bridges
Dental bridges do not involve replacing a tooth root. It is more invasive than a dental implant, however, it uses one or more surrounding teeth as a support to attach a crown that fills missing tooth space. The treatment process is not as long as the dental implant procedure but is more invasive because it requires alteration of adjacent teeth to support the bridge. Dental bridges the gap between teeth that results from a missing tooth.

Advantage:
Dental bridges are considered to be one of the economical treatment methods for a replacing or missing tooth. Secondly, they offer a quick healing time and does not require bone grafting as compared to dental implants.

Dental bridges are generally not preferred because they add greater strain on surrounding teeth. After a certain time period, bridges might result in discomfort. There is an increased risk of cracks forming in the underlying tooth. The surrounding teeth are also prone to decay, plaque and other periodontal diseases.

So, in the long run, dental implants are definitely going to be the best possible treatment for missing teeth. Owing to its economical and other valuable aspects, dental implants are gaining a wide popularity among a high percentage of users.

Besides, you can also consult our dentist at the office who will be glad to assist you in selecting the right treatment for your perfect tooth. Our dentists will offer the best recommendation based on your needs. So, what are you waiting for? Schedule an appointment today to get back that healthy and confident smile.

Book Appointment to find out which treatment might be best for you.