What You Need To Know About Composite Fillings

If you take care of your teeth, ideally, you will not develop cavities. However, sometimes people can develop them regardless of if they follow healthy dental habits like they should. When a cavity is discovered, it’s important to have a filling soon, so it does not permanently damage the tooth.

Composite Fillings

Composite fillings are dentistry alternatives preferred by many patients because they closely resemble the natural color and texture of teeth. Composite fillings are a good solution for small to medium-sized fillings. This material provides good durability and resistance to fracture.

Healthy Smiles is committed to making Raleigh’s mouths healthier, but we also want to make sure people are confident with their smiles. After a cavity is removed from the tooth by the dentist, composite fillings can strengthen the existing teeth to bring them back to their original glory.

Sealants

Healthy Smiles tries to provide its patients with every advantage to protect themselves from tooth decay.

Sealants Protect Decay-Prone Areas of the Teeth

Thankfully, sealants placed on molars can reduce the risk of cavities. When the sealant is applied to the teeth, the small crevices on the surface of the tooth are filled in and can no longer collect harmful bacteria.

A sealant is a thin, protective coating that adheres to the chewing surface (grooves) of the back teeth. Brushing and flossing are the best ways to help prevent cavities, but sealants can help keep cavities from forming and may even stop early stages of tooth decay from becoming a large cavity.

We are experienced in applying high-quality sealants for our Raleigh area patients. Sealants are a valuable service that goes a long way in protecting our patient’s teeth, acting as a barrier to food, plaque, and acid.

Ask Healthy Smiles About Sealants

If you are interested in Sealants for your child, we’d love to discuss it with you at your next appointment. The placement of sealants is painless, affordable, and has been shown effective at being a long-term protection from tooth decay.

Crowns (Caps) for Baby Teeth

Parents are often surprised to hear their dentist recommend crowns for their children’s baby teeth. Won’t the damaged tooth just fall out eventually, anyway? Why work to repair it when the new one will be in perfect shape when it grows in?

While this may seem logical, it’s actually very important to maintain the health of a child’s baby teeth until they fall out naturally. This is important because:

The child will not be able to eat properly with one or more missing teeth.
Learning to speak will be more difficult, potentially causing speech impediments.
The surrounding baby teeth will not hold their positions, making it less likely for adult teeth to grow properly.

Crowns, also known as caps, restore full function to damaged baby teeth by covering the visible portion with an artificial structure. This cap can last the life of the tooth until it’s replaced by an adult tooth.

Healthy Smiles is happy to provide this service to children in the Raleigh area, but we are even happier when children do not need this. Parents can help protect their children’s smiles by teaching good daily oral health habits at home. Brush and floss twice a day. Also, protect their teeth by avoiding candy, juice, and soda.

If you believe the teeth have been damaged or decayed, make an appointment for your child, and we’ll examine them carefully.

Space Maintainers

Baby teeth help your child to chew, speak properly, and guide the permanent teeth into the correct position. A major function of baby teeth is to hold the space for the adult teeth that will eventually push them out. While the front baby teeth will last until age 6-7, the back baby teeth are not lost until age 10-13.

Sometimes injury or disease can cause a baby tooth to be lost early. If a tooth is lost prematurely, a custom-made dental appliance called a space maintainer can be placed to hold the space open until the permanent tooth erupts.

Healthy Smiles serves families in the Raleigh area and is always happy to take new patients.

Extractions

Removing a tooth is the last resort. Dentists do everything they can to save teeth by cleaning them, filling them, and doing anything else necessary to keep them functioning well in your mouth. But, when a tooth is so damaged or decayed it’s putting the rest of your mouth and health at risk, a tooth extraction becomes the best solution.

Reasons for a Tooth Extraction

There are a number of reasons a tooth can become so damaged it needs to be removed. Tooth decay is a common one.

Teeth can become decayed from poor oral hygiene or a high-sugar diet. There are also times when unfortunate incidents, like a fall, can leave teeth in an unrecoverable state. Teeth may also be removed at the request of an orthodontist to aid in braces and orthodontic treatment.

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Wisdom Teeth

Some tooth extractions are due to third molars or wisdom teeth growing in. These teeth are often impacted, which can lead to pain, infection, and other oral health issues.

To avoid this, the dentist will obtain x-rays on young adults to evaluate if wisdom teeth have a clear path to grow in that will not interfere with other teeth.

If there is not a clear path, the wisdom teeth will need to be evaluated by an oral surgeon and may need to be extracted to prevent future complications.