Can Periodontics Give Me a More Attractive Smile?

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Periodontics refers to the diagnosis and treatment of the gums. If you’re interested in whether this branch has a cosmetic component, we’ll look at what a periodontist in Fort Lauderdale, FL may be able to do for your smile.

Common Perils

The phrases ‘long in the tooth’ and ‘gummy smile’ are both negative references to your grin. If your gums have receded, it can make your teeth look much longer than normal. If you have too much gum tissue, it can take over your smile.

Luckily, there are a few options to correct your appearance. What’s more, these treatments can improve your oral health as much as they can improve your smile.

Types of Periodontal Treatments

Periodontic treatments usually treat infections and gum erosion, though some of the procedures can also freshen your smile. For example, if your gums have eroded, treatments like tissue regeneration and grafting can create healthy new tissue for a more even smile. There are also surgical techniques, like Chao Pinhole that can loosen gum tissue and then pull it over a receding area. This restores your smile and reduces the odds of gum disease.

What Is Gingival Contouring?

Gingival contouring refers to the careful reshaping of uneven or excessive gum tissue. While usually listed as a cosmetic procedure, gingival contouring can remove deep gum pockets that harbor bacteria and plaque. This process is extremely low-risk and boasts a very fast recovery time.

Find Periodontists in Fort Lauderdale, FL

At Florida Smiles Dental our periodontists are skilled in cutting-edge procedures to give our patients the best chance at recovering their smile and preventing future decay. They also coordinate care with our general dentists in Fort Lauderdale, FL to ensure the best outcome.

Is a Toothache Considered a Dental Emergency?

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Toothaches can be a relatively common occurrence, ones that can pop up without warning at any time. If you’re wondering if you should call a professional (or how to find a professional outside of office hours), we’ll look at what to know and where to find emergency care in Fort Lauderdale, FL. 

My Tooth Hurts, What Should I Do?

Toothaches can be caused by anything from stray seeds to mild gum infections. If you don’t have accompanying symptoms, like a fever or blood, the first thing to do is brush and floss to see if that resolves the problem. It could be as simple as dislodging a foreign object and giving your mouth a day or two to heal. 

If your pain persists, the next step is to assess your discomfort. If your pain is relatively mild, you don’t necessarily need to call an emergency care line. If it’s more moderate to severe, though, we recommend discussing your symptoms with an on-call dentist or specialist. 

When Is It an Emergency?

The biggest indicator of emergency toothache is a fever. Fevers can indicate infection, which can unfortunately be a fatal disorder. (If the infection isn’t caught, it can move to your bloodstream and through the rest of the body.) However, even if you don’t have a fever, severe pain of any kind is considered an urgent case for dentists in Fort Lauderdale, FL. 

At Florida Smiles Dental, we offer emergency care so that you don’t have to rely on your local ER, whether it’s an impacted wisdom tooth or a loose tooth. While you can get life-saving services from general medical professionals, a dentist can offer you specialized care that can address the root problem.  

How to Care for Your Restorative Dentistry

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Restorative dental work can refer to anything from a single small filling to a full set of implants. The good news is that the general advice to care for your restorative dental work is neither groundbreaking or complicated. We’ll look at the basics and give you a few additional tips if you want to get the best returns on your investment.

Keep Up with Everyday Dental Care

Restorative dental work in Lighthouse Point, FL, like crowns and artificial teeth, won’t suffer from tooth decay the way that natural teeth will. However, you’ll still need to brush and floss like normal to keep bacteria and plaque away from your gum and jawbone. The more consistent you are with hygiene, including mouthwash and water flossers, the more likely you are to avoid further oral decay in the future.

Go Easy

While it may not be a crime to enjoy a cigarette, hard candy, or crusty piece of bread, you can put dental work in danger if you’re constantly subjecting it to poison or pressure. Most artificial dental work can handle quite a bit of strain, so there’s no reason to switch to soft foods altogether (after all, that’s probably why you got the dental work to begin with). Still, you may want to cut down on bad habits and limit your crunchiest or stickiest indulgences.

See a Dentist in Lighthouse Point

Just as you did with your natural teeth, you’ll want to see a dentist in Lighthouse Point, FL every six months to evaluate your oral health and remove any plaque or tartar that you couldn’t reach on your own. At Florida Smiles Dental, we can help you care for your work so it lasts as long as possible.

 

 What to Know About Neuromodulator Safety

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Neuromodulators refer to any substances that impact the nerves, including Botox in Lighthouse Point, FL. At Florida Smiles Dental, we take multiple precautions when it comes to giving patients aesthetic injectables. It’s worth exploring what a personalized approach can do for not just your results but for your long-term health.

Are Neuromodulators Safe?

The FDA has deemed neuromodulators safe, and at Florida Smiles Dental, we ensure that our staff strictly adheres to the recommended guidelines. Each treatment plan is customized to your anatomy, meaning our dosages are as precise as they are effective.

There have been a number of medical spas that have popped up in recent years, driven largely by the demand for aesthetic injectables. This proliferation has led to specific injuries and overall distrust in the field. If you’re looking for a reputable team with proven expertise, you can trust our experienced staff to deliver high-quality products that work.

Why Botox?

Botox was originally approved in 1989 for eye disorders, but its uses have expanded far beyond relaxing the eye muscles. Today, Botox can potentially solve multiple issues at once. For example, you might use it to reduce teeth grinding at night and smooth out smile lines. Or you might use it to alleviate migraines and give you a more symmetrical grin.

Find Botox in Lighthouse Point, FL

At Florida Smiles Dental, we offer Botox alongside general dentistry in Lighthouse Point, FL. Doing so doesn’t just help patients understand the full range of treatment options, it also means more collaborative approaches to complex issues. Whether you’re looking for a different reflection or you’re interested in what Botox can do for your TMJ, contact us today to see just how versatile a neuromodulator can be.

What Is a Deep Cleaning?

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A deep cleaning has a tendency to be confused with a standard teeth cleaning, and for good reason. When a dentist in Lighthouse Point, FL cleans your teeth, they scrub off all the plaque and tartar that you can’t reach with even the best brushing and flossing techniques.

However, a deep cleaning actually refers to a type of gum cleaning, one that gets into the pockets of the gums and cleans out all of the food particles and bacteria that may have built up over time. Here, we’ll look at how it works and why you might need one.

How Deep Cleaning Works

Deep cleaning is a non-surgical treatment for gum disease. (Gum disease typically develops when your gums become infected from bacteria from leftover food particles). If you have mild to moderate gum disease, a deep cleaning clears out any gum pockets and then smooths back the root of the tooth so that the gums can reattach.

Does Everyone Need a Deep Cleaning?

No. Some people may never need a deep cleaning, depending on anything from genetics to their oral hygiene routine. However, if you do have gum disease, it’s important to take care of it sooner than later.

The longer you wait, the bigger the pockets will get and the more your gums will separate from your teeth. If that happens, you may need anything from gum surgery to tooth extraction. If you’re looking for the best steps to take at home to prevent this, we highly recommend stepping up your flossing routine!

If you have questions about a deep cleaning in Lighthouse Point, FL or you’re just looking for a good periodontist, contact Florida Smiles Dental today to learn more about how our services can help you maintain your oral health!

All-on-4 Implants vs. Dentures: How to Decide

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If you’re missing a full arch of teeth, whether on the upper or lower jaw, all-on-4 implants or dentures are both potential options to fill in your smile. If you’re wondering which one is better, we’ll look at the two procedures from the core angles.

Comparing Implants to Dentures

Here, we’ll look at the main categories that you’re likely considering and how they break down across the spectrum:

  • Time commitment: Implants take several weeks, sometimes several months to complete. Dentures may only take one or two appointments to complete.
  • Cost: Because implants are a more involved procedure, they’ll cost more than the initial investment of dentures.
  • Strength: Implants are overwhelmingly stronger than dentures, which can give you more freedom to enjoy your favorite foods (plus offer you more protection in the case of unexpected falls or physical trauma).

Why All-on-4 Implants?

Dental implants may take more effort, but they’re better for your long-term oral health. With all-on-4 implants, the dentist in Fort Lauderdale, FL will implant a full arch of artificial teeth using just four metal implants to secure it. This means there’s less pressure on your mouth, which makes for a less demanding healing process.

Can Everyone Get Implants?

No, not everyone will have healthy gum or bone tissue, both of which can cause the implant to fail over time to fail to take hold in the first place. Because the post needs to fuse with the bone, acting much like the original root of your tooth, you need to be healthy enough to sustain the full procedure.

If you’re interested in dental implants in Fort Lauderdale, FL, the team at Florida Smiles Dental can help you weigh the pros and cons. Contact us today to learn more about what’s right for you!

How to Avoid Jawbone Loss

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When you think about your oral health, you might focus on the most visible parts, like your gums and teeth. What you might forget is that your jawbone supports your oral health, otherwise known as the very foundation of your facial structure (not to mention your ability to eat and speak). Here, we’ll look at how to keep your jaw healthy, so you can keep using it for many years to come.

Tips to Avoid Jawbone Loss

Here are some quick tips to avoid jawbone loss in Lighthouse Point, FL:

  • Strong routines: Consistent brushing, flossing, and dentist visits are a strong start to preventing loss. These activities don’t just remove the bacteria and plaque that eventually start to eat away at all of your tissues (including gums and jaw), it’s also the best way to catch any deterioration well before it starts to interfere with your lifestyle.
  • Healthy Diets: Calcium and Vitamin D are both great for bone health (also, your general health). Eating more dark greens, like kale and chard, or adding a few calcium supplements can help you keep all of your bones strong enough to handle the wear and tear of time. (Just keep in mind that some foods, mainly the saltiest ones, may limit your body’s ability to absorb calcium.)

Talk to Your Dentist in Lighthouse Point, FL

These general points are great to get started but, ideally, you’ll work with a qualified dentist in Lighthouse Point, FL every six months to better understand how your mouth changes over time. At Florida Smiles Dental, we invest in cutting-edge technology that can catch problems like jawbone loss before they start becoming more costly procedures. When bone loss can result in anything from tooth extraction to a sagging face, we’re here to help you keep it at bay.

Why Is My Tooth Discolored?

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A discolored tooth can be more than just an aesthetic blip, it can signify a much deeper oral health issue. Here, we’ll look at how discoloration works and when you might need to see a dentist in Fort Lauderdale, FL for more than just cosmetic services.

What Will Discolor a Tooth?

The most common cause of discoloration is food and drink, usually due to highly pigmented foods like blueberries, coffee, and red wine. If you have one tooth that’s severely discolored, it may be because that tooth has less enamel than others, or it might mean that the problem is internal rather than external:

  • Decay: Tooth decay doesn’t always result in significant pain; instead, resulting in noticeable spots that can spread across the whole tooth.
  • Injury: Physical injury can damage the nerve, which affects the overall coloring of the tooth. Since the roots of the tooth provide much-needed nourishment, nerve damage can slowly cause discoloration.
  • Aging: Just as your bones can eventually yellow over time, so too can teeth as they become more brittle.

Will Teeth Whitening in Fort Lauderdale Whiten My Teeth?

Professional teeth whitening in Fort Lauderdale, FL can help whiten external stains, typically stains caused by food and drink. If you have internal staining, you’ll need to treat the root problem first. If you’re looking for a more official diagnosis, especially if you have a single discolored tooth, the right dentist can help you figure out what’s causing the problem and how you can fix it.

At Florida Smiles Dental, we offer both cosmetic and general dental services, so our patients leave with big smiles. Whether you’re concerned about your profile picture or your long-term oral health, we’re here to help you with the big picture.

Replacing a Lost Filling

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At [Practice_Name] in Fort Lauderdale and Lighthouse Point, Florida, we know how frustrating it can be to lose a filling. Whether it cracks and is damaged or falls out completely, it’s important to call our office right away to discuss replacing your lost filling and protecting your tooth from any additional damage or decay. 

Why Do Fillings Fall Out?

There are many reasons why dental fillings can fall out. The main reason is due to the normal wear and tear on a filling from daily use. The type of filling material and your habits, such as grinding your teeth, can also influence how long a filling lasts. 

Is a Lost Filling an Emergency?

Usually, losing a filling isn’t an emergency. However, there are times when losing a filling can become an emergency, such as if there is heavy bleeding or if you’re in significant pain. 

 

When you lose a filling, call our office to set up an appointment. We will talk to you about how it is feeling now and if we think you can wait to be seen based on where the filling was and your current symptoms. If you are not symptomatic or have no pain, you may be able to wait longer before getting the filling replaced, but it’s still a good idea to do it within a few days when possible.

Call [Practice_Name] To Replace a Lost Filling in Florida

If you think you’ve lost a filling, it’s time to reach out to our team at [Practice_Name] in Fort Lauderdale or Lighthouse Point, Florida. We will be happy to talk to you about your options and get you in for an appointment to replace your filling as soon as we can. 

4 Common Dental Concerns & Solutions

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It is common to have some dental issues. Whether it is bleeding gums or a knocked-out tooth, there is always a solution. Usually, the solutions are preventative and include seeing your dentist in Fort Lauderdale, FL, for a permanent fix or to avoid the problem altogether.

1. Tooth Decay

Problem: The number one dental problem that affects even babies is tooth decay. Tooth decay occurs when plaque builds up on the enamel of your teeth. The bacteria in the plaque produce an acid that eats away at the enamel to create a hole.

Solution: Brush your teeth twice a day for at least two minutes. Floss at least once a day. Also, use products with fluoride for extra protection.

2. Gum Disease

Problem: An astounding 42% of adults have some form of gum disease, according to Medline Plus. It is a disease that is preventable in many cases with good dental care.

Solution: Along with regular brushing and flossing, see your dentist in Fort Lauderdale, FL, twice a year for a deep cleaning.

3. Tooth Sensitivity

Problem: There can be several reasons why teeth are sensitive to hot and cold, but the most common is enamel erosion or gum recession. That exposes the dentin in the teeth where the nerves live.

Solution: Avoid highly acidic foods. Also, if you’re grinding your teeth, ask the dentist about a mouth guard to protect them.

4. Bad Breath

Problem: Everyone gets it once in a while, but chronic bad breath is a sign of oral health problems.

Solution: The best solution is to see the dentist and find out the underlying cause of the bad breath.

Find out more about practicing good oral hygiene and fixing common dental problems when you make your next appointment with your dentist in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Give our office a call to schedule it today.