When was the last time you made an appointment with your dentist for a general checkup and cleaning? By staying on top of a biannual visitation schedule, you give yourself the best support for maintaining a healthy smile. At each of your visits, your dentist can inspect the results of your oral hygiene efforts at home and detect any potential problems before they become worse. This can mean more conservative treatments for problems that would grow in scale left undetected. Additionally, by performing your routine cleanings, we remove the plaque and tartar deposits that contribute to tooth decay and gum disease. Your hygienist employs special tools that go beyond the ability of your brush and floss at home which means receiving a level of care you cannot perform on your own.
At your Ankeny, IA, dentist’s office, we encourage regular dental cleanings to prevent and treat the spread of tooth decay. When we do discover a cavity, we will place the proper treatment to stop its growth and support the strength of your healthy tooth. The combination of prevention and early cavity detection helps you maintain a winning smile you can be proud to show off!
When Decay Takes Hold Within Your Teeth
When you understand the process that causes cavities, you empower yourself to prevent them from occurring in the first place. Over your day, as you eat and drink, oral bacteria begin to feed off the remnants of your meals. As bacteria reproduce and form plaques on the surface of your teeth, they give off an acidic byproduct that weakens your enamel. When you rigorously brush and floss to remove these deposits and attend your general cleanings, you can remove plaque before it causes further harm. Left untreated, the deposits can cause permanent holes, or cavities, that expose the inner material of your tooth’s structure. To prevent this opening from destroying more of your healthy tooth or allowing the infection of your pulp, your dentist must remove the decaying tissue.
Placing A Dental Filling
Because removing your cavity inalterably changes the outside structure of your tooth, your dentist must place a restoration to restore the full protection of your enamel. For small to moderate cavities, your dentist will generally place a dental filling. Modern materials allow the filling to match the shade of your natural tooth to blend in seamlessly with your smile. For cavities that leave your tooth too weak to support a filling, we can place a crown that mimics the tooth’s structure completely above your gumline. This offers substantially more support to your bite by taking its entire pressure.
Talk To Your Ankeny, IA, Dentist About Treating And Preventing Tooth Decay
Preventing tooth decay begins at home with your daily hygiene routine. To support this routine, visit your dentist twice per year to inspect your teeth and provide treatments when necessary. If you would like to find out more about our practice or have questions about other oral health concerns, please call your Ankeny, IA, dentist’s office at (515) 965-0230 to schedule a visit.
