At Collinsville Dental Associates, we’re more than able to fix cavities, but we’d rather stop them from occurring in the first place! That’s why we recommend that everyone, regardless of their age, brush twice a day, floss once, and come to see us at least twice a year. With just two checkups and cleanings, we can help our patients largely avoid most dental issues and treat minor problems early before they become major headaches. Has it been more than six months since you or your child’s last dental visit? If so, be sure to schedule an appointment for family dentistry in Collinsville, VA today.
Dental Checkups & Teeth Cleanings
During your standard checkups, our dentists won’t just look at your teeth, but your gums, jaw, and bite as well so they can detect even the smallest issue. By coming to see them regularly, they can prevent the most serious dental problems from ever developing. Also at these visits, one of our hygienists will systematically remove plaque and tartar from your teeth, the root cause of cavities, giving you a smile that both looks great and feels porcelain smooth.
Periodontal Treatment
Periodontal disease, better known as gum disease, is a bacterial infection in the mouth that affects the soft tissues as well as the bone that supports the teeth. Early symptoms include redness, swelling, and minor bleeding, but it can eventually cause chronic bad breath, loose teeth, and even tooth loss. We’ll keep an eye out for periodontal disease whenever you come to see us, and if needed, we can treat it using a special cleaning called scaling and root planing.
Children’s Dentistry
You should start bringing your child to the dentist as soon as their first little tooth appears. Our entire team has many years of experience treating children of all ages, so we’ll know exactly how to keep your favorite smile comfortable while we look after their teeth. We’ll make sure they stay cavity-free and also take a little time to show them how to brush and floss so they can form healthy habits as soon as possible, leading to a lifetime of oral health and confident smiles.
Oral Cancer Screenings
Oral cancer can often be deadly, but it is easily treatable when detected early, so we take a few minutes during every visit to look for signs of it, like lesions, growths, or discolored patches of tissue in the mouth. If we find anything, we’ll quickly refer a patient to a specialist so they can get a diagnosis right away. This means treatment can be started immediately if needed, giving someone the best possible chance of a fast recovery.
Fluoride Treatments
After we clean your teeth, we’ll briefly coat them with a highly-concentrated fluoride paste. Fluoride is a mineral that is proven to strengthen enamel and make it more resistant to cavities, which is why you’ll almost always find it added to toothpaste and public water sources. This treatment, combined with using a fluoridated toothpaste at home, can help a patient stay 100% cavity-free for years at a time.
Nitrous Oxide Sedation Dentistry
Does going to the dentist make you or your child feel nervous? We completely understand, which is why we offer soothing nitrous oxide sedation. A patient simply breathes in the gas through a small nasal mask, and within a few minutes, any feelings of anxiety are replaced by calmness and tranquility. The mask stays on the entire time, and once we take it off, a patient should feel completely normal right away and experience no lingering effects.
TMJ Therapy
If you move your mouth from side to side, those little hinges you feel right next to your ears are your temporomandibular joint, or TMJ. Like other joints in the body, it can sometimes develop pain and stiffness due to injury, arthritis, or strain due to bruxism (unconscious teeth grinding during sleep). This can make it difficult to move the jaw freely and even cause frequent headaches. Thankfully, our team can not only determine what is causing someone’s TMJ problem but fix it by relieving any pain and rebalancing the bite using a custom-made mouthguard.
Sleep Apnea Therapy
More than 20 million Americans are currently suffering from sleep apnea, a disorder where someone actually stops breathing for short periods of time throughout the night. If you or a loved one snore loudly every night and feel exhausted all the time, then sleep apnea might be the culprit. Once a patient has been diagnosed using a sleep test, our team can provide a custom mouthpiece that slightly repositions the jaw to keep the airway open while they sleep. The end result is no snoring, no apnea, and feeling great in the morning again.
Learn More About Sleep Apnea Therapy
