Washington Dental Care West Loop Blog

Tooth loss is a common problem, and modern dentistry has a variety of methods that can treat it. Dental bridges and partial dentures are both excellent ways for many people to restore their compromised smiles, but some curious individuals may not be quite sure about the differences between these two appliances. Here’s some information about dental bridges and partial dentures to help you understand if one of them might be right for you.

Whether you’ve lost a tooth due to an incident or extraction, the gap in your smile can impact your confidence. However, when it comes to a missing back tooth, you might question the need for replacement since it’s not visible. To grasp the importance of a full smile, read on to discover why replacing a missing back tooth is crucial.

While no one wants to have a toothache that leads to an emergency visit to your dentist, it’s not uncommon. If you suddenly find yourself with a horrible toothache, it could be that your tooth has decay or infection and will require a root canal. Many patients in these cases worry about pain during and after the procedure, but try to set your mind at ease. Thankfully, it’s been reported that it actually doesn’t hurt any more than getting a cavity filled. That’s great news if you’ve been feeling anxious!

Now, you can set your concern aside and instead focus on what happens after your root canal. After all, taking care of yourself is essential so that the affected tooth can heal effectively. Keep reading to learn more about what to expect during recovery!

Waiting until signs of oral health problems get worse to address them, like sore and inflamed gums, can lead to the need for more extensive treatments as well as risk the function and health of your smile. While the bearable discomfort of irritated gums may seem like something you can put on the backburner, with a checkup from your dentist, you can have your issue diagnosed and treated, preserving your healthy smile. Read on to learn how sore and inflamed gums can develop and what your dentist may recommend treatment-wise.

Many people will get a cavity at some point in their lifetime, but why not get the best available option when they happen to you? Since cavities do not go away on their own and in fact get worse over time, fillings are necessary to save teeth. Dentists have used fillings to save literally billions of teeth from infection in the past century, and the technology continues to improve. While traditional amalgam fillings made from metals like copper, mercury, silver, and zinc have served well for quite a long time, they tend to stand out in a smile because of their dark grey color and can also pose other potential problems. Read on to learn about the benefits of opting for tooth-colored fillings instead.

For the most part, modern dentistry is capable of addressing simple issues relatively quickly, and with relatively little aftercare. Your run-of-the-mill cavity or gum disease can even be remedied within just one appointment, and with virtually no discomfort after the fact.

However, if you have serious oral health problems, you may need a full mouth reconstruction. This entails using several reconstructive techniques one after another to completely revitalize your smile. While aftercare is still perfectly manageable, it will require a little bit more work than usual on your part to stay comfortable. Here is what you should know about how long that aftercare may take, and what you can do to make it a bit easier to deal with.

Dental crowns are considered to be some of the most reliable and trustworthy restorative solutions available. Used to protect vulnerable teeth from future decay and damage, they can be made from all types of materials, including those that maintain a more natural appearance (i.e., porcelain, ceramic). When learning you need one to safeguard your smile, you may wonder what to expect after receiving a dental crown. A dentist is here to share a few helpful tips so that you can take better care of your new tooth.

Even if you love your dentist, you want your biannual visit to be as smooth and seamless as possible. Whether your appointment is first thing in the morning, over lunch, or on your drive home, there are several steps you can take so it’s as efficient, quick, and comfortable as possible. To learn four proactive measures you can take to make your next dental checkup easier, read on!

Dental implants are considered the gold standard for replacing teeth; they can easily restore lost pearly whites in terms of look, feel, and functionality. And better yet, they boast an impressive success rate of over 95%, even several years post-placement! That said, we live in an imperfect world, and there are unfortunately all sorts of things that pose a threat to your implants once they’ve been placed—they might even become loose and fail if you aren’t careful! Here’s more from your dentist about a few possible explanations for dental implant looseness and how the issue can be remedied.

A missing tooth can leave an unattractive gap in your smile, making you feel less than confident about showing off your grin. But did you know that lost teeth can affect your appearance in other ways as well? If the space isn’t filled with reliable replacement teeth, the shape of your face might change, causing you to look much older than you are. Why does this happen, and what can you do about it? Here are the facts you need to know.