In children, teeth make a healthy diet possible, aid in social interaction, allow normal development of the jaw, and hold the place for adult teeth.
Adults need their teeth for a proper diet too! In fact, when food can’t be properly chewed because of broken, damaged, or missing teeth, not only can we find ourselves avoiding certain fiber-rich or nutrient-dense foods, our bodies can’t properly absorb nutrients from food that isn’t adequately chewed.
That’s why My Rivertown Dentist offers the latest and most effective restorative dentistry options to our Madison friends and neighbors. We want everyone to experience the benefits of a strong and healthy smile!
More Than a Smile
In addition to supporting physical health, teeth are necessary for everyone’s emotional well-being and confidence – damaged or missing teeth can lead to things like hiding your smile, difficulty with speech, or inadequate facial support and a prematurely-aged appearance. Worse yet, it actually affects how people view you. We don’t like it, but studies offer lots of evidence to back it up, and there are articles all over the internet talking about the social implications.
That means that if a tooth is knocked out on the playground or sporting event, decay has taken its toll, smoking has led to tooth loss, or gum disease and infection are wreaking havoc on the health and appearance of your teeth, much more is at stake than just your smile – your smile, your body, and your spirit pay the price!
Every Tooth Matters
While the teeth we notice most are the ones in the front, all of our teeth are important for a number of reasons:
Molars and bicuspids offer our primary chewing surface and are an important part of our digestive system
Each tooth in your mouth has a root that helps keep your jawbone stimulated and healthy
When a tooth is lost, remaining teeth can shift and move out of place leading to malocclusion and even TMJ disorder
Clearly, restorative dentistry from My Rivertown Dentist can make all the difference in living a full and healthy life!
No one likes to discover that they have a cavity. We certainly don’t like giving you the news! But we have a great alternative to dark metal fillings that not only discolor your smile but also can cause cracks and fractures which eventually and progressively can lead to the need for larger and larger fillings or even crowns. My Rivertown Dentist’s team thinks that conservative dentistry is best so we always offer our Madison patients metal-free, tooth-colored fillings. These modern fillings are made of tooth-colored composite resin and are a safer, more attractive, alternative to metal.
They conservatively restore your teeth to strength and return your smile to beauty. Plus, because each metal-free filling placed by Dr. Lee is custom shaded to match the tooth it is repairing, you will never have to be embarrassed to throw back your head and laugh because you want to hide all the metal in your mouth, and your kids will feel more confident and less distressed by cavities as well. Best of all, composite fillings will not shift with temperature changes in your mouth (such as when you drink hot or cold beverages) which can lead to cracking and tooth damage.
Crowns/Bridges
If a tooth has suffered too much damage to be repaired with dental bonding or a filling, or you need a root canal or a tooth replacement, porcelain dental crowns from My Rivertown Dentist are just the thing your smile needs. Dr. Lee uses only the finest labs or her own cad/cam technology to custom-make each crown and will make sure that it is created not only of materials that look beautifully natural in your smile, but that each crown is constructed and fitted with the balance of your bite in mind. We are able to keep these restorations completely metal-free because of the advancement in dental materials – that means no dark line around your margins and no noticeable difference between your natural teeth and your restored teeth. Porcelain dental crowns perform many different functions including:
Repairing even severely broken or decayed teeth
Capping and sealing a root canal
To hold a dental bridge in place
To act as a new tooth in combination with a dental implant post
Dentures & Partials
People lose teeth for many reasons, including:
Gum disease
Poor dietary choices
Smoking or use of smokeless tobacco
Poor oral hygiene
Illnesses including diabetes, high blood pressure, and rheumatoid arthritis
Medical treatments and medications including chemotherapy
Accidents and facial trauma
Whatever the reason you might be missing teeth, the team at My Rivertown Dentist will never judge you or make you feel embarrassed about that loss. Missing teeth is tough enough! We are here to help you get through the loss and find the best solution for your lifestyle and your budget.
Dr. Lee usually recommends dental implants to all of her patients because they are the most natural feeling and functioning option available. That includes implant-retained dentures and partials. These prosthetics are so special because the entire denture or partial is attached to implant posts instead of sitting on your gums. That means no more gooey adhesives, no more slipping, no more pinching, and highly minimized bone loss. If you are not a candidate for implant-retained dentures, don’t worry, we can fit you with traditional dentures as well.
Implants
Dental implants not only give you your life back, allowing you to eat and speak with perfect ease, they also protect your facial structure and your bone! Read more about these amazing restorations here.
Endodontics
Endodontics, otherwise known as root canals have a bad reputation. My Rivertown Dentist would like to set the record straight– root canals are not painful, it is the infection in the tooth that leads to a root canal that is the cause of pain! In fact, root canals are the only thing other than extraction, that can stop the excruciating discomfort that develops with an abscessed tooth. The endodontic procedure has been called a root canal because that is the part of the tooth we are clearing of infection. We simply remove a bit of enamel, as if preparing your tooth for a filling, use a special tool to clean out and remove the infection, refill the roots and tooth, and seal it all with a strong and attractive porcelain crown. Your pain stops and your tooth is saved!
We do all anterior and premolar root canal treatments right here in our comfortable office. If you need a root-canal retreat or have an infected molar, we will refer you to one of our trusted associates who specialize in endodontics.
Oral Surgery
Sometimes a tooth is so badly damaged or infected that even a dental crown or a root canal can’t save it. Other times there is so much pain with wisdom teeth that they simply must come out. When you need oral surgery such as tooth extractions or wisdom-tooth removals, isn’t it nice to know that you can have even these advanced procedures done right here in the Madison dental office you and your family are familiar with and performed by Dr. Lee, whose gentle, compassionate touch you know and trust? It is why we keep up on all the latest techniques and methods for oral surgery – and why we also offer sedation dentistry and other comfort options to keep you absolutely relaxed and at ease through surgical procedures.
Even kids tolerate extractions remarkably well when they are thoughtfully explained and discussed by Dr. Lee. We don’t believe anyone should feel intimidated by necessary dental procedures and go out of our way to make sure you are calm and comfortable all the way through.
Technology
Because we care about the comfort and convenience of every Madison patient who walks through the doors of My Rivertown Dentist, we now offer restorations in one visit whenever possible with the use of cad/cam technology. We have invested in this incredible technology for the benefit of our patients because it allows Dr. Lee to plan, measure, and place almost any restoration, including crowns, without taking messy impressions, sending them to a lab, placing temporaries that can come loose or fall out, and sometimes waiting for completion.
Instead, Dr. Lee takes digital impressions, and with the help of a special computer program and the kind of machinery used by precision jewelers, shades, mills, and places your restoration on the very day you come in. No waiting, no refitting, and no return visits! Just a beautiful smile exactly when you need it. Now if that isn’t convenience through advanced technology, we don’t know what is.
Don’t let a damaged smile hold you back!
Talk to the compassionate professionals at My Rivertown Dentist about your restorative options today!
