The American Dental Association (ADA) reports that about half of all American adults will have lost one or more teeth by age 50. By age 65, that number jumps to almost 75% of adults. When you lose a tooth, you lose more than many people realize. At Downriver Smiles, we offer professional, experienced, restorative dentistry in Spokane, WA for those who have lost one or more teeth.
Missing teeth do more than just leave a hole in your smile. The lost tooth means less facial structure, as the missing tooth root does not stimulate the jawbone. Other neighboring teeth can shift out of position and into the gap, causing misalignments and greater difficulty keeping your teeth clean. Plus, no one wants to show a gap in their smile. During a consultation, our experienced team at Downriver Smiles can explain more about each of our options for replacing missing teeth.
Chipped/Cracked Tooth Repair
Our dentists are experienced dentists who can easily and quickly repair cracked or broken teeth. At Downriver Smiles, we offer custom dental bonding that is color-matched to your natural teeth for a discreet repair. The repair material is made from ceramics and plastics and is shaped and honed into place before being hardened by a special light. It is durable and lasting, even on back teeth.
Some more severe cases may require a dental crown to cover and protect the broken tooth. Our dentists take a mold of your tooth shape and the crown is created in a dental lab. When it is ready, he will bond it to the damaged tooth. Dental crowns can also be color-matched so that your repair is invisible.
We May Be Able To See You Today!
Very often, a chipped, cracked or broken tooth causes immediate pain. This is a dental emergency that needs care as soon as possible. Hospital emergency rooms are not equipped for dental emergencies. Call Downriver Smiles when you damage a tooth. We leave time in our schedule to see emergency cases the same day. Call us, and we can provide instructions to care for the tooth until you can make it to our clinic.
Composite Fillings
Going to the dentist for a filling used to mean having unsightly silver metal in your mouth, leaving you self-conscious about laughing or opening your mouth wide. Modern cosmetic dentistry has made tremendous advancements, including new durable tooth fillings that are color-matched to your other teeth for an invisible repair. Downriver Smiles in Spokane, WA, offers white composite fillings at our state-of-the-art dental clinic.
Old metal or amalgam fillings were used on back teeth due to the immense pressure they had to withstand from chewing. Nothing but a hard metal substance was strong enough – until now. White composite fillings are now stronger, able to stand up to the tough actions of your molars as they masticate even the hardest foods.
Our accomplished cosmetic dentist in Spokane can replace old fillings with new composite material that matches your teeth and stands up to hard use over time. Eat, smile, sing, and laugh loudly without worrying about your filling being seen or coming loose. Composite fillings are some of the simplest cosmetic changes our patients can make to improve the aesthetics of their smiles.
Root Canal Therapy
If you still shudder at the mention of a root canal, then you have not yet experienced modern, painless dentistry at Downriver Smiles. We offer advanced root canal therapy to save infected teeth from loss. Our dentist and his team use the latest tools and techniques to deliver unparalleled treatment with your comfort and best oral health in mind.
Root canals were at one time a more painful experience, although their intention is to eliminate deep tooth infections that cause pain. Older techniques were quite rough and invasive, leading to all the horror stories of root canals that persist today. If you need a root canal to save an infected tooth, you have nothing to fear and much to gain at Downriver Smiles.
Root canals may be recommended to save a tooth that has become infected. When bacteria finds its way through the tooth enamel via a chip or crack, it invades the softer dentin. This causes the nerves within to become infected. This is usually a painful condition that you want fixed as soon as possible. A root canal is a frequent treatment to relieve the pain and save the tooth.
Dental Crowns
Dental crowns are appliances that our team may use to repair and protect a cracked or broken tooth. Some damage is too extensive for dental bonding and requires more support. The crown is custom designed and made to fit on a specific tooth that has sustained damage. They can also be used to support some dental restoration appliances. Downriver Smiles offers natural-appearing crowns to repair teeth in Spokane.
Restore Cracked Or Damaged Teeth
When a tooth sustains damage from impact or decay, it must be repaired to prevent infection and possible tooth loss. Bacteria can enter the tooth through cracks or breaks and cause infection that impacts the nerves and surrounding gums. This causes pain and even worse dental problems, requiring more extensive oral treatments to solve.
Placing a crown over a damaged tooth closes off the opening to prevent infection and provides a strong covering to protect the tooth from further damage. At Downriver Smiles, we use 3D cone beam scanning to create a digital model of your tooth. This image is sent to a dental lab to create a custom crown. Modern crowns are made from material that is color-matched to your other teeth, so they make discreet repairs. No one can tell you have a dental crown. When it is ready, your dentist will prepare your tooth and bond the crown into place.
Dental Inlays & Onlays
Some tooth damage is not quite extensive enough to need an entire dental crown. In these cases, our team may elect to use dental inlays or onlays instead. These are, in effect, partial crowns that only cover a portion of the tooth. They are also made in a dental lab from a digital image, and are color-matched to your other teeth. Our dentists bond them into place similar to attaching a dental crown.
Tooth Extractions
Whenever possible, our team at Downriver Smiles prefers to save your natural teeth with preventative dentistry. That is typically the best course of action in most situations. But in certain cases, it may be better to remove a diseased or offending tooth to preserve your overall oral health. We provide quick, pain-free tooth extractions, when necessary, at Downriver Smiles in Spokane, WA.
There are times when a tooth becomes diseased, severely broken, or otherwise problematic, and it is better to remove it. This can prevent the spread of infection to other teeth, ease crowded teeth, relieve pain from an impacted tooth, or solve other oral health problems. In these cases, our dentists provide a comforting environment, coupled with advanced technology and tools, to facilitate pain-free tooth extractions.
Wisdom Teeth Removal
The wisdom teeth are the last four molars to erupt in the rear of your upper and lower arch. In some people, they do not grow in correctly or the jaw is too small to allow them to grow in properly. Problems can arise from impacted teeth, wisdom teeth growing in at an angle, or even sideways, along with other complications. In these cases, our talented and skilled dentists will recommend wisdom teeth removal at our state-of-the-art dental clinic in Spokane.
The wisdom teeth usually arrive in the late teen years or early twenties. While some patients have no problems at all from their wisdom teeth, there are many who do and need general dentistry treatment. One important reason for keeping up with regular dental exams and cleanings is this allows your dentist to monitor your children’s teeth development, including wisdom teeth. X-rays can reveal if the wisdom teeth are growing properly or if there are indications of a future problem.
By monitoring the teeth throughout your child’s developmental years, your dentist can prepare you for potential issues and even provide corrective measures early that can cost less and be less invasive for your child. Sometimes, removing one or more wisdom teeth early on can prevent more serious misalignment and jaw problems.
Stress-Free Wisdom Teeth Extractions
Wisdom teeth extractions are oral surgery, and require a professional dentist with the right skills and experience. Our dentist can perform stress-free wisdom teeth extractions in our comfortable and inviting dental clinic. Patients are provided with a pillow, blanket, and headphones so they can listen to music or watch TV to help them relax. We also offer sedation dentistry to help patients relax.
Dental Bridges
Our dentists create your dental bridge and connect it to dental crowns on each side of the gap in your smile. The artificial teeth, called pontics, are custom designed and created in a dental lab. We use 3D cone beam imaging to create digital images that are sent to the lab for your dental bridges. That way, precise measurements and designs are possible to create the perfect set of artificial teeth to match your smile.
Once the bridge is completed, we place protective crowns over the teeth adjacent to your missing teeth for added strength. Then, the dental bridge is attached to these crowns and bonded into place for a strong, worry-free dental restoration. Plus, the dental lab color-matches the pontics to match your remaining natural teeth for a seamless and discreet smile makeover.
In as little as two visits to our clinic, you can restore your smile, speech, and confidence with a custom dental bridge.
Dentures
Traditional dentures are a perfectly normal teeth replacement option, and many patients are completely satisfied with them. Other patients may wish for more strength and stability for their dentures. Downriver Smiles also offers advanced options that combine the affordability of dentures with the strength of dental implants. These can offer better function and appearance than traditional dentures.
Implant-Supported Dentures
Implant-supported dentures can be fixed into place permanently to dental implants or connected to implants with a removable option. Different denture options also require more or fewer dental implants to secure into place. Function, the condition of your jawbone, and your budget are all major considerations when choosing the best denture option for you. Our dentists and skilled team at Downriver Smiles can explain the benefits of each option, as well as the costs, to help you make the best personal decision.
