SCALING & POLISHING

Dental scaling and polishing is recommended to prevent gum diseases, cavities and bad breath. Infections and diseases spread from the mouth to the rest of the body and can have an impact on the overall health of an individual. Scaling removes plaque and tartar whereas polishing smoothens and shines the teeth so that dental plaque cannot attach easily to tooth surfaces.

DENTAL FILLING

A dental filling or dental restoration is a treatment to restore the function of the lost tooth structure followed by its replacement by filling materials. Filling/Restorative materials fall under three categories

• Composite or Tooth Coloured Restoration
• Glass Ionomer cements
• Amalgam Restoration

Root Canal Treatment (RCT)

Root canal is the term used to describe the natural cavity within the center of the tooth. The pulp or pulp chamber is the soft area within the root canal. The tooth's nerve lies within the root canal. 

Root canal treatment is a treatment sequence for the infected pulp of a tooth which results in the elimination of infection and restoration of function.

Endodontic treatment helps in maintaining function and esthetics. With proper care, most teeth that have had a root canal treatment can last a lifetime.

Different approaches available for RCT are:

• Manual Root canal treatment
• Rotary Root canal treatment

DENTAL CROWNS & BRIDGES

Dental crown is also a part of tooth rehabilitation.

It is a cap that strengthens a tooth, restores it to its normal shape and size and covers a discolored or ill-shaped tooth.

A crown is also placed on top of a RCT- treated tooth or implant to provide the function as well as esthetics comparable to a natural tooth.

A dental bridge is a fixed dental restoration (a fixed dental prosthesis) used to replace one or more missing teeth by joining an artificial tooth with adjacent healthy teeth or dental implants.

Types of Dental Crowns:

• Ceramic Crown. These are tooth-colored crowns which are not only strong but blend more naturally with the adjacent teeth.
• Porcelain-Fused-To-Metal. The inside of the teeth is made up of metal and the outer portion of the crown is made of porcelain. It has the advantage of metal which provides strength and also of porcelain which matches with the colour of the teeth
• Metal Crowns They are visible hence, suitable only for molars

Benefits of rehabilitation

We hate to remove or extract a tooth unless it is decayed, broken or not restorable due to oral cavity or infection.  

Extraction can be:

• To restore the function.
• To restore smile.
• Proper speech.
• To prevent remaining teeth from drifting into empty space because of missing tooth

Tooth Removal/Extraction

These days extractions are very limited to only non- restorable tooth due to tooth decay, trauma and gum diseases  

Extraction can be:

• Routine extraction
• Prophylactic extraction , usually done for orthodontic purpose
• Surgical extraction , which is a complex procedure to extract wisdom tooth or any other troublesome tooth generally undertaken by a specialist.

DENTURES

Dentures are prosthetic devices which are used as a replacement of missing teeth.

Types of Dentures:

• Fixed Denture

A Fixed Partial Denture (FPD) is a restoration that is cemented or otherwise securely retained to natural teeth, tooth roots or dental implant abutments that furnish the primary support for the prosthesis.

• Removable Denture

A removable partial / complete denture usually consists of replacement teeth attached to a pink or gum-colored plastic base, which is sometimes connected by metal framework that holds the denture in place in the mouth Complete Denture is worn by a patient who’s all the teeth are missing Partial dentures are applied when some natural teeth are missing.

Dentures can help through:

• Mastication or chewing ability is improved by replacing edentulous areas with denture teeth
• Aesthetics, because the presence of teeth gives a natural appearance to the face, and wearing a denture to replace missing teeth provides support for the lips and cheeks and corrects the collapsed appearance that results from the loss of teeth
• Speech by replacing missing teeth, especially the front (anterior) teeth, enables patients to speak better and boost confidence in the ability to interact socially

Advantages of Preventive Dentistry:

• Helps keep gums and teeth healthy
• Prevents cavities
• Prevents gum diseases and foul smell in mouth
• Prevents mal-alignment of teeth

Preventive Dentistry

Regular practice of looking after gums and teeth and maintaining good oral hygiene to keep them healthy is PREVENTIVE DENTISTRY. The aim is to avoid cavities, gum infections, enamel wear and tooth loss.

We pay extra attention to the children since they benefit most from preventive dentistry protocols which allows their new adult teeth to become strong and healthy.

Dental Procedures involved In Preventive Dentistry are:

• Prevention of Dental decay is achieved by Pit and fissure sealants and Fluoride application
• Prevention of Gum diseases is achieved by Oral prophylaxis
• Prevention of Crowding Teeth is achieved by Serial extraction and Space maintainers

BRACES

Dental braces are appliances which are used to align or straighten the teeth and guide the teeth to the corrected position. They could be wires, brackets, and bands.

Braces aid to correct irregular teeth positioning, jaw correction, facilitate chewing and improve smile and facial appearance.

• Metal Conventional Braces: These are most common type of braces. The metal braces used today are comfortable, smaller in size and require elastics which come in a variety of colours to tie the wire to the braces. The wires use body heat to move teeth to the required position, painlessly.
• Ceramic Conventional Braces: Ceramic braces are with clear brackets. They use tooth color and blend naturally with teeth. Their shape and size are same as metal braces. These are less visible on the teeth and are preferred by teenagers and adults. The wires used are also of tooth color which makes them less noticeable
• Metal/ Ceramic Self Ligating Braces: These are metal/ceramic brackets with a shutter or lock system and do not require the use of elastic to tie the wire. Compared to traditional metal braces, metal self-ligating braces are smaller in size and more comfortable
• Lingual Braces: Lingual Braces are heavy metal braces which are placed behind the teeth. These metallic braces can be made of silver or gold. The individual Bracket is customized using CAD-CAM / 3D Designing. The treatment is highly aesthetic and less visible.