Why Should You Visit the Dentist Every 6 Months?

You actively take the time to brush and floss every day. You stay away from sugar, don’t smoke and make sure to eat healthy foods. Your teeth and gums don’t hurt and you don’t notice any problems with your mouth.  So, why should you brother to visit checkup twice a year or even once a year?

 

Even you have stellar oral hygiene habits and you haven’t noticed any problems with your teeth or gums, there are very good reasons to schedule regular dental checkups, including:

• Professional dental exams are mean to identify problems that can be easily missed, ignored or haven’t yet become serious but could. These include minor issues like cavities and plaque. Even serious issues like periodontal disease, infection, and early signs of oral cancer can go unnoticed without professional care.
• Regular exams and in-office dental cleanings address hardened plaque and tartar that can’t be removed through regular brushing and flossing. Professional cleanings also assess areas of the mouth that are tough to access on your own, even with the most cutting-edge household oral hygiene products.
• Regular exams are just one part of your individual practices that keep your smile healthy—just as being a responsible car owner requires the occasional trip to the mechanic.  A professional dental exam is also one part of keeping your smile looking great! Your biannual checkup is the perfect time to ask questions and address your concerns about daily care and any smile improvements you’ve been considering.

If you’re due for a checkup, please contact us or visit our website for more information!

Emergency Dental Care

While tooth decay is the most common cause of toothaches in children and adults, infections, gum disease, teeth grinding and an abnormal bite can also cause pain in your teeth. If you have experienced facial trauma, pain in your teeth for more than two days or swelling and abnormally red gums, it is important to get a complete oral examination to determine the cause. This pain would be considered a dental emergency, and Dr. Dr. Harinder Walia, Dr. Aishwarya Ramanan and Dr. Arti Bhan-Kachroo are able to restore your oral health.

 

If your tooth pain worsens over time, you may have food that is stuck between you tooth and gum. This can occur if you do not brush and floss well enough, allowing bacteria to multiply in this area and for infection to develop. This infection can become an abscess, which can develop at the root of the tooth in the bone or in the gums. If not treated, it can be incredibly painful and harmful to your health. If your tooth pain is accompanied by a bad smell or taste, it is very likely an abscess.

 

The team at Fairwood Dental Center can also provide emergency dental care if you’ve experienced facial trauma. Whether your tooth is loose, cracked or broken, you can come to our office to receive emergency restorative care.

Scaling and Root Planing

At Fairwood Dental Center, we strive to help our patients maintain optimal oral health and retain their original teeth. By offering scaling and root planing to treat early gum disease, our team of doctors is able to restore your health and save your smile in a noninvasive way.

 

Periodontal disease is responsible for 75 percent of all adult tooth loss cases in the United States, making it critical to check for and treat periodontal issues when they first arise. An infection of the gums, periodontal disease starts when a buildup of plaque on your teeth hardens into tartar and creates a suitable environment for bacteria to collect and attack the surrounding gums. In its early stages, this gum disease is gingivitis, but if it is left untreated, it becomes periodontis, and periodontis can destroy your gum tissue, lead to tooth loss and even result in a loss of bone mass in your jawbone. Heart disease, diabetes and stroke have also been linked to poor periodontal health.

 

Scaling and root planing is one of the most effective ways to treat gum disease before it develops into more serious periodontal disease. The procedure allows the dentist to clean between your gums and teeth all the way down to the roots in order to smooth the root structure and remove the tartar that is causing your inflammation.

 

The procedure is an incredibly effective and can stop the progression of gum disease before it irreversibly damages your teeth. 

Dental Hygiene

Dental hygiene and periodontal health is important to us at Fairwood Dental Center, which is why we encourage proper dental hygiene to all of our patients. Good dental hygiene, brushing the teeth twice a day, flossing once a day, and visiting us every six months for a check-up and cleaning is a great start. It helps prevent cavities, infections and tooth decay, and lets us find problems early, in addition to giving the patient fresh-smelling breath and a beautiful smile.

 

Periodontal health is also important, which deals with the risk of gum disease. If a patient develops gum disease, it can advance to the more serious periodontal disease without proper treatment. One of the reasons we like to schedule dental visits for our patients twice a year is so we can perform an examination to look for signs of gum disease. Without treatment, it can lead to loss of bone, deep infections, necessary extractions, and loose teeth.

 

Aside from these recommendations, not consuming a high amount of sugar, and avoiding smoking cigarettes also make a positive impact on the dental hygiene and periodontal health of our patients.

Family Dental Practice

If you are searching for a family dental practice, there are certain qualities you might be looking for. Most families appreciate a friendly atmosphere, comfortable accommodations and a dental team that is established and experienced enough to handle your family’s dental needs with great care and consideration. At Fairwood Dental Center, we have established a reputation in the Renton, WA area as a family dental practice where parents are able to relax knowing their family is in the best hands possible.

 

During office visits, our doctors put an emphasis on preventative care to our patients. Preventive care is the basic things patients should be doing to take care of their teeth and gums: brushing, flossing, eating a healthy diet, and seeing a dentist regularly to help avoid dental disease. Our team believes that children should be taught proper oral hygiene techniques at a young age so they do not develop any bad habits. Preventive dentistry is particularly important for children, whose teeth, mouth and gums are still developing. Preventing abnormal growth and cavities in children is easier, more painless and less costly than treating dental problems after they've fully developed.

 

Not only do our doctors offer dental services for children, but we also have many cosmetic, preventative and restorative dentistry options for adults. They offer a variety of restorative and preventive dental services - each designed to extend the life of your teeth and total dental health. Call Fairwood Dental Center at 425-271-7725 to schedule an appointment or visitwww.fairwooddentalcenter.com. 

Orthodontic Options

Thanks to advances in orthodontic technology, you no longer have to feel embarrassed or self-conscious because you have to wear braces. You also don’t have to wear braces for over a year to get the best results anymore. At Fairwood Dental Center, we offer braces and Invisalign for patients hoping to straighten their teeth.

 

Invisalign aligners are plastic, removable mouth pieces that gradually straighten teeth over time. They give less force per week and cause considerably less pain to straighten teeth compared to traditional braces. Since the pieces are transparent, patients are able to maintain their smile while improving it at the same time. One of the main complaints of traditional braces, while they are effective, they often leave stain marks on the teeth. This is not the case with Invisalign; patients are able to remove the mouth pieces in order to brush and floss well regularly. They do not interfere with your speech either.

 

We also offer traditional braces for patients looking to correct bite problems while straightening their teeth. These braces are made of strong metal alloys and are considered the smallest and most comfortable option. While they do take the longest of all the orthodontic options made available at our practice, they are the most effective when it comes to aligning teeth and correcting bite problems.

Dentures

Dentures are an option that many of our patients choose at Fairwood Dental Center. Available in both full and partial, dentures serve as a removable replacement for missing teeth.

 

If providing patients with conventional full dentures, Drs. Harinder S Walia, Aishwarya Ramanan or Arti Bhan-Kachroo will remove all the teeth from the patient’s mouth. Afterwards, the gums are given time to heal before dentures are placed. The patient would be without teeth during this healing process, which can take a couple months.

 

Immediate full dentures forgo this healing process with no teeth. Prior to having their teeth removed, the dentist takes measurements of the patient’s mouth, so that dentures are ready after teeth have been removed. This type of full denture requires a follow-up visit to refit the dentures wince the jaw bone will slightly change shape as the mouth heals.

 

Partial dentures are another option for those who do not need all their teeth to be removed. This makes them similar to bridges, but partial dentures are not permanent fixtures.

 

Whichever dentures our patients choose, they take time getting used to, and even though they are not real teeth, they should still be cared for as if they were. They should be brushed before removal and should be placed in room temperature water or cleaning solution overnight.