Choosing Invisalign

If you are considering orthodontic treatment, you should consult with your dentist regarding your goals. In some cases, traditional braces will provide better results.

Invisalign can be used to treat a variety of orthodontic issues including:

• Gaps between the teeth
• Malocclusion
• Crooked teeth
• Crowding

For successful Invisalign treatment, you must also be prepared to take proper care of your aligner trays and wear them as your dentist recommends. As a general rule, you’ll be required to wear the trays at least twenty-two hours a day for the best possible long term results. Care of the trays includes keeping them clean and away from staining agents and hot liquids that could warp the plastic. Trays can be brushed when you brush your teeth or cleaned with a special solution.

Advantages to Invisalign

If your orthodontic issues make you a good candidate, Invisalign can offer you numerous advantages over traditional braces. Since many adults are self conscious about traditional metal braces, Invisalign provides an option that is virtually invisible. Many people won’t even realize you are undergoing orthodontic treatment. In addition, you can take the trays out for brief periods, including while you eat or for special occasions.

Invisalign trays are made of smooth plastic, which is less likely to cause irritation than traditional wires. Each tray moves your teeth a small amount, until, by the time you reach the final tray, your teeth have been moved to form a perfect smile.

If your teeth are misaligned, crooked, or have gaps between them, ask our dentists at Grout Family Dentistry about Invisalign. We’ll evaluate your teeth and determine if this is the best treatment option for you. Call our office serving the Highlands Ranch area at 303-730-1222 to schedule your visit.

Healthy Gums and Implant Success

A number of factors can affect the success of dental implants. These include:

• The patient’s overall health
• Bone mass in the jaw
• Gum disease
• Thin or receding gums

If you are in good general health, have a strong jawbone and healthy gums, little preparation is needed before you can undergo implant treatment. However, if the jawbone is not strong enough to support the implants, bone grafting might be necessary. If the gums are thin or have receded from gum disease or other issues, a gum graft or other preparation can increase the likelihood that your implant procedure will be successful. 

Healthy gum tissue is important because it covers the roots of the teeth. Likewise, it covers the root portion of your implant. If gums have receded, the titanium screw that serves as the artificial root will be exposed, increasing the possibility that your implant will fail.

Treating Receding Gums

Receding gums can be treated before your implant procedure, although your implant dentist might choose to treat the issues during or even after the placement of the implants. Your individual situation and your dentist’s preference will determine the approach used.

In some cases, your implant dentist can reposition existing gum tissue to augment the tissue that supports your implant. In other cases, the dentist might prefer to perform a gum grafting procedure. Repositioning tissue is usually accomplished during the placement of the implant. Gum grafts can be performed before or after implant placement.

If, before your implant procedure, you are suffering from gingivitis or more serious gum disease, your dentist will probably recommend treatment for your gum disease to remove the inflammation, infection and bacteria, which can severely compromise your implants.

To find out if you are a candidate for dental implants in Centennial or the surrounding areas, contact Grout Family Dentistry at 303-730-1222 to schedule your consultation.

Making Sure Your Teeth Stay White

The best way to prevent discoloration is also the best way to keep your newly whitened teeth from once again becoming stained and unattractive. In addition to regular brushing and flossing and visits to the dentist, you can keep your teeth white by avoiding substances that can cause staining. These include:

• Coffee and tea
• Nicotine
• Dark colored foods or juices
• Red wine

Although teeth whitening can give your teeth a beautiful new look, these staining agents can reverse the treatment’s effects. Keep your teeth clean, healthy, and away from staining agents, and your whitened teeth can remain white for a long time.

What to Do If Your Teeth Become Discolored Again

If you notice discoloration creeping back on the surface of your teeth, you can return to your dentist for a touch up whitening session. Often, even when teeth do become discolored again, it is easier to touch them up than it was to whiten them initially. Your session will probably be shorter than it was the first time, and afterwards your teeth will be bright and white again. You might also be able to use an at-home touch up whitening kit that your dentist provides. With an at-home kit, you can apply whitening gel with special trays and wear them at your convenience, usually twice a day for about fifteen minutes at a time.

If you are concerned about keeping your teeth white in the long term, call our Littleton CO office for a consultation to find out how teeth whitening can help you maintain a beautiful smile.

Reasons For a Dental Crown

A dental crown completely covers an existing tooth. The tooth must be prepared before the crown is placed—a process that removes part of the substance of the tooth to provide enough room for the crown to sit over the tooth without disrupting alignment or interfering with adjacent teeth. Crowns are often used in situations where:

• A tooth is severely damaged
• A tooth is cracked
• A tooth has undergone a root canal

Dental crowns allow the tooth to remain in place and functional even when it is damaged. Using a dental crown often helps you keep your tooth in cases when it might otherwise have to be removed. This is especially true in cases when a crown is used in conjunction with a root canal.

Types of Dental Crowns

There are various types of dental crowns. Each kind provides different advantages and disadvantages. Your dentist can help you decide which is best for your individual needs.

The three main types of crowns are:

• Metal crowns
• Porcelain crowns
• Porcelain bonded metal crowns

In the past, metal crowns, generally made of gold, were the only option available. Now, porcelain crowns provide a more natural-looking substitute, since porcelain can be color matched to the shade of your other teeth. However, porcelain does not hold up as well to biting and chewing pressures. If your crown is to be placed on a molar, a metal crown might be better and longer lasting.

Another option is metal crowns that are covered with porcelain. These provide the natural look of a porcelain crown combined with the strength of a metal crown. To find out what type of crown is best for you, please contact Grout Family Dentistry, serving Highlands Ranch and the surrounding areas, at 303-730-1222 for a consultation.

When Is a Root Canal Necessary?

Root canals are most commonly used to restore teeth that have suffered severe injury, extensive decay or pervasive infection. Often these teeth cause extreme discomfort, which is also eliminated by the root canal procedure.

Some issues that can lead to root canal therapy include:

• A tooth with a crown that has become inflamed or infected
• Decay severe enough that most of the tooth must be removed
• Severely cracked or broken teeth that cannot be restored with a crown alone

The root canal removes the infected tissue as well as the nerve serving the tooth. In this way, the infected and damaged areas are completely cleared, and the tooth no longer experiences sensation. Using a crown to maintain the original shape of the tooth, your dentist can also preserve your bite and the relationship between the tooth being treated and teeth adjacent to it.

What Can I Expect From the Procedure?

Although root canals have a bad reputation, in many ways they are not very different from a crown, a filling, or other restoration procedures. The dentist uses local anesthetic and might use nitrous oxide (laughing gas) or another form of sedation if you prefer. With special tools, the tooth pulp and nerve are removed. The interior of the tooth is thoroughly disinfected, and the removed tissue is replaced with a special gel. After the root canal procedure is completed, the tooth is ofteb fitted with a temporary crown to protect it. Within a few days, your dentist will be able to replace the temporary crown with a custom made permanent crown.

If you have any questions or concerns about the root canal procedure, or believe you might need to have a root canal, please contact the Littleton office of Grout Family Dentistry to make an appointment.

If we filled our baby bottles with water, we would be encouraged to provide those bottles from morning to night. But the milk, baby formula and juices we put in those bottles are generally loaded with sugar. And what happens? The baby or toddler goes to sleep right after consuming the contents of the bottle quite often storing some of the bottle contents in the mouth throughout the night.

The sugar in the beverages will stay on the teeth of the child. Dental decay is attributed to bacteria that live on teeth, and this bacterium thrives on sugar allowing plaque to grow. Eventually dental plaque can result in decay even in very young children. Many people believe that since those baby teeth are eventually replaced with permanent teeth that what the child consumes at an early age doesn’t matter.

But they couldn’t be more wrong. Those baby teeth are what prepare the child’s mouth for their permanent teeth. If baby teeth are riddled with dental caries, the permanent teeth are likely to suffer. In addition, tooth decay that forms on those primary teeth can cause much discomfort for your child and result in a traumatic first visit to the dentist.

Prevention is the key to battling tooth decay in the very young. Unfortunately, we can’t rely on our children to do what is best for them. That responsibility falls to parents, caregivers, older siblings, grandparents and those in charge of caring for our children.

We must start at home to make sure we are doing everything we can to make sure our children’s teeth are protected. It is never too early to get in the habit of brushing those baby teeth with age appropriate toothpaste.

Raising children to be cavity free is certainly not easy, but not impossible. Knowing the negative impact of the contents of the baby bottle and dental decay is a good first step in prevention of dental decay.

Contact Grout Family Dentistry at 303-730-1222 to learn more and to schedule your child’s first visit.

Having access to a dental provider during normal business hours is wonderful. But many dental emergencies occur after your dental office is closed for the day or week-end. Having a dentist that has an emergency number to reach them after hours is certainly a plus in the event of an emergency.

Posting that after-hours number in a conspicuous place inside your home would aid all family members and those responsible for their care. Carrying that same number in your wallet is also wise because accidents don’t always occur at home.

If a tooth is knocked out, it is critical to reach your dental provider and be seen within one hour if possible. But what should you do between an accident and reaching your dental office? The tooth should be rinsed off being careful not to handle the root of the tooth. If possible, the tooth should be replaced in the socket and held in place during transport to the dental office.

If you are dealing with a very young child or the patient is very upset, placing the tooth in a glass of milk during transport might be a better alternative than trying to replace the tooth.

Some dental emergencies might appear worse than they are. If you chip a tooth, but there isn’t any discomfort or swelling, this likely is not an emergency. You should contact your dentist and be seen during normal office hours, but an after-hours call would not be necessary.

A child that has punctured the soft tissue inside their mouth or their lip can bleed making the wound look very serious. Generally rinsing the mouth and applying ice and a compress will be sufficient unless it is obvious that sutures are required. This is a judgment call, but if the bleeding is controlled, seeing your dentist immediately is usually not necessary.

Knowing what to do in the event of an emergency can make you a hero if the need arises. And having access to your dentist after office hours guarantees you will be prepared for any dental emergency.

To learn more tips on how to handle a dental emergency in Littleton CO, contact our experienced team at Grout Family Dentistry.

A dental implant is a small device that resembles a screw that is surgically placed in the gum tissue where a tooth is missing. The implant is intended to fuse to the bone making it the anchor for your new tooth acting much like the root of your natural tooth.

The implant becomes a permanent part of your dental anatomy, and your implant dentist will complete your procedure by providing you with a final restoration that closely matches the shape and shade of your natural teeth. This makes your dental implant undetectable and allows you to function in much the same way as before your tooth loss. 

If you opt not to proceed with treatment to replace that lost tooth, there are several potential scenarios:

• A gap due to a missing tooth allows the potential for the remaining teeth to shift. If this happens, your bite can be affected, creating problems with grinding and clenching, as well as other problems attributed to a malocclusion.
• Speech can be affected by a missing tooth.
• Eating a well-balanced diet can be difficult with a missing tooth.
• Your self-confidence can be hampered if all of a sudden you are uncomfortable with your smile due to your tooth loss.

Now that you know what can happen if you decide not to pursue dental treatment for that lost tooth, let’s look at the positive aspect of replacing a tooth lost to decay, disease or trauma.

The discomfort you realized because of your dental dilemma will be resolved. You can eat, speak and smile with confidence again.

Your implant dentist will prepare a treatment plan specifically to fit you and your dental needs. The entire process including the appointments needed, what is involved in the actual procedure, healing time and financial commitment will be discussed thoroughly before proceeding with treatment.

Understanding the positive impact your new tooth can provide will reinforce your decision to move forward.  A consultation is the first step to seeing what life can be like again with your new dental implant. Contact Grout Family Dentistry, serving the Highlands Ranch area, at 303-730-1222 to schedule your visit.

How Digital X-Rays Work

Traditional x-rays use a low dose of x-ray light to transmit pictures to film that is sensitive to this type of light. The film must then be developed in order for the dentist to evaluate the pictures. This can take several minutes.

Rather than using film, digital x-rays use a special sensor that responds to exposure to x-rays. This sensor transmits the resulting images directly to a computer in digital format. The pictures are available for evaluation immediately—there is no need for delay while x-rays are developed on film.

Advantages of Digital X-Rays

Digital x-rays offer numerous advantages over traditional film x-rays. These include:

• No film or other waste, decreasing environmental impact
• Lower radiation exposure
• Faster development of pictures
• Easier evaluation
• Easier storage and transfer

Because digital x-rays can be stored easily on the computer, they can also be easily and quickly compared to each other. With special software, your dentist can compare a series of x-rays that have been taken over a period of time. These detailed digital comparisons make it easy to see any changes that might have occurred, including very small changes that might not be immediately obvious on a single x-ray.

To find out how digital x-rays can help improve diagnostics and ensure your long term dental health, please contact ourLittletonoffice at 303-730-1222. With digital x-rays, we can closely monitor your teeth and ensure that decay and other problems are treated promptly.

What Causes Jawbone Atrophy?

Under normal circumstances, the roots of your teeth stimulate growth in the jawbone when you bite and chew. When teeth are lost, these roots are no longer present, and the bone is no longer regularly stimulated. This causes the bone tissue to deteriorate gradually. After many years, the jawbone atrophies enough that it can actually change the shape and appearance of your face. 

Traditional dentures do not help stimulate growth in the jawbone because they rest on top of the gums. Bone growth is stimulated by movement of the roots within the jawbone and by pressure on the chewing surfaces. Dentures do not supply this kind of stimulation, and thus do not help maintain bone mass in the jaw.

How Dental Implants Help Preserve Bone Mass

Dental implants provide an artificial tooth root that is placed directly into the jawbone. This root is made of titanium, which naturally bonds with bone. When you speak, bite and chew, the replacement roots react the same way natural roots would, providing sufficient stimulation to the jawbone to keep its tissues growing and regenerating.

For dental implants to be placed successfully, sufficient bone mass must already exist in the jawbone. In some cases, if teeth have been missing for a long time or if you have been wearing dentures, your implant dentist might recommend bone grafts to provide sufficient support for your implants.

To find out more about dental implants and how they can help you keep a healthy, beautiful smile and a strong jawbone, please contact Grout Family Dentistry serving Highlands Ranch to schedule a consultation.