Wearing A Mouthguard To Treat TMJ Disorder

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El Paso, TX, TMJ Disorder

As we age, protecting our smile from wear and tear becomes more and more important. What steps can you take to preserve as much healthy material as possible? By brushing and flossing your teeth each day, you prevent the accumulation of harmful dental plaque that occurs from the combination of oral bacteria and food debris. When you attend regular checkups and exams, we help remove deposits you cannot remove on your own. This also helps protect your smile from the ravaging effects of gum disease, the number one cause of tooth loss among adults. But what if a certain threat strikes while you are sleeping? If you wake each morning with pain in muscles near your jaw, you may have a condition known as TMD or temporomandibular joint disorder. With no treatment, TMD makes opening and closing your jaw rather difficult. You may experience excruciating pain as well. Because TMD is associated with bruxism, or constant grinding of the teeth, treating your condition can help preserve your smile. Fortunately, we can provide a non-surgical intervention with the creation of a custom oral mouthguard.

At Sunny Smiles Family Dentistry, we know that successful treatment for TMJ disorder can greatly improve your quality of life. When are more fully able to articulate your jaw’s range of motion, you wake feeling more refreshed. Wearing a custom mouthguard at night can free you up to more easily enjoy meals and speak as well.

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filed under: TMJ Disorder

Dental Implants Restore Your Smile Permanently

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El Paso, TX, Dental Implants

If you have recently lost one of your teeth, you understand how disruptive it can become immediately. While the esthetic effect of tooth loss is apparent, the loss of function your bite experiences may be even worse. This is because your smile relies on every single tooth to operate fully. When a single tooth is missing, the neighboring teeth can begin to drift out of position and toward the open gap. This increases your level of bite misalignment, increasing the likelihood of tooth decay, gum disease, and other oral threats. When certain teeth take a disproportionate amount of force from your bite, they wear down the enamel, exposing sensitive inner material to bacteria that live in your mouth. By damaging other teeth, you become at risk of losing additional teeth. Fortunately, a dental implant could provide a permanent replacement tooth with the aid of a post inserted directly into your jawbone.

At Sunny Smiles Family Dentistry, we offer restorative treatments to combat dental loss with prosthodontics that return form and function. This means designing an implant that replicates your natural tooth’s appearance while restoring the strength of its bite. To determine if you are healthy enough for this procedure, we will take X-ray scans of the jawbone to evaluate its density. If you qualify, we can schedule an implant procedure shortly.

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filed under: Dental Implants

Removing Your Tooth Infection

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El Paso, TX, Tooth Infection

If you experience a pain in one of your teeth that will not resolve after a day or so, let us know! This symptom may indicate a serious infection that without treatment, risks spreading to other parts of your body. When bacteria in your tooth’s inner chamber enter the bloodstream, they spread the infection in short order. However by identifying foreign material with an X-ray, we can determine if you require a root canal to remove all infected material. Because this procedure permanently alters the surface of your tooth, we can also design a custom dental crown to restore your tooth’s function and appearance above your gumline.

At Sunny Smiles Family Dentistry, we provide emergency services to repair teeth when you sustain injuries and infections. While no one looks forward to a root canal procedure, this treatment is relatively painless, leading to desirable relief of your infection symptoms. Think of this treatment as the first step in restoring your healthy tooth. With the aid of local anesthetics, we can numb the affected area or provide a stronger form of sedation when you have increased anxiety

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filed under: Cavities/Tooth Decay

Brighten Your Smile With Professional Whitening

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El Paso, TX, Professional Whitening

Is your smile as bright as you would like it to be? If your smile has begun to dull or take on stains and blemishes, we could help explore cosmetic treatments to return to its original shade. When imperfections build within your enamel, a bleaching agent can strip foreign material to reveal the white layer below. While store-bought bleaching treatments may seem convenient, our professional service is custom-dialed in to help achieve the specific color you desire. By taking care to apply your whitening session, we help avoid painful interactions with your gums. If we discover that your discoloration problems are due to the loss of your enamel, we can also explore renewing your shade with the placement of porcelain veneers.

At Sunny Smiles Family Dentistry, we believe confidence in your smile can enhance your overall well-being. This means that our cosmetic services seek to lift your mood by returning your jow in showing your smile to others. Don’t let yellowing or staining get you down! A professional whitening session can lift multiple shades in as little as an hour. To accommodate your schedule, we provide this service both in-office as well as with a take-home kit for your personal use. Enjoy applying your touchups after the initial treatment session!

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filed under: Cosmetic Dentistry

Looking Forward To Your Next Dental Checkup

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El Paso, TX, Dental Checkup

How do you keep your smile as healthy as can be? Brushing and flossing each morning and evening provide the basis for your oral care. These daily activities remove food debris and plaque buildup that can stain your teeth and lead to active concerns. However, you also require regular dental checkups to ensure that your smile is free from tooth decay and gum disease. These biannual meetings create the opportunity to create a dental record that alerts us when sudden changes appear in your oral structures. Because we see you so frequently, we can react early in a smile threat’s development, leading to a more conservative treatment. This could mean placing a dental filling rather than waiting for a more painful symptom of decay that requires a more involved procedure. If it has been longer than you would like to admit since your last cleaning, we would like to remind you it is never too late to get back on track!

At Sunny Smiles Family Dentistry, we encourage a preventive attitude toward your oral care. This means combining healthy at-home habits with regular cleanings and exams to prevent smile threats before they take place. Routine checkups also allow us to treat problems such as cavities in the same visit instead of waiting for their symptoms to advance. If you would like to pursue a cosmetic or restorative procedure, we can discuss them at your checkup as well.

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filed under: General Dentistry

Restoring Missing Teeth With Dental Implants

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El Paso, TX, Dental Implants

Losing one of your teeth is a disappointing situation that immediately impacts your everyday life. While the effect on your appearance is quite clear, you quickly come to understand how your smile’s function reduces. Because you rely on your teeth to aid in forming speech, losing a tooth can alter the sound of your voice. You find yourself avoiding once favorite foods that now threaten to harm your open socket. Without the stability of the now missing tooth, the remaining teeth risk drifting. This compacts problems with your smile’s alignment, leading to potential incidences of tooth decay and gum disease. You may even feel consistent soreness in the joints of your jaw as you move your mouth in awkward positions to attempt to complete your bite. Fortunately, by pursuing a prosthodontic replacement tooth, you can return your bite’s ability and appearance in a handful of visits.

At Sunny Smiles Family Dentistry, we provide restorative dental services that help you respond to losing a tooth. We can examine your mouth to determine if you are healthy enough for a dental implant. Because this treatment secures permanently within your jawbone, you require enough bone density to hold it in place. For alternative treatments, we also offer dental bridges that can return your smile without the need for surgery.

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filed under: Dental Implants

Toothache Relief With Root Canal Therapy

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Indoor portrait of young european caucasian man isolated on gray background, standing in blue t-shirt with crossed arms, smiling and looking straight at camera

When you wake up with a toothache that will not resolve after a day or so, you require a dental inspection. This is because a constant ache often indicates a bacterial infection that risks spreading to your bloodstream without treatment. We can perform an X-ray that detects whether or not foreign material is present in your tooth’s inner chamber. The pain you feel results from the body’s inflammatory response swelling tissues that touch the sensitive nerves within your pulp. By performing a root canal, we remove the infectious material and your inflammation subsides. Because this procedure permanently changes your tooth’s structure, you require a dental crown to restore your bite following root canal therapy.

At Sunny Smiles Family Dentistry, we understand that no one looks forward to a root canal. That is why it is important to understand how critical this procedure can be in relieving your pain. The application of local anesthetic means that you should feel little to no additional pain when removing your infection. The movement of our tools is perceived as pressure rather than pain. We can also discuss the use of dental sedation to relieve anxiety if you feel nervous about this treatment.

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filed under: Cavities/Tooth Decay

Enhancing The Color Of Your Smile

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smiling man

Are stains or blemishes beginning to build on the surface of your smile? If your grin is not the same bright, white shade it had when you were younger, we could help explore options to return its youthful sheen. By receiving a professional evaluation, we can let you know the nature of your discoloration and which cosmetic service best addresses its root cause. If you have markings that live within the enamel, a professional whitening session can instantly bring back a much brighter look. For teeth that become yellow due to loss of the enamel itself, a set of porcelain veneers could provide valuable improvement. This versatile cosmetic treatment can also cover physical imperfections with the same service.

At Sunny Smiles Family Dentistry, we understand your smile is a core component of how you present to the world. When you feel confident about its appearance, you feel more ready to tackle each day. That is why we provide multiple options for improving its appearance and benefitting your mental health. In today’s blog, we help you decide between situations where professional whitening or porcelain veneers are most appropriate.

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filed under: Cosmetic Dentistry

Oral Appliance Therapy Protects Teeth From Grinding

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Cheerful pretty blonde senior woman looking at camera, smiling with healthy white teeth, laughing, posing for shooting on sofa, touching chin. Senior lady home head shot portraitAre you concerned about wear and tear on your smile from constant grinding? Do you wake up each morning with feelings of restlessness or soreness in your face and jaw muscles? Both of these conditions arise from involuntary movement of the jaw as you sleep at night. If this is your case, we could design a custom night guard to protect your teeth while you sleep. With the right touch, a night guard can gently glide your jaw into a more comfortable position, granting relaxation until you rise feeling refreshed.

At Sunny Smiles Family Dentistry, we can help you achieve a better night’s sleep with a custom oral appliance. By taking unique measurements of your specific bite, we can create a device that goes far beyond the capabilities of a store-bought guard. Relieve pressure on your jaw’s joints and protect your smile from grinding with this effective treatment.

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filed under: Bruxism/Teeth-Grinding