We want to offer treatment to help each and every member of your family, from the youngest to the oldest, enjoy optimal oral health. From checkups to custom mouthguards, we work hard to provide healthy smiles and personalized treatment. In today’s blog, your Londonderry, NH, dentist talks about our approach to family dentistry.
The Checkup and Cleaning Visit
When we see you for the first time, or as part of your regular six-month appointment, our team will conduct a dental exam. The checkup is an essential part of family dentistry and involves closely examining the smile with digital x-rays and intraoral cameras, so we can make a diagnosis quickly and comfortably, and with precision as well. Our team can then identify problems in their earliest stages, often addressing them before you or your family members experience discomfort. A regular visit helps us catch these issues quickly. In the same visit, we will take time to clean the teeth. A dental cleaning involves removing all plaque and tartar from the teeth with a scaling device and a manual pick, lowering the risk of bad breath, teeth stains, cavities, and gum disease. You then leave with a brighter smile!
Children’s Dentistry
Our team offers care for kids as well as part of our approach to family dentistry! We provide checkups and cleanings, and also discuss good oral hygiene habits and help kids understand the importance of caring for their smiles. We also have unique preventive treatments to help lower the risk of cavities. When they attend their checkup visit, we can apply fluoride to the teeth to help strengthen the outer enamel and fight the onset of cavities. Since many kids have trouble thoroughly brushing and flossing the rear teeth, we can coat these molars in dental sealants, which cover them and prevent food and drink particles from being trapped between them, lowering the risk of cavities. Sealants can stay in place for up to a decade in some cases! Application for fluoride and sealants takes seconds, and kids just need to avoid food and drink for about 30 minutes as they cure.
TMJ Disorder and Bruxism
When you have strain on your jaw joints, this could lead to TMJ disorder, which alters how you open and close your mouth, and causes major discomfort. Likewise, you could also develop chronic teeth grinding, also known as bruxism, which can damage teeth and leave them vulnerable to cavities. Symptoms for both include pain in the teeth, jaw, and face, as well as the neck and shoulders. Earaches could occur too. Our team can create a custom mouthguard that is worn as you sleep and helps shift the jaw to ease underlying stress. This also places a barrier between the upper and lower teeth to prevent further damage to your smile.
Sports Mouthguard
Speaking of our oral appliances, our team can also create one that you wear when you play sports. These can help kids and adults alike, and are custom-made to offer a greater level of protection than traditional boil-and-bite options. This helps reduce the risk of damaged teeth or even knocked-out ones!
Sleep Apnea
If you have trouble sleeping due to sleep apnea, which causes you to stop breathing in the night and interrupts your sleep cycle, then you need help. Otherwise, this could leave you exhausted. Impact your work performance and relationships, and even strain your immune system and heart health. But we can help, and we can do so without the need for a loud and uncomfortable CPAP machine. Instead, we can create an oral appliance that looks and fits like a mouthguard. When worn, this shifts your jaw to prevent the collapse of soft tissues, so you breathe without interruption. This also helps stop chronic snoring too!
Nitrous Oxide
As part of our family dentistry approach, we want to ensure our treatments are a comfortable experience, which is why we offer nitrous oxide sedation, helping anxious patients enter a state of calm and relaxation. We administer this through a mask over the nose, and you breathe in a gas that helps you stay calm and relaxed, with little to no memory of the procedure at all. The effects then wear off once the procedure ends, so you can return to work or school. This is mild and safe for kids and adults alike.
If you have any questions about family dentistry, then contact our team today to learn more.
Schedule a Visit for Family Dentistry
Our team offers care to help smiles of all ages remain strong, healthy, and beautiful for years to come. To schedule an appointment for family dentistry with My Dentist in Londonderry, NH call (603)965-3407.
