Bonding in Parker, CO

As a general dental practice, we at Ardas Family Dental in Parker provide restorations to people of all ages with a wide range of needs. If a patient is missing a tooth or needs one extracted, we can provide replacements that are not only durable, but which preserve the mouth’s aesthetic by matching the other teeth’s color. But most restorations don’t require as much intervention as replacing an entire crown or tooth root. Among the most common kinds of restorations is bonding, which can be done in a single visit for patients suffering from minor chips and imperfections.

Dental bonding is done when a small amount of the tooth’s enamel has been chipped, or when a tooth has a small crack or stain or its surface area needs to be increased. It may be provided as an alternative to veneers if a patient wants their teeth to look longer or close small gaps between them. After the teeth have been cleaned, we will apply an etching acid to the ones undergoing bonding to increase their surface area. The bonding material is applied as a soft resin and shaped with tools called burnishers. It is then hardened with a blue light and polished.

The process of applying bonding to a single tooth usually takes an hour or less. It may not even require anesthetic, if the patient doesn’t have an exposed nerve or decay. Bonding is also sometimes done in conjunction with periodontal treatment if a patient’s gums have receded to expose their sensitive tooth roots. However, once the bonding is solidified, a patient may take care of it through regular brushing and flossing and expect it to last for as long as ten years.

Dr. Roopi Kattaura operates Ardas Family Dental at 10233 S Parker Rd, Suite 205, Parker, Colorado. Call 720-459-8420.

Acid Reflux in Parker, CO

If your teeth are sensitive, it means something is wrong with them and you should get them examined. Ardas Family Dental in Parker provides treatments for a wide range of dental problems, and we believe everybody is entitled to comfortable, functional teeth. There are several potential contributors to tooth sensitivity, including bacterial infection and nighttime jaw clenching. But if you’re older or a smoker, one source of toothaches to consider is acid reflux.

The powerful acid in our stomach is sealed off from the esophagus by a sphincter. Normally, this sphincter only opens to admit food into the stomach, but there are times when it can get stuck open or open in response to swallowing or upheaval in the stomach. When that happens, acidic gas bubbles up, causing chemical damage to the esophagus and the painful sensation we call heartburn. Although enamel is much harder than esophageal lining, if acid is frequently entering the back of the mouth, it can slowly dissolve enamel, starting with the upper back teeth. This would ultimately leave teeth with less shielding for their nerves.

Acid reflux is more likely to occur in people who smoke, consume alcohol, or who eat foods such as red meat, onions and garlic, chocolate, or citrus fruits, particularly in large quantities before bed. Preventing acid reflux would usually require a change in lifestyle, although a gastrologist may be able to provide medication. A dentist may be able to recognize acid reflux by the distinctive pattern of wear it leaves. If acid reflux is suspected, patients may benefit from the application of sealants and fluoride treatments for more shielding, and from chewing artificial gum to stimulate the production of more saliva, diluting the acid.

Dr. Roopi Kattaura operates Ardas Family Dental at 10233 S Parker Rd, Suite 205, Parker, Colorado. Call 720-459-8420.

Treating Loose Fillings at Ardas Family Dental

Fillings are one of the less invasive ways of repairing a broken or decayed tooth. But they do eventually break down, and when they do, they need to be replaced as quickly as possible. At Ardas Family Dental in Parker, we strongly encourage our patients to maintain regular dental appointments so we can repair fillings before they come loose. But even if they do, a filling could still come loose due to an accident, so we want our patients to understand the warning signs and dangers of filling failure.

Loose fillings are usually painful and can be easily identified by the patient. But one warning sign you might not know to look out for is a steady trickle of saliva coming from the filling. This is caused by the seal holding the filling in place breaking down and saliva pooling into the crevices. If you are in pain, you may want to apply an over-the-counter topical gel, or hold a cold compress to your face. A failing filling is a dental emergency and you can call us to request it be replaced as soon as possible. The longer it goes untreated, the more likely it is to become infected, since you won’t be able to brush bacteria out of the crevices in the seal.

Replacing a filling is usually a simple matter, and may be planned for during regular dental examinations. Typically, fillings are expected to last for ten years, although they may have to be replaced sooner if they are large and subjected to a great deal of stress. The sealants holding them in place are less durable than natural enamel, and forces such as chewing and night-time jaw clenching take more of a toll on them. If replacing a large filling frequently is troublesome for you, you may want to consider a sturdier replacement, such as an artificial crown.

Dr. Roopi Kattaura operates Ardas Family Dental at 10233 S Parker Rd, Suite 205, Parker, Colorado. Call 720-459-8420.

Getting Inlays and Onlays at Ardas Family Dental

If you’ve suffered a broken or severely decayed tooth, we have solutions at Ardas Family Dental in Parker. Our dental office is equipped to provide restorations ranging from simple fillings to implants and full-mouth dentures. But if you’ve incurred significant damage to the crown of a tooth, you may need something in between a mere filling and a full replacement. Partial crowns come in the forms of inlays and onlays, and although we hope our patients never require them, we want them to feel comfortable with the concepts should the need arise.

Our molars and premolars have to be able to withstand a lot of force. For the most part, they can, with their wide areas distributing the force of a bite, and their raised bits, called cusps, providing traction for grinding up food. But grinding teeth can split, particularly if a patient clenches their jaw in their sleep. Food debris can also get caught in between the cusps, allowing decay-causing bacteria to multiply there until a hole develops on the tooth’s surface. If we have to drill away a decayed indentation, we may use a partial crown called an inlay to replace the missing enamel. If we also have to replace a broken cusp, we would call the partial crown an onlay.

The placement of an inlay or onlay isn’t too different from the placement of a full crown. After removing damaged enamel, we would make an impression of a patient’s mouth and provide them with a temporary crown. Once we receive the custom-milled partial crown from a dental laboratory, the patient would return to have it cemented in. Partial crowns for permanent teeth are made to blend in with the natural enamel surrounding them and they’re meant to last. If a patient brushes their teeth twice a day and wears a night guard to protect their teeth from nighttime jaw clenching, a partial crown could last for ten years.

Dr. Roopi Kattaura operates Ardas Family Dental at 10233 S Parker Rd, Suite 205, Parker, Colorado. Call 720-459-8420.

Treating Cracked Teeth at Ardas Family Dental

Tooth sensitivity is unfortunately common, but don’t think that means you have to live with it, or that it’s not a big deal. At Ardas Family Dental in Parker, Colorado, we provide patients with all sorts of restorations, including implants. When a tooth is especially sensitive, or when the gum is inflamed around it, the tooth may be cracked. In those cases, we’d have several treatment options available, but patients need to be aware of the importance of getting treated as soon as possible.

Cracks can develop for all sorts of reasons, including biting down on something too hard, loss of structural integrity to tooth decay, and teeth clenching or grinding. (The last has gotten more common during the pandemic.) Sometimes, small cracks called craze lines can develop simply due to age. A craze line could be covered with a veneer, but a crack in the crown may necessitate the placement of a partial crown, or for the entire natural crown to be filed down and replaced with a prosthetic. If the crack is deep enough to reach the dental pulp, we would also do a root canal to ensure the patient is not suffering from an infection that could progress into an abscess or blood poisoning.

If a tooth is cracked below the gum line, it would likely have to be replaced entirely. If so, it may be possible for us to replace it with either an implant-supported crown or a partial denture. An implant would have the advantages of preserving the patient’s jaw bone structure, allowing them to continue their regular oral hygiene routine, and wouldn’t need to be refitted, but would also have to be replaced if the implant were to fracture. Regardless, a cracked tooth won’t heal on its own, and is likely to continue to cause the patient pain and may become an avenue for infection until it is treated.

Dr. Roopi Kattaura operates Ardas Family Dental at 10233 S Parker Rd, Suite 205, Parker, Colorado. Call 720-459-8420 or visit Ardas Family Dental and fill out a contact sheet.

Diet and Dental Erosion at Ardas Family Dental

Whether you’re suffering from a dental infection or mechanical damage to your teeth, we’re happy to help you at Ardas Family Dental in Parker, Colorado. Our team of experienced dental professionals will provide you with comfortable fillings and fluoride treatments to protect your teeth from further damage. But once you’re home, you’ll need to know how to protect your own teeth, so we thought it would be a good idea to examine some of the ways our diets contribute to dental erosion and decay.

 

Tooth decay is the result of an infection in the tooth’s outer layer, the enamel. Certain species of oral bacteria produce acid as a by-product of their cellular respiration, and the acid gets trapped in a sticky matrix of bacteria and the teeth’s biological film. The bacteria is able to quickly break down simple sugars, and they can also digest starch if it is left on the teeth for long enough.

 

But teeth can also suffer from direct exposure to acid. Citric juice and soft drinks have a large amount of acid as well as simple sugar, and citric juice is often used as a flavoring in sour candy and energy gel. Citric acid can also trigger acid reflux from the stomach, as can alcohol, onions, garlic, and red meat. Besides reducing our intake of these foods, we can also combat acidic erosion by making sure we are properly hydrated. Water not only washes away acid and sugar, but also helps us to produce more saliva, somewhat balancing acid’s chemical effect. We can also produce more saliva by chewing sugarfree gum, which will remove food debris. And as always, brushing and flossing will remove bacteria, the food debris they consume, and the acid they produce.

Dr. Roopi Kattaura operates Ardas Family Dental at 10233 S Parker Rd, Suite 205, Parker, Colorado. Call 720-459-8420 or visit Ardas Family Dental and fill out a contact sheet.

 

Treating TMD and Toothaches at Ardas Family Dental

Amid all the extra stress people are under, many have noticed that they’ve developed pain in their jaws, necks, and teeth. If you’re one of them, you may be suffering from temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMD. Besides being painful, this disorder may lead you to crack your teeth, or at least make it difficult for you to speak or chew. At Ardas Family Dental, we help patients suffering from TMD to find personalized solutions, but first, let’s take a closer look at what contributes to it.

The temporomandibular joints are the place on either side of our head where the lower jaw (the mandible) connects to the rest of the skull. Each temporomandibular joint needs to be able to exert a great deal of force, but be able to move freely in every direction. When people are under stress, they tend to clench their jaws, and during their sleep, they may grind their teeth together, which is a habit called bruxism. The pressure generated by bruxism can inflame the temporomandibular joints, causing them to become stiff and painful. It can also wear down tooth enamel, push teeth into new positions, or cause them to break completely.

Sometimes, a rheumatoid condition could be contributing to TMD, and patients who are under severe stress may need psychological counseling. But a dentist can help by providing patients with custom-fitted night guards. These oral appliances will comfortably keep the jaws separate, preventing the teeth from grinding together. We can also provide patients with partial crowns and other restorations for teeth that have already suffered damage and help them determine whether orthodontic therapy is needed.

Dr. Roopi Kattaura operates Ardas Family Dental at 10233 S Parker Rd, Suite 205, Parker, Colorado. Call 720-459-8420 or visit Ardas Family Dental and fill out a contact sheet.

 

Sealants in Parker, CO

We’re proud to be a trusted provider of oral health services to Parker residents of all ages here at Ardas Family Dental. Children are especially vulnerable to tooth decay, with one in four suffering a cavity before they turn four years old. We can repair their teeth, but it’s important for them to be protected from future tooth decay, as well. That’s why, in addition to teaching them proper oral hygiene, we administer sealants to their back teeth.

The points on our molars and premolars are called cusps. They are used to chew food, but the indentations between them can easily become a trap for debris. If the debris is allowed to remain, it will become food for oral bacteria, which will produce acid as a waste product. Children tend to have trouble brushing thoroughly, which is why sealants are used to slightly smooth out their back teeth and shield them against acid.

A sealant is a small layer of plastic that is painted on by a dentist following a professional cleaning. Before it is placed, the teeth will be etched with a mild acid in order to increase their surface area, allowing them to build a stronger bond with the sealant. The plastic coating will be hardened with a blue light, and the patient will have to refrain from eating for a few hours. After that, they will be able to chew normally. When cared for through ordinary oral hygiene, sealants can last for over ten years. Although children are the most common victims of tooth decay, they are not the only ones, which is why we may also offer sealants to adults.

Dr. Roopi Kattaura operates Ardas Family Dental at 10233 S Parker Rd, Suite 205, Parker, Colorado. Call 720-459-8420 or visit Ardas Family Dental and fill out a contact sheet.

Combating Acid Reflux at Ardas Family Dental

If you suffer from acid reflux, your teeth may be in danger. We pride ourselves on patient education at Ardas Family Dental in Parker, which is why we want to inform the public of this often-overlooked cause of tooth sensitivity.

Acid removes minerals from enamel, the hard outer surface of teeth. Without enamel, the sensitive inner layers of the teeth are more exposed to heat and coldness. In people with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), the sphincter separating the stomach from the esophagus opens when a person swallows, allowing stomach acid to escape. Stomach acid is highly corrosive—the sensation of it burning the esophagus is misleadingly called “heartburn”—and it damages teeth it comes into contact with. Because of their position, the upper back teeth are the most vulnerable.

Dentists can recognize acid reflux by its distinctive pattern of erosion. It causes the teeth to appear glazed and white before becoming pitted. Dental sealants can help protect enamel, but once enamel mass has been lost, it can only be restored with prosthetics such as partial crowns. To reduce their chance of developing GERD, patients should avoid smoking and consuming large amounts of foods such as red meat, onions and garlic, and citric acid before lying down.

Dr. Roopi Kattaura operates Ardas Family Dental at 10233 S Parker Rd, Suite 205, Parker, Colorado. Call 720-459-8420 or visit Ardas Family Dental and fill out a contact sheet.

Lone Tree CO, Aurora CO, Elizabeth CO, Highlands Ranch CO, general dentist, kids dentist, pediatric dentist, emergency dentist, family dentist, Medicaid dentist, teeth whitening dentist, Ardas Family Dental, Parker CO