Services
New Patients are Always Welcome!
Below is a list of dental services provided by Dr. Bruce and his staff. For more information, contact Dr. Bruce’s office today.
Having a confident smile can change everything. And Invisalign makes the decision easy because you can get a stunning smile without most people even noticing you are going through treatment. It works through a series of invisible, removable, and comfortable aligners that no one can tell you’re wearing. So you can smile more during treatment as well as after.
Dr. Bruce’s staff goes one step further by giving you a complimentary whitening treatment at the end of the Invisalign® treatment.
With nearly 40 Million Americans having lost some or all of their teeth, dental implants are a popular option for replacing those lost teeth. Implants are comfortable, attractive and will help you regain your confidence in your smile. They are an alternative to bridges, partials or dentures. Implants can look and feel like natural teeth. An implant simply is a metallic titanium object that is inserted into our jawbone to act like a natural tooth-root. Titanium isn’t recognized by the body’s immune system, so it is not rejected as an implant. It integrates with the jawbone to give a firm support to the artificial replacement that it will support.
Reasons for Implants:
- No worrying about dentures falling out - a stable foundation
- Improves biting pressure
- Insufficient teeth amount or jaw structure
- Restores proper chewing ability which leads to a better diet and improved overall health
- Eliminates tooth shifting
- No loose dentures
- Implants look and feel like natural teeth.
Patients who wish to restore or enhance their smile quickly and easily will appreciate the sudden and dramatic improvement offered by porcelain veneers.
Porcelain laminate veneers are a custom- made “shell covering” placed over the teeth to enhance or correct their appearance. They can close space between teeth, restore traumatized teeth, repair worn teeth, increase their size, replace deteriorating restorations, conceal badly stained teeth and straighten mildly misaligned teeth. In as few as two visits you can have the beautiful smile you have always wanted.
Teeth Bleaching/Zoom®
Your smile is important. It is one of the first things you notice when you meet someone. A whiter, brighter smile is beautiful - it can help you feel better about yourself and make a memorable impression.
At home whitening will get your teeth between 90% to a 100% of their whitening potential. This is a two appointment procedure. We first take impressions to make customized trays to fit over your teeth. Next, you return to receive your whitening trays and gel. The entire process takes approximately four to five weeks to complete, leaving you with a beautiful white smile.
Zoom!® in-office whitening is a revolutionary procedure which allows you to whiten your teeth to 100% of their whitening potential. It is safe, effective and fast. In just over an hour, your teeth will be dramatically whiter. As seen on ABC’s Extreme Makeover, it is the ideal choice if you want immediate results.
A porcelain bridge is a custom device that is anchored to neighboring teeth to replace one or more missing teeth. When a lost tooth is replaced with a bridge, the teeth on either side of the missing one are prepared as crowns to hold the artificial replacement tooth in place. Porcelain material is the most popular choice because it is durable and maintains the natural look of your smile.
When teeth are missing, the remaining teeth can drift out of position, which can lead to a change in your bite, the loss of additional teeth, decay and gum disease. To reduce these risks to your dental health, one option we may recommend is the placement of a fixed bridge when tooth loss occurs. Porcelain bridges restore your chewing and speaking ability, and cosmetically restore your smile by maintaining your facial shape. Bridgework gives you a more youthful appearance, allowing you to smile with confidence.
Dentures and Partials
There are many ways to replace missing teeth. If there are several missing teeth, you can have a complete removable denture, a removable partial, or dental implants in addition to a denture or partial.
Years ago, the only solution to diseased or damaged teeth was to remove them. Now, modern dental techniques often make it possible to save the damaged teeth. One of the techniques used is endodontic treatment, more commonly known as root canal therapy.
During the endodontic treatment the nerve, blood and nutrient supply to the tooth is removed. This will cause the tooth to become brittle and prone to fracturing which can result in the need to extract the tooth. In many cases, a full coverage dental crown restoration may be recommended to prevent this from happening.
Preventive Services
Think you have healthy teeth and gums? If you’re not seeing a dentist regularly for routine preventive care, you might want to think twice. Preventive care dentistry is the only way to ensure that you maintain healthy teeth and gums that will keep you looking and feeling great.
If you want to treat and prevent common problems such as bad breath, tooth decay and gum disease, you're going to need to seek preventive dental services on a regular basis. With regular checkups, teeth cleaning, fluoride treatments and dental sealants, we can help you maintain a healthy smile that will last a lifetime.
Mercury-free Fillings
No longer do patients have to endure the unsightly look of metal when they smile. Tooth colored restorations are now the accepted alternative to traditional amalgam silver fillings. The color can be matched to your tooth to produce a highly esthetic result.
Periodontal (gum) disease is the major cause of tooth loss in adults, affecting three out of four people over the age of 35. Periodontal diseases are classified according to the severity of the disease. The two major stages are gingivitis and periodontitis. Gingivitis is a milder and reversible form of periodontal disease that only affects the gums. Gingivitis may lead to more serious, destructive forms of periodontal disease called periodontitis.
It is possible to have periodontal disease and have no warning signs. That is one reason why regular dental checkups and periodontal examinations are very important. Treatment methods depend upon the type of disease and how far the condition has progressed. Advanced periodontal disease may cause teeth to become loose and require extraction. Good oral hygiene at home is essential to help keep periodontal disease from becoming more serious or recurring. You don’t have to lose teeth to periodontal disease. Brush, clean between your teeth, eat a balanced diet, and schedule regular dental visits for a lifetime of healthy smiles. Recent studies suggest gum disease may also contribute to or be warning signs of potentially life threatening conditions such as Heart Disease, Stroke, Diabetes, Chronic Kidney Disease, and Premature Births.
For more information go to: www.perio.org
Biting surface decay is almost 100% preventable because of a procedure called a sealant. The use of fluorides has dramatically reduced the incidence of tooth decay. However, fluorides are most effective in protecting the smooth surfaces of the teeth. Their use is limited in the pit and fissure area. Sealants provide additional protection by shielding these hard to reach grooves from decay-causing agents. After the tooth has been cleaned, the dental sealant is placed and bonded to the enamel and will stay on for many years. The tooth now has no susceptible grooves, and the chances of getting decay on the biting surface are minimal.
Nitrous Oxide
The reason for using nitrous oxide ("laughing gas") is for its calming effect. Since it doesn't numb the teeth, anesthetic is still necessary. Nitrous oxide just helps to relax you.
It is Dr. Bruce’s goal to help you maintain and improve your oral health. To achieve this goal, the dental care that you and your family receive in our office always includes state-of-the-art equipment. Among the newest technologies is a small laser instrument call the DIAGNOdent, which scans your teeth with harmless laser light searching for hidden decay.
Locating hidden decay before it destroys tooth structure (from the inside out) is a major goal for modern dentistry. The widespread use of fluoride supplements in dental materials, toothpastes and drinking water has made tooth surfaces harder and more resistant to decay. However, diagnosing cavities beneath the hard surfaces is more challenging because the disease process can start through microscopic defects in the hard surface enamel and can readily spread in the softer tooth structure beneath the surface.
X-rays and probing with an explorer are limited in detecting sub surface decay, particularly when the cavity is in its early stages. Fortunately, the new DIAGNOdent is a major breakthrough that allows the dentist to monitor the areas below the hard surfaces. The DIAGNOdent allows the dentist to locate hidden decay, and with treatment stop the spread of disease before it destroys the tooth from within.
Oral cancer screening is a routine part of a dental examination. Regular check-ups, including an examination of the entire mouth, are essential in the early detection of cancerous and pre-cancerous conditions. You may have a very small, but dangerous, oral spot or sore and not be aware of it.
Each year in the US alone, approximately 34,000 individuals are newly diagnosed with oral cancer. The death rate from oral cancer is very high. Only half of all patients diagnosed with oral cancer survive more than five years. It is now easier than ever to detect oral cancer early. ViziLite® and MICROLux DL® are oral lesion identification and marking sytem that is used as an adjunct to the conventional head and neck examination.