New Patients Welcome
Get the healthy teeth you’ve always wanted with regular dental exams and treatments from Sidney Centre Family Dentistry. Our team provides caring, comprehensive dental services, from teeth whitening and dentures to veneers, fillings and dental cleaning. Sidney, BC patients can find a wealth of information on this page about our treatments as well as after-care tips. We cater to patients of all ages and can adapt our services to fit your unique needs. For additional information, you can also call our office to speak to our team about all of your oral health needs.
Caring for Dentures | Caring for Seniors | Dental Emergencies | Dental Care for Children | Instructions After Dental Surgery | Types of Filling Materials | Veneers, Crowns, Bridges and Implants
You need to care for false teeth and partial dentures as carefully as you would look after your natural teeth. Here’s how to care for your dentures:
NOTE: Do not forget to pay attention to your remaining natural teeth, especially in areas where the denture rests against your teeth. These areas are very prone to cavities and should be kept clean.
Natural Teeth
False Teeth
The Skin Inside the Mouth
Toothache
Knocked-Out Tooth
Broken Tooth
Each child will teethe at different times. Most children begin teething at about six months and most “baby” teeth are in by 3 years of age. The bottom front teeth usually appear first, followed by the top front teeth.
Does Teething Hurt?
Although many babies experience no pain, teething can cause some discomfort, making the baby irritable, fussy and not interested in eating. If your baby has a fever or diarrhea when teething, contact your family doctor.
Your baby may feel better if allowed to chew on a clean, chilled teething ring or wet face cloth. Teething cookies or biscuits are NOT a good choice, because they can stick to your baby’s teeth and cause tooth decay. Check with a health professional before using teething gels, ointments or teething tablets.
What is Early Childhood Tooth Decay?
Your baby’s teeth can start to decay from the first day they appear in the mouth. When a child uses a bottle for prolonged periods, especially during rest or sleep times, decay can develop. The decay starts along the gum line behind the top front teeth, which makes it hard to see. It spreads to the front of these teeth and can often affect all of your baby’s teeth. Fruit juice, sweetened tea, pop and even breast milk, cow’s milk and formula all contain sugars that can cause tooth decay if left in contact with the teeth for lengthy periods of time. Water will not harm the teeth, so it is a good choice between regular feeding times.
Preventing Early Childhood Tooth Decay
Good dental health care for your baby starts before teeth begin to appear. Clean your child’s mouth every day. Start soon after birth by wiping all around your baby’s mouth with a clean, wet face cloth or soft baby toothbrush. This will get the child used to regular cleaning and can also ease teething discomfort.
Once teeth appear (at about 6 months of age), smear a little fluoride toothpaste on a wet face cloth or baby toothbrush and gently clean your baby’s teeth. It is important to get in to the habit of doing this for your baby twice a day.
Cleaning Your Child’s Teeth
You should start cleaning your child’s mouth before your child has teeth so that the teeth can grow into a clean environment. Use a moist cloth or a soft baby brush and wipe all areas of the gums. Do not use toothpaste until your child has teeth.
Once the teeth have arrived, use a child-size soft toothbrush and a pea-sized dab of fluoridated toothpaste to clean his/her teeth. Flossing should start in any area where 2 or more teeth have erupted adjacent to each other. Brushing should be done in the morning and at night, and flossing should be done at night.
What About Fluoride?
Fluoride has been proven to be an effective and low-cost cavity fighter. Fluoride is added to most brands of toothpaste and is found naturally in some water supplies. A few major cities in Canada add a small amount of fluoride to their drinking water to raise the natural level to between 0.8 and 1.0 parts per million. This level is recommended for preventing tooth decay in all age groups by the Canadian Dental Association and the dental professionals of British Columbia. If you are unsure if your water supply contains optimum fluoride, call your local health unit. Fluoride supplements are often recommended for children in areas that do not have fluoride in the water and who are prone to cavities. This is a decision that should be discussed with your dentist.
Are Fillings Needed on Baby Teeth?
YES! When a baby tooth is broken or infected, several harmful things can happen if left untreated:
What About Soothers (Pacifiers)?
Soothers are sometimes given to infants at rest and sleep times or when the baby has been fed, but still wants to continue sucking. In the early weeks after birth, while breastfeeding is being established, it is not advisable to give your baby a soother, as it may interfere with their ability to learn how to breastfeed well. Talk to a public health nurse or other breastfeeding expert if you are having problems breastfeeding.
After feeding is well established, if you choose to give your baby a soother, here are a few tips:
A soother is better than sucking a thumb because you can control when and how your child uses a soother. You can’t control a thumb going into the mouth. The soother should no longer be used after all the baby teeth have arrived (approximately 3 years). Prolonged use will affect how the adult teeth erupt.
When Should Baby’s First Checkup Be?
Your baby should have a dental exam within 6 months of the eruption of their first tooth. Generally, this is just a look-see appointment to make sure there is no evidence of baby bottle tooth decay and to review proper cleaning techniques. The child should be seen again by the age of 3. At this appointment, teeth are checked for eruption sequence and signs of decay, oral hygiene is reviewed and the teeth are cleaned.
Eating
Oral Hygiene
Post-operative complications and tips
Materials
Veneers are very thin restorations made with tooth-coloured porcelain. They are bonded to the front of the teeth visible in your smile to improve the appearance of your smile. Although they are thin, once bonded to the teeth, they are very strong. The advantage of veneers is that very little tooth structure is removed in their preparation because they are so thin. Also, unlike a composite filling, the porcelain will not stain over time. The disadvantage of veneers is that they offer no structural support to the tooth at all. If any support is required, a crown must be placed instead of a veneer.
Crowns, bridges, and implant-supported crowns and bridges are made with a porcelain material fused to an underlying metal substructure. The metal gives strength to the restorations, while the porcelain allows them to be matched to the colour of your teeth. The advantage of this fused material is that, because it has both the strength of metal and the aesthetics of porcelain, it can be used anywhere in the mouth. The disadvantage is that it is not a thin material, so it requires more tooth preparation in order to fit into the mouth.
Process for Veneers, Crowns and Bridges
At the first appointment, teeth are prepared for the restoration. An impression is taken of the prepared teeth, and a temporary restoration is placed.
The impression is sent to the lab where stone is poured into it to make a model of your prepared teeth. The veneer, crown or bridge is then made on this model.
At the second appointment, the temporary restorations are removed, and the new veneer, crown or bridge is tried in the mouth for ideal fit and colour-matching. Once this is completed, the restoration is permanently cemented into the mouth. Usually, this second appointment is relatively quick (15-20 minutes) and doesn’t require any freezing.
Process for Implant-Supported Crowns and Bridges
Often an implant is a better option than a bridge for replacing a missing tooth. In these cases, patients are referred to a periodontist to have the implant itself placed in the bone of the jaw.
After approximately 3 months, the implant will have completely integrated into the jaw, so it will essentially be acting just like a tooth root.
Once this fusion of the bone with the implant has occurred, patients return to our office to have a crown made for the implant. The steps in this are exactly the same as having a regular crown placed.
Your mouth helps you to speak, eat a wide variety of foods and is important for your self-confidence and overall well-being. Untreated dental disease can lead to pain and infection. People with dental pain may have difficulty chewing and digesting food. They may have trouble sleeping, and their self-esteem and social life may be affected.
According to the 2010 Canadian Health Measures Survey, 62% of Canadians have a dental plan, but many don’t realize that group plans aren’t designed to meet individual health needs. Dental plans are a valuable component of extended health benefits and are designed to offset the cost of dental treatment. Understanding how dental insurance plans work can help patients make informed choices in partnership with their dentist or certified specialist.
Clean your baby’s gums and teeth twice a day. Use a smear of fluoride toothpaste the size of a grain of rice, and a soft facecloth or infant toothbrush. Be gentle – try distracting your baby with songs, talking or praise. It’s best not put your baby to bed with a bottle of anything but water. Milk, juice and formula can cause serious tooth decay when left in a sleeping baby’s mouth. Your child should start seeing a dentist regularly within six months of getting their first tooth, or by age one.
Oral hygiene is important to remove harmful bacteria and plaque from the teeth, gums and dentures and to keep the mouth healthy. For seniors and their caregivers, it can be challenging to maintain daily mouth care, but it is important to do as decay and infection can develop quickly. A healthy mouth supports good general health and overall well-being.
It is also important to understand that your dental insurance coverage is based on the plan purchased by your employer for all employees, which may or may not cover your unique oral health care needs. Review your plan and discuss this with your dentist so that you can understand your options and can make the best decision for your own health.
Conducts an exam and diagnoses any oral health issues.
Contact Sidney Centre Family Dentistry for an appointment. We welcome patients from Sidney and the Saanich Peninsula.