Tag Archive for: restorations

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CEREC One-Visit Holistic Dentistry

CEREC is a state-of-the-art system that allows full restorations of one or more teeth to be made in a single visit to the dentist’s office. Whether it is a crown, inlay, onlay, filling, or veneer, the CAD/CAM technology the CEREC unit uses will design and produce a perfect restoration of the damaged tooth. The replacement material looks like, feels like, and is strong as a real tooth; biocompatibility and aesthetics are well-maintained; and further damage to the tooth is eliminated.

Do you have a need for a crown, or have large cavities? Have you had trouble with previous “restorations”? Do they look awful or keep on falling apart? Look into CEREC dentistry. There’s no better option!

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

Surfing Adventures

In Hawaii, our vacation home host works at a surfboard manufacturing shop. I was curious about the trade, so I took my son and daughter-in-law inside the shop to see if we could get a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes (rather, behind the rows and rows of colorful boards found in shops on every corner on the North Shore!) process of surfboard making. May as well since we were already there! Though many people surf in Los Angeles, I think it would be harder to just walk in the back door of a random surfboard place and “demand” a tour.

The white (often colored) boards we usually see are made out of polyurethane or polystyrene foam. Balsa and other light woods are also commonly used, only they are much more expensive than the foam boards. The shape and size of the board is sanded down to resemble what looks exactly like a surfboard carved out of fancy styrofoam or wood. Much care is taken in measuring the shapes, sizes, and weights of the boards. Then layers of fiberglass, cloth, paint (for designs), and resins are applied to form the complete product. We saw some beautiful boards, including a custom-made decorative one made out of several different hardwoods.

Being a dentist, I couldn’t help but compare the similarities in this process, and the restoration process used in CEREC system, which I have and definitely use. When a tooth needs restoration, the CEREC system records a digital image of the tooth’s structure, and within a matter of hours, carves out a perfect crown/filling out of a small block of ceramic inside a special machine (many demonstrations of this were held at the ADA Session). The faulty tooth is sanded down ever so slightly, and then, after some refining, fitting, and adjusting of the occlusion, the crown/filling is bonded or cemented right where it needs to be, fitting perfectly with the other teeth. It’s quite amazing.

Aloha!

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

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TMJ and Cosmetic Dentistry

Are these two related at all? They are in some ways!

The biggest correlation between the two that comes to mind is TMJ ruining teeth or the alignment of teeth, therefore creating unsightly gaps, crookedness, chips, scratches, wearing, or even tooth loss. Cosmetic dentistry is to the rescue; but if these issues were caused by TMJ, they will continue as they have been and cosmetic repairs, such as implants or veneers, will be at risk for damage. TMJ may take a long time to treat, and it might be more practical to wait to “pretty up” until the root problems are solved.

However, if you have or think you have TMJ, always, always, always consult your dentist or a TMJ specialist before doing ANYTHING. It will save you great amounts of time, money, and hassle. Who knows? Maybe your case isn’t terribly severe and you can get that crooked tooth fixed faster than you anticipated! Yet if cosmetics are on hold because of undergoing surgery, the rewards of a beautiful, functionable smile are wonderful, even if you must wait a bit for the healing process to run its course.

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

What Makes a Good Dental Restoration?

After we have completed the full exam, a lot of patients are ready to proceed with restorative work. There are a variety of restorations that we do in our practice. These include different types of tooth-colored fillings, bondings, veneers, crowns, bridges, implants and dentures.

The key to a successful restoration is ensuring that whatever is done fits in and supports the overall oral system. On the larger level, this requires proper understanding of function, speech, bite, hygiene and so on and on the more detailed level, precision and attention to detail is key.

Restorative procedures in my office typically last thirty minutes for a single filling to ninety minutes for a crown to three hours for restoring a larger section. The reason they are so time consuming is because I pay a lot of attention to detail in order to ensure the best chance of long-term use and comfort of the finished product.

For example, when I do a filling or crown preparation, I use multiple caries detection techniques. One is caries detector which is 95% accurate in identifying diseased remnants of the cavity. Another is the Diagnodent, a light sensor that detects the off gas put out by bacteria. The third method is the halogen light which raises the visibility of the caries. Combined use of these three tools allows for exceptional precision and success in removing the disease from the site being worked on. When this is done, I am ready to proceed with the actual restoration.

For fillings,  I use the latest generation of sealers and desensitizers which help to virtually eliminate sensitivity by blocking the tubules where the nerves reside and sealing them closed. Next I place the primer which is essentially a very thin filling below the filling. This is an important step because that is the first line of defense to protect against new cavities. After the primer we put in the solid filling material in stages in layers to ensure proper curing. Finally, we are ready for the tooth-colored top coat, which we customize to the natural teeth colorings surrounding and shape to accurately work with the natural bite process.

When the restoration is too large to be completed with a filling, I typically proceed with some type of crown restoration.  I use a Cerec machine to custom mill the restoration. I have chosen this method because it allows for the most conservative type of restoration and the most accurate fit, not to mention that, in most cases, you have your permanent crown the same day, eliminating the need for a second visit.

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com