FAQs

When should my child have his first exam?
 
The first dental visit is recommended within 6 months of the appearance of the first baby tooth in the mouth.  Any tooth present in the mouth is subject to tooth decay and needs to be examined on a regular basis.  Waiting until the child is 3 years old can have devastating effects.  Decay caught early can be treated conservatively and make those early formative appointments easy and build a good dental foundation for years to come.
 
When should my child start to use fluoridated toothpaste?
 
Fluoridated toothpaste should not be used until the parents are sure it will not be swallowed.  Swallowing fluoridated toothpaste can result in more than the optimum amount of fluoride in the diet which could result in "mottled" or white spotted teeth.
 
Are root canals painful?
 
Root canals are not always painful.  When a tooth with a dying nerve is detected early, before it is extremely infected and inflamed,  it is easy to anesthetize and easy to treat.  When a tooth is highly infected and inflamed it is very difficult to anesthetize,  which is the type of root canal that produces the horror stories.  We recommend any toothache be checked early.
 
Is bleaching permanent?
 
Bleaching affects different people in different ways.  People with dark yellow or yellowish-brown teeth tend to bleach better than people with gray or bluish-gray teeth.  Multi colored teeth, especially if stained due to tetracycline, do not bleach very well.  There is no reliable way to predict how light your teeth will bleach.  With power bleaching, 2-5 sessions are usually necessary to significantly whiten your teeth.  With home bleaching, 2-4 weeks of wearing the bleaching tray daily for the prescribed number of hours will give you much lighter teeth.  Additional bleaching may provide slightly more whitening, but increased side effects may occur.  We do not recommend home bleaching longer than four weeks.  Once bleaching is complete, there may be a gradual relapse back to the original color.  To reverse this relapse, a power bleach touchup treatment may be necessary after 6-12 months.  With home bleaching, you may choose to wear your bleaching tray once a month to prevent a relapse from occurring at all.
 
Do you accept payment plans?
 
Yes, we work with Care Credit to arrange payment plans that help you get the "smile" you have always wanted.