Dental Bonding

Of all the cosmetic and restorative procedures, dental bonding is one of the easiest and most affordable. Called bonding because tooth-colored resin is bonded to your teeth, the procedure is used to repair teeth that are discolored, unevenly shaped or chipped. At our office, we can even use bonding as an alternative to amalgam fillings if only a small filling is required.

 

Bonding is achieved by applying incredibly strong resin to the tooth in need of restoration. The procedure can usually be accomplished in one visit and allows you to keep most of your tooth’s original enamel, which makes bonding preferable to veneers or crowns in many cases. Once the right color resin has been chosen for your smile, Dr. Shital Kazi will slightly abrade your teeth to roughen the surface. Then a conditioning liquid is applied to help the resin adhere. The putty-like resin is then applied to your tooth and molded and smoothed until it is in the proper shape. It is hardened with an ultraviolet light or laser. After the bonding material has hardened, Dr. Kazi will trim and shape it even more and then polish it until it shines like a tooth. Altogether, the procedure usually takes between 30 minutes to an hour for one tooth.

 

If you’re unhappy with your teeth but unwilling to go as far as veneers, bonding can be used to improve your smile quickly and effectively. 

Dental Implants

Dental Implants

If you’re missing teeth or are in need of an extraction due to disease decay or injury, dental implants provide an attractive and long-lasting solution for filling the gaps in your smile. While there are other options for replacing missing teeth, bridges require alteration to adjacent teeth and dentures are not permanent. Dental implants, on the other hand, can not only last you a lifetime but also look and feel natural. At Lewelling Dental Care, we can use dental implants to help you achieve a complete smile that you can be proud of.

 

The implant process can take between three to six months to complete, and the first step in the process is to implant a titanium screw, which will serve as the replacement tooth root, in your jaw bone through an incision in your gums. The gums are then sutured, and the jaw bone is left to heal around the implant. This process is called osseointegration, and while it takes place, you may receive a temporary crown for easier speaking and eating.

 

Once the jaw has healed, an abutment will be placed on top of the implant to serve as the foundation on which your permanent crown will be fixed. The tooth restoration is then custom made for your mouth and is either fixed or cemented in place so that you may enjoy a complete smile that looks and feels natural.

 

To learn more, call us at (510) 276-6040 or visit www.LewellingDental.com. 

What to Do About Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a serious disorder that affects the way you breathe while sleeping, causing your breath to become interrupted for 10 to 20 seconds at a time and jolting you out of your natural sleep rhythm multiple times a night. As a result, your energy, mental acuity and productivity can suffer. Over time, sleep apnea can even lead to serious health problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and weight gain.

At Lewelling Dental Care, we use oral surgery to treat sleep apnea and increase the quality of sleep and life for patients.  Oral surgery relieves sleep apnea symptoms by removing the blockage caused by excess tissue, which vibrates and blocking the upper air passages. One way this is done is through UPPP, or uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, which involves removing excess tissue from the upper mouth and throat while under general anesthesia. Maxillomandibular advancement is another procedure used to treat sleep apnea. This procedure moves the lower jaw forward, away from the rest of facial bones, which allows more room behind the soft palate and reduces any obstruction.

If these treatments fail to relieve your sleep apnea, a tracheostomy can be performed. A tracheostomy is when a tube is inserted into your throat to allow breathing. The tube is covered during the day while you are awake and then opened at night while you sleep.

If you believe you have sleep apnea, call (510) 276-6040 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Shital Kazi. For more information, visit www.lewellingdental.com. 

Wisdom Teeth

Your wisdom teeth are your last set of molars to emerge, and they usually come in when you are between 17 and 21 years old. Because these teeth often become impacted, which means they come at an angle rather than straight through the gums, it is often necessary for them to be removed before they cause pain or crowd your other teeth. At our office in San Lorenzo, CA, Dr. Shital Kazi can determine if your wisdom teeth need to be removed and extract them if they do.

If a wisdom tooth is impacted and can only emerge partially, it is possible for an operculum to form over the tooth. This flap of skin makes the molar extremely hard to clean, which means you are susceptible to an infection called periocoronitis.

When a wisdom tooth is in danger of causing such problems, Dr. Kazi extracts the tooth. Many times all four are removed at once. This is done either by using a local anesthetic to numb the area or a general anesthetic to sedate the patient. It depends on the preference of the doctor and patient, as well as how far the wisdom tooth has emerged. After an anesthetic is applied, the gum tissue over the wisdom tooth is cut and the tooth is loosened and pulled out. If necessary, the gums will be sutured.

After surgery, rest is required. You will also need to change the gauze applied to the incision every couple hours.

To see if your wisdom teeth may need to be removed, schedule an appointment with Lewelling Dental Care by calling (510) 276-6040. For more information, visit www.lewellingdental.com.

Dental Implants

If you’re missing teeth or are in need of an extraction due to disease decay or injury, dental implants provide an attractive and long-lasting solution for filling the gaps in your smile. While there are other options for replacing missing teeth, bridges require alteration to adjacent teeth and dentures are not permanent. Dental implants, on the other hand, can not only last you a lifetime but also look and feel natural. At Lewelling Dental Care, we can use dental implants to help you achieve a complete smile that you can be proud of.

 

The implant process can take between three to six months to complete, and the first step in the process is to implant a titanium screw, which will serve as the replacement tooth root, in your jaw bone through an incision in your gums. The gums are then sutured, and the jaw bone is left to heal around the implant. This process is called osseointegration, and while it takes place, you may receive a temporary crown for easier speaking and eating.

 

Once the jaw has healed, an abutment will be placed on top of the implant to serve as the foundation on which your permanent crown will be fixed. The tooth restoration is then custom made for your mouth and is either fixed or cemented in place so that you may enjoy a complete smile that looks and feels natural.

 

To learn more, call us at (510) 276-6040 or visit www.LewellingDental.com. 

Bridges

Bridges

If you have had a tooth extracted due to damage, decay or disease, it is important to have the resulting gap filled since gaps in your smile can cause your remaining teeth to shift out of position. When this happens, your teeth become more susceptible to disease and decay. At Lewelling Dental Care, we can help keep your smile beautiful and functional after an extraction with dental bridges.

Called a bridge because it literally creates a bridge to cross the area where you tooth is missing, this prosthetic tooth replacement is usually made from gold, metal, alloys or porcelain to ensure a strong and durable smile that can last more than a decade if properly cared for.

The process of creating a bridge takes two visits to our office. In the first, we will create abutments out of the existing teeth on both sides of your missing tooth. This is where the bridge will be attached. After the abutments are in place, a mold is made of your mouth for creating the bridge, which will fit and feel as close to your natural teeth as possible. The bridge will consist of two crowns, which will be fixed to the abutments, and a pontic, which is the prosthetic that will replace your missing tooth. We provide you with a temporary bridge while your permanent one is crafted in the lab. On the second visit, the permanent bridge will then be fixed to the abutments with an adhesive.

For more information, call our office in San Lorenzo, CA by calling (510) 276-6040. You can also visit www.LewellingDental.com.

Bonding

Bonding

At Lewelling Dental Care we can transform your smile with dental bonding, which is among the easiest and most affordable cosmetic dental procedures. Called bonding because a tooth-colored resin is bonded to your teeth, this process is used as an alternative to amalgam filling and to repair decayed, chipped, unevenly shaped, fractured or discolored teeth. We achieve this by applying incredibly strong resin to the tooth you would like to restore and then shaping and polishing it until it matches your surrounding teeth.

Not only can this procedure be accomplished in only one visit, but this process also allows you to keep most of your tooth’s original enamel, making bonding preferable to veneers or crowns in many cases. Once we have chosen the right color resin for your smile, your teeth will be slightly abraded to roughen it and then coated lightly with a conditioning liquid, which will help the bonding material adhere. Then we will apply a putty-like resin that will be molded and smoothed until it is in the proper shape and then hardened with an ultraviolet light or laser.

After the bonding material has hardened, we will trim and shape it even more and then polish it until it shines like a tooth. Altogether, the procedure usually takes between 30 minutes to an hour to complete one tooth.
If you’re unhappy with your teeth but unwilling to go as far as veneers, bonding can be used to improve your smile quickly and effectively. Schedule an appointment with Lewelling Dental Care to get bonding performed in San Lorenzo. Just call (510) 276-6040. For more information, visitwww.LewellingDental.com.

Crowns

Crowns are a great way to restore a damaged tooth.  They save the natural tooth structure and avoid the need for extractions.  Crowns are useful in a wide range of situations and are a great way to:

• ·         Restore broken teeth


• ·         Support other prosthetics, like bridges


• ·         Protect a weakened tooth


• ·         Cover and support large fillings


• ·         Cover a dental implant

Porcelain crowns are even cosmetically pleasing, blending in with the rest of your smile.  This makes the crown an excellent restorative choice for visible areas of the mouth.  This aesthetic restorative is highly favorable and provides patients with a beautiful, discreet and reliable restoration.  If you are in need of a crown, please contact the office and learn more about how we can help you restore your smile.

Sources: http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/dental-crowns  

Veneers

Many of us wish we could change something about our smile.  We might want to improve our alignment and brightness or correct chips and cracks.  While there are many ways to improve the cosmetic appearance of our smiles, veneers provide my patients with the opportunity to completely makeover their smile look.  Veneers are thin porcelain shells that are individually crafted to meet an individual patient’s needs.  Some of the many cosmetic problems veneers can correct include:

• ·         Discoloration


• ·         Cracks


• ·         Chips


• ·         Gaps


• ·         Misalignment

Since veneers cover your existing tooth structure, you can create a truly picture perfect smile.  San Lorenzo, CA patients that have chosen veneers have been thrilled with the results of their new makeover.  In as little as two visits to the office, you can find confidence in a new, beautiful smile.  Veneers are a great way to completely makeover your smile, but they aren’t for everyone.  If you are interested in this cosmetic dental service, schedule an appointment at my office.  I’m happy to help patients decide if veneers are the best option for their smile needs.

Patient Comfort

As much as excellent dental care is our priority, at Lewelling Dental Care, your comfort in the waiting room, exam room and throughout your visit is of the utmost concern.  From the moment you enter through our door, there is no need to feel uncomfortable.  We always make sure that our patients are relaxed.  We offer TVs in all of our treatment rooms, where patients can watch movies and their favorite shows to take their mind off their dental phobias and feel right at home.  To experience this level of comfort for yourself, I personally invite you to setup an appointment and see what sets Lewelling Dental Apart.

 

Please call 510-276-6040 to schedule an appointment at our office and experience the comfort and convenience that we can provide you.

 

Yours in good smile health,

 

Dr. Shital Kazi

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