Dental Services

We offer a carefully selected group of dental services, designed to serve you throughout your life. These include, but are not limited to:

Repairing Damaged Teeth

If you have missing or damaged teeth we can restore and enhance the natural beauty of your smile. Our practice can treat:

• Missing teeth, gaps between teeth, general bite problems
  
• Chipped, cracked or worn teeth
• Unsightly, stained, or washed-out fillings
• Permanently stained or discolored teeth
• Crooked or crowded teeth

Sealants

A sealant is a plastic material that is usually applied to the chewing surfaces of the back teeth - premolars and molars. This plastic resin bonds into the depressions and grooves of the chewing surfaces of back teeth. The sealant acts as a barrier, protecting enamel from plaque and acids.

What factors could make an adult a candidate for sealants? The best way to determine the need for sealants is to evaluate the person's risk for pit and fissure decay. Risk can also vary for the same person over time, because changes in personal habits, health status, and medication use are known to increase risk for decay. Lack of access to fluorides and fluoridated water, a history of previous decay, and chronic xerostomia (dry mouth) are also factors your dentist will consider when evaluating you for sealants.

Do sealants help save money? Prevention is better than treatment. When one considers that properly applied and maintained sealants are a very cost-effective measure. For over 20 years the American Dental Association has evaluated sealants, and a number of different brands have been awarded the ADA Seal of Acceptance. In addition, many private dental plans cover sealants.

Is sealant application a complicated procedure? Sealants are easy for your dentist to apply and it takes only a few minutes to seal each tooth. The teeth that will be sealed are cleaned. Then the chewing surfaces are conditioned to help the sealant adhere to the tooth. The sealant is then painted onto the tooth enamel, where it bonds directly to the tooth and hardens. A special curing light is used to help the sealant harden.

Ask Dr. Swedberg if this procedure would be right for you or your children.

Extractions

You and Dr. Swedberg may determine that you need a tooth extraction for any number of reasons. Some teeth are extracted because they are severely decayed; others may have advanced periodontal disease, or may have broken in a way that cannot be repaired. Other teeth may need removal because they are poorly positioned in the mouth (such as impacted teeth), or in preparation for orthodontic treatment.

The removal of a single tooth can lead to problems related to your chewing ability, problems with your jaw joint, and shifting teeth, which can have a major impact on your dental health.

ADD EXTRACTION ANIMATION HERE- of tooth missing and neighboring teeth shifting.

To avoid these complications, in most cases, Dr. Swedberg will discuss alternatives to extractions as well as replacement of the extracted tooth.

Bridges

Dental Bridge

Maryland Bridge

All of your teeth play an important role in speaking, chewing and in maintaining proper alignment of other teeth. Tooth loss doesn't necessarily have to occur as you age, but if you do lose teeth, they must be replaced to maintain proper function of your mouth. Fortunately, there are options for correcting tooth loss.

Options

A bridge — a device used to replace missing teeth — attaches artificial teeth to adjacent natural teeth, called abutment teeth. Bridges are either permanently attached (fixed bridges), or they can be removable.

Fixed bridges are applied by either placing crowns on the abutment teeth or by bonding the artificial teeth directly to the abutment teeth. Removable bridges are attached to the teeth with metal clasps or by precision attachments.

If you're missing one or more teeth, you may be aware of their importance to your appearance and dental health. Your teeth work together for many daily functions from eating to speaking. With missing teeth, it's difficult to do these things. Missing teeth can and should be replaced. Fixed bridges are a great way to restore your dental health and appearance.

What exactly is a bridge or fixed partial denture?

A bridge (fixed partial denture) is a device, which fills the gap where teeth are absent. Fixed bridges are bonded into place and can only be removed by a dental professional. Removable bridges, as the name implies, can be taken out and cleaned. Fixed bridges offer more stability than their removable counterparts.

Why do I need a bridge?

Oral functionality and appearance are important reasons for wearing a bridge. A bridge helps support your lips and cheeks. The loss of a back tooth may cause your mouth to sink in and your face to look older.

Dental health is the most important reason for a bridge. Teeth were designed to complement each other. Unusual stresses are placed on the gums and other oral tissues when teeth are missing, causing a number of potentially harmful disorders.

Increased risk of gum disease has proven to be one of the worst side effects of missing teeth and can be minimized with a bridge.

Missing teeth can cause speech disorders as teeth are used to make many of the sounds we use to speak clearly.

How is a bridge attached

The attachment procedure usually takes two or three appointments to complete. At the first appointment Dr. Swedberg will prepare the teeth on either side of the gap by carefully reshaping the enamel and dentin to allow room for gold and porcelain.

Since the bridge must be fabricated very precisely to ensure correct bite and to match the opposing tooth, impressions of the teeth are taken and sent to a lab where the bridge will be constructed.

Fixed bridges are typically cemented to the natural teeth next to the space left by the missing tooth. A pontic (false tooth) replaces the lost tooth. Crowns, which are cemented onto the natural teeth, provide support for the bridge.

What materials are used

Bridges can be constructed from gold alloys, non-precious alloys, porcelain, or a combination of these materials. Porcelain is often bonded to either precious or non-precious metal.

How do I take care of my bridge

A strict regimen of brushing and flossing will keep the bridge and surrounding teeth clean. This is of critical importance as the bridge relies on the neighboring teeth for support.

Crowns

Most dentistry looks like dentistry. Our goal is to provide dentistry that is undetectable. We replace existing crowns and fillings with restorations that look and feel like your natural teeth.

Where damage to a person's teeth is extreme, and apparently beyond repair, we can use crowns to make the smile appear "as new". This is an extremely reliable technique for repairing the most severe of dental problems. Crowns completely cover the tooth on all sides, helping to correct any problems that you might have with alignment. Crowns are used to repair teeth that have undergone root canals, have severe erosion, or extreme malposition. The use of crowns is essential in any situation that requires greater strength and aesthetics.

We are renowned for the quality of our work and the fantastic changes we make for people using this technology. These treatments are used for a long lasting correction of major dental problems. It is usual for these treatments to last for 10 to 15 years, which is as close to permanent as dental treatment can get.

How long does it take?

Fitting a crown requires at least two visits to our office. Initially, we will remove decay, shape the tooth, and take impressions. The impressions are used to fashion a porcelain crown that fits into the contour of the remaining teeth. While your permanent crowns are being created in a laboratory, you'll wear temporary crowns that maintain your appearance and ability to function.

On the subsequent visit we will remove the temporary crown, and then fit and adjust the final crown. Finally, we will cement the crown into place and you have a new beautiful looking tooth.

Key Benefits

• Replaces missing teeth
• Offers support to misshapen teeth or badly broken teeth
• Looks completely natural
• Fixes "smile" and functional chewing problems

What are the capabilities of crowns?

Crown and bridgework is a very reliable solution for major dental problems caused through accidents, diseases or wear and tear. Major problems can usually be corrected using these techniques. Material used in these repairs is either high-grade porcelain, or porcelain bonded to gold. A higher strength of the porcelain and gold materials is recommended to treat the most serious of dental problems. Where accidental damage has occurred, resulting in lost teeth, or where teeth have broken away through excessive wear, or as the result of old fillings breaking, crowns and/or bridges can be used as a long-term solution.

Many people have unexplained pain from filled back teeth, which is usually due to hairline cracks in the chewing part of the tooth. Placing crowns on these teeth relieves the pain and allows a return of full dental function for these teeth. In front teeth, older fillings can both weaken the teeth and cause "appearance" problems due to staining or chipping. Porcelain crowns and bridges are suitable in cases where porcelain veneers are not. In teeth with root canal fillings, crowns can prevent breakage.