EAST MEMPHIS OFFICE COLLIERVILLE OFFICE |
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Audubon Dental Group offers a full array of dental services to help you maintain healthy teeth. You can read more on this page about specific services.
- Invisalign
- Tooth Whitening
- Veneers/Laminates
- Implants
- Dentures/Partials
- Tooth Colored Fillings
- Crowns/Bridges
- CEREC (one visit crowns)
- Custom-fitted UnderArmor Mouthguards
- Root Canal
Initial Oral Examination
Your initial oral examination includes a visual examination, charting, periodontal probing, diagnosis and treatment recommendations. We will also take x-rays, which includes the panoramic x-ray for proper diagnosis of the anterior (front) and posterior (back) teeth as well as the bite-wing x-ray series for proper diagnosis of proximal decay of posterior teeth.
Invisalign
Invisalign's® invisible, removable, and comfortable aligners will give you the beautiful straight teeth you've always wanted. And best of all, no one can tell you're wearing them. Invisalign is great for adults and teenagers.
What is Invisalign®?
- Invisalign® is the invisible way to straighten your teeth without braces.
- Invisalign® uses a series of clear, removable aligners to straighten your teeth without metal wires or brackets
- Invisalign® has been proven effective in clinical research and in orthodontic practices nationwide.
How Does Invisalign® Work?
- You wear each set of aligners for about 2 weeks, removing them only to eat, drink, brush, and floss.
- As you replace each aligner with the next in the series, your teeth will move little by little, week by week - until they have straightened to the their final position.
- You'll visit us about once every 6 weeks to ensure that your treatment is progressing as planned.
- Total treatment time averages 9 - 15 months and the average number of aligners during treatment is between 18 - 30, but both will vary from case to case.
How Are Aligners Made? You'd Be Amazed...
- The aligners are made through a combination of our expertise and 3-D computer imaging technology.
Often, people with stained or discolored teeth may just need a whitening procedure in order to restore their smile.
People with stained or dull teeth usually benefit from whitening, which is a safe and effective way to brighten stained, discolored or dull teeth. Even a stubborn single tooth that is noticeably duller or less white than your other teeth can be individually brightened.
Teeth bleaching products, which contain peroxides, actually change your natural tooth color anywhere from five to seven -- but even up to twelve -- shades brighter.
In general, bleaching works for most people. Tooth bleaching is most effective if your teeth are darkened from age, coffee, tea or smoking. Teeth darkened with the color of yellow, brown or orange respond better to lightening. Other types of gray stains caused by fluorosis, smoking, or tetracycline can be lightened, but with less-than-satisfactory results.
If you're interested in brightening your smile, have your teeth evaluated by us. Not everyone is a good candidate for bleaching. In some cases of serious discoloration and pitted teeth, for example, veneers may be more appropriate than bleaching. Moreoever, crowns, bridges, and fillings do not bleach, so it may be necessary to replace dental work to make it blend with the new color of your bleached teeth. An X-ray of your teeth may be the only accurate way of making a true assessment.
Special thin laminates, called veneers, can often be used to correct discolored, worn down, cracked and chipped teeth. Veneers can also be used to close unsightly gaps between teeth. A veneer can reverse years of stains caused by foods, caffeine and tobacco use.
Veneers are made out of porcelain and can be laboratory fabicated or prepared in our clinic using a Cad/ Cam system called CEREC.
Laboratory veneers require two or three dental visits, and temporaries. An impression of the tooth must be made and a veneer molded by a lab technician. Because veneers require a small amount of enamel to be removed, they are permanent and non-reversible.
CEREC veneers require an appointment to make impressions and discuss the desired cosmetics. The veneers are placed in one day so NO TEMPORARIES and your smile is complete at the end of the day.
The process involves buffing the tooth, removing an extremely thin layer of the tooth to allow for the thickness of the veneer, an impression of the tooth, and final bonding of the veneer to the tooth with special cement. A special light is used to complete the process.
YES, you can have an implant. Implant are a metal cylinder that is surgically placed in your bone and allowed to grow or "osseointegrate" with your jaw. Implants can be used to restore one missing tooth or many missing teeth with crowns or bridges. And the can be placed to help stabilize dentures and partials. Most implants take 3 to 7 months for treatment completion.
Dentures are replacement of all the teeth. Unfortunately, some patients have the embarassment of having lost their teeth. Audubon Dental Group can help you recreate a beautiful smile with your cosmetic desire emphasized. Because we place a great emphasis on quality and patient satisfaction, dentures require a minimum of four visits.
Partials of Removable Partial Dentures are for patients who have multiple missing teeth but still have good teeth which can be used to anchor a removable appliance to. Partials can restore your cosmetic smile and a simple and economical way, but they do not restore the chewing function of your missing teeth back to 100 percent. Most patients prefer fixed bridges or implants to restore the full chewing function.
There are alternative, natural-looking materials to conventional silver-colored fillings – materials made from porcelain and composite resins, which are colored to match natural tooth enamel. Unfortunately, few materials can match the strength and durability of dental amalgam and such, may need more frequent replacement. Common amalgam alternatives include:
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Composite fillings -- As stated, composite fillings are just what the name implies: a mixture of resins and fine particles designed to mimic the color of natural teeth. While not as strong as dental amalgam, composite fillings provide a pleasing aesthetic alternative. Sometimes, composite resins need to be cemented, or bonded to a tooth to allow for better adhesion.
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Ionomers -- Like composite resins, these materials are tooth-colored. Ionomers are made from a combination of various materials, including ground glass and acrylic resins. Ionomers are typically used for fillings near the gum line or tooth root, where biting pressure is not a factor. They are more fragile than dental amalgam, however. A small amount of fluoride is released by these compounds in order to facilitate strengthened enamel in the affected area.
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Porcelain (ceramic) -- This material is usually a combination of porcelain, glass powder, and ceramic. Candidates for porcelain fillings are typically crowns, veneers, and onlays. Unlike ionomers, porcelain fillings are more durable but can become fractured if exposed to prolonged biting pressures.
Bridges
Bridges are natural-looking dental appliances that can replace a section of missing teeth. Because they are custom-made, bridges are barely noticeable and can restore the natural contour of teeth as well as the proper bite relationship between upper and lower teeth.
Bridges are sometimes referred to as fixed partial dentures, because they are semi-permanent and are bonded to existing teeth or implants. Some bridges are removable and can be cleaned by the wearer; others need to be removed by a dentist.
Porcelain, gold alloys or combinations of materials are usually used to make bridge appliances.
Appliances called implant bridges are attached to an area below the gum tissue, or the bone.
Crowns
When decay in a tooth has become so advanced that large portions of the tooth must be removed, crowns are often used to restore the tooth. Crowns are typically used to restore a tooth's function and appearance following a restorative procedure such as a root canal.
Crowns are also used to attach bridges, cover implants, prevent a cracked tooth from becoming worse, or an existing filling is in jeopardy of becoming loose or dislocated. Crowns also serve an aesthetic use, and are applied when a discolored or stained tooth needs to be restored to its natural appearance.
Crowns (caps) are made of several types of materials. Gold is still the lowest maintenance and most durable material. However, most patients today want a more cosmetic result. Crowns can be made with porcelain or porcelain with a metal substructure.
Audubon Dental Group can provide a single visit all porcelain crown that is of the newest "E-MAX" material, which rivals the strength of metal.
Procedures
A tooth must usually be reduced in size to accommodate a crown. An impression is made of the existing tooth and an impression is made. The impression is sent to a special lab, which manufactures a custom-designed crown. In some cases, a temporary crown is applied until the permanent crown is ready. Permanent crowns are cemented in place.
Crowns are sometimes confused with veneers, but they are quite different. Veneers are typically applied only to relatively small areas.
Caring For Your Crowns
With proper care, a good quality crown could last up to eight years or longer. It is very important to floss in the area of the crown to avoid excess plaque or collection of debris around the restoration.
Certain behaviors such as jaw clenching or bruxism (teeth grinding) significantly shorten the life of a crown. Moreover, eating brittle foods, ice or hard candy can compromise the adhesion of the crown, or even damage the crown.
We are pleased to offer our patients CEREC restoration services – a superior method of creating precisely-designed, color matched and highly durable ceramic restorations right in our practice. From simple fillings to full crowns to veneers, CEREC delivers the result you need in a single appointment. Visit cereconline.com for more information.
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Custom-fitted UnderArmor Mouthguards
When a tooth becomes infected in the pulp, a root canal can save the tooth. Root canals treat the inside of a tooth and involve cleaning and filling the tooth crown and roots where the pulp was. After a tooth is root canal, it is usually recommended for a crown to preserve and protect the tooth.
