Pinhole Gum Rejuvenation: When gum recession occurs, the root structure of the tooth becomes exposed. This means that tooth decay and other problems can affect the teeth along the gumline and beneath it. Since healthy gums are essential for a healthy mouth, getting gum recession treated is important for lasting dental wellness. The Chao Pinhole® Surgical Technique is a minimally invasive option for treating gum recession. Unlike traditional grafting techniques, PST is incision and suture free. Check out this show as seen on TV.
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Dental Implant: If you are missing one or more teeth or wear partial or full dentures, dental implants can be the perfect solution. An implant uses a titanium screw that is placed in your jaw where it functions like a tooth root and stimulates the bone and tissue to keep them from disintegrating. An abutment is fastened to the implanted screw and an artificial tooth is attached to the abutment that protrudes from the gum. The artificial tooth looks, feels and functions like a natural tooth. Dental implants can also be used to secure partial or full dentures.
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Crowns and Bridges: If you are missing one or more teeth, your dentist may suggest the use of a fixed bridge and dental crowns. Since the gap left by a missing tooth can cause the remaining teeth to shift or move, it is important for your oral health to replace the missing tooth or teeth, and fixed bridges are one of the solutions for doing so. Bridges consist of a pontic (artificial tooth) and crowns, which are ‘caps’ that go over the teeth on both sides of the bridge and serve as anchors to stabilize the bridge. Traditional bridges are usually made from porcelain fused to metal or ceramics.
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Tooth Colored Restoration: If a natural-looking smile is important to you, your dentist can now repair and restore your teeth with tooth-colored fillings, inlays, onlays, crowns and veneers that when placed look just like your teeth. Made of a complex composite of plastic and zirconia/silica, tooth-colored restorations bond to your tooth, helping prevent any filling leaks or chances of any cracking or breaking of the tooth. They also feel, look and function like your natural teeth and are ninety to ninety-five percent as strong as a healthy tooth whereas silver fillings are only forty to forty-five percent as strong.
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Veneers: These wafer-thin shells that are most often made from porcelain or ceramic are bonded to the front surface of a tooth to cover teeth that are discolored, stained, chipped, cracked,misaligned or have gaps between them. Dr. Chui makes impressions of your teeth and then a mold of the way your teeth will look. Veneers are created at a lab. Dr. Chui then uses a special cement to apply the veneers. A special light is used to harden the cement and permanently attach the veneer to your tooth. Veneers either match your teeth or whiten and improve the looks of your teeth. Veneers typically last for five to ten years and do not require any special care.
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Teeth Whitening: Dr. Chui can help you determine if your teeth and gums are healthy and good candidates for teeth whitening and which whitening process will give you even, natural looking results. If the discoloration or stains on your teeth will not respond well to whitening, your dentist will have other options that will work best for you. If teeth whitening is a good option for you, in-office whitening will give almost immediate results and teeth whitening trays and gels created by your dentist can be done at home over the span of three days to two weeks.
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Composites/ Inlays/ Onlays: When your decayed tooth needs more than a filling but less than a crown to repair it, either an inlay or an onlay will bring your tooth back to health. Inlays are used when the decay is within the indented top surface (cusp) of a tooth and an onlay is used when the cavity involves one or more cusps. Both are made of a combination of plastic and zirconia/silica which is bonded to teeth. They are tooth-colored in appearance and actually strengthen the structure of the tooth by up to seventy-five percent, and because of the composite materials from which they are made, they can last up to thirty years.
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Periodontal Disease: Also known as gum disease…this is a serious infection in your gums that is mainly caused by bacterial plaque that is constantly forming on your teeth. When plaque isn’t removed by brushing, flossing and regular dental cleanings, it can turn to tartar. When left in your mouth, plaque and tartar can cause inflammation of your gums which can develop into infections below the gum line, which can ultimately result in tooth loss. Regular checkups can detect periodontal disease at even its earliest stages
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Periodontal Surgery: During surgery, the gums are lifted away from the tooth and surrounding bone. The diseased tooth root surfaces are cleaned and scraped to remove deposits. Gum tissue is replaced, positioned and sutured to minimize the depth of the gum pocket. This minimizes the chance of tooth loss due to weakened structure. If there is bone loss, a bone graft and guided tissue regeneration may be performed.
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Preventative Periodontics: Since periodontal disease is created by plaque and tartar buildup on your gums, good dental hygiene is an absolute must in preventing gum disease. And along with good daily oral hygiene habits, it is also necessary to have regular visits to your dentist for checkups and professional cleanings. These may involve regular cleanings, or a deep cleaning (scaling and root planing) that will remove plaque or tartar buildup on the teeth, and below the gums. This will help keep your gums healthy and free of periodontal disease and infections.
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Root Canal Therapy: The space within the root of each tooth is called a ‘root canal,’ and includes "dental pulp": soft tissue, nerves and blood vessels. Tooth decay or trauma can cause damage to your dental pulp, leading to infection that if left untreated, can spread to the bone around your tooth, resulting in tooth loss. To save your tooth, Dr. Chui will remove the dental pulp and then the area is cleaned and shaped to hold a specialized filler material that will protect your tooth from infection and reduce sensitivity. Once the root canal is cleaned, filled and restored, your tooth is capped with a crown that protects it and looks and functions like a normal tooth.
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Scaling and Root Planing: Even with good daily oral hygiene, some plaque still remains in your mouth and over time it can harden and becomes tartar (also known as calculus) which, if left in your mouth, causes periodontal disease. Tartar can only be removed by a dentist or dental hygienist with a process called ‘scaling.' First your gums are numbed, then bacteria is removed from below the gum line where flossing and regular dental cleanings can't reach. This process is used to prevent periodontal disease, which is a leading cause for tooth loss.
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Removable Partial Dentures: If several teeth are missing in either your upper or lower jaw, a removable partial denture can be used to replace the missing teeth. It allows you to chew naturally, keep your remaining teeth from moving into the space left by the missing teeth, ensure proper jaw alignment and support the structure of your face. A removable partial denture is either held in place by clasps that hook on to adjoining teeth (left image) or by securing to the abutment of a titanium screw that is implanted in your jawbone (right image). Partial dentures are easily removed for brushing and cleaning.
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Full Denture with or without Implant: When all of your permanent teeth need to be extracted from either your upper or lower jaw because of decay, periodontal disease or trauma, complete dentures are created in a dental lab to replace your missing teeth. Over time, dentures can loosen because of the loss of gum tissue and jawbone that deteriorate when teeth are removed. But dental products can keep them adhered to your gums (left image). The other option is to have your dentures secured with implants that are placed in your jawbone (left image). In either case, your dentures are easily removable for cleaning.
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Dental Bonding: This is a process where a tooth-colored resin material is used to repair chips and cracks on teeth, to change the shape of a tooth, or to close gaps between teeth. It can also be used to repair a decayed or damaged teeth. The resin that is used is matched closely with the color of your teeth so that it looks exactly like your natural teeth when the process is done. The procedure begins with slightly roughening the surface of the tooth and applying a conditioning liquid. Then the putty-like resin is molded on the tooth surface to create the desired result. A special light is used to harden the resin and bond it to your tooth.
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Enamel Shaping: This process is also known as "recontouring." This is a procedure that can be used to fix minor dental problems in the shape or texture of your teeth, such as small chips or pits in a tooth’s enamel or even irregular or uneven teeth. During the process, Dr. Chui will use a sanding disk, or fine diamond burs to sand the tooth or teeth to remove any roughness or pits, or to slightly reshape them. Once your teeth are smoothed and/or reshaped, they will be polished to finish the process.
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ClearCorrect: It is essentially an invisible way to straighten your teeth without the use of traditional braces. The ClearCorrect system employs a series of clear, removable aligners that are specially designed to move your teeth over time, and give you the smile that you have always dreamed of. ClearCorrect is very versatile, and helps to correct a wide range of dental and orthodontic issues, such as over-crowded teeth, widely spaced teeth, overbite and under-bite. ClearCorrect is not a surgical procedure, and uses modern techniques to align your smile.
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