Restorative and Therapeutic Dentistry

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Restorative Dentistry

Crowns Crowns or caps are used to cover teeth that have been damaged by injury or decay, chipped or are discolored. They can last from five years to over a decade, depending on the material used and how you care for your teeth. Procedures: A determination is first made about the material that will be used to make the crown. If the crown is to be tooth-colored, a shade is chosen that matches your existing teeth. After numbing your tooth, we then remove any decay from your tooth and shape it into a base for the crown. If there is not enough tooth left to support a crown, we will insert pins or a post and core in order to give structure underneath the crown.

We then take an impression of the shaped tooth so that the crown will fit exactly onto its base. A temporary crown is then made and placed over the shaped tooth. The next visit involves seating the crown. The temporary crown is removed and the new crown is fitted on the shaped tooth. After checking the fit and the occlusion (or bite) and both you and we are satisfied with the fit of your new crown, it is cemented permanently to your tooth. Crowns can sometimes take some time to get used to. Often people experience a sensitivity to hot and cold for a period of time. This goes away gradually until soon your tooth feels almost better than it did before becoming decayed or infected.

Fillings
Fillings are used to fill in areas in teeth that have succumbed to decay or damage. There are metal (silver-colored) as well as tooth-colored fillings, and we can help you decide which material will be the best filling for your tooth, depending upon the location of the decay. Fillings almost never last a lifetime, although depending upon the location and the care you give your teeth they can last a very long while.

Procedures:
After numbing the tooth, we then remove the decay and shape the tooth to hold a filling. The space is then filled with the composite (tooth-colored) or amalgam (metal) filling. The filling is shaped in such a way so as to mimic the old shape of your tooth. This allows for efficient chewing.

Therapeutic Dentistry

Root Canals (also called "Endodontics")
Symptoms of a tooth that needs a root canal are sensitivity to heat and/or cold, severe pain in the tooth or in the gum or jaw surrounding it, a chip or crack that reaches into or exposes the pulp of the tooth.

Sometimes injury or decay of teeth can reach into the nerve center of the tooth, called the pulp. Once this happens, the blood vessels inside your tooth die and your body can no longer control (or kill) the bacteria housed inside. This bacteria lives and breathes inside your tooth. The bacteria give off toxic by-products which leak out of the end of the root into the bone, forming what is known as an abscess. When this happens, root canal therapy is the only way to save your tooth. The root canal however only allows you to save the tooth. The damage caused by the decay or fracture still needs to be repaired. After the root canal procedure is complete, your tooth may need a large pin-retained filling (called a crown build-up) and a crown (also known as a cap). This crown may need to be replaced after a number of years, and occasionally, a root canal will need to be retreated years after the initial treatment occurred. One very important point that we would like to make is that despite what you may have heard, root canal therapy is not painful or even uncomfortable. Our patients unanimously tell us that their root canal experience was great! No pain or discomfort during or after. They can't understand why they were even nervous!

Procedures:
After numbing the tooth, we make an opening in the tooth in order to reach the pulp chamber. The infection is then removed and the roots are cleaned and shaped. Once all the infection is removed, we fill the pulp chamber and root canal(s) (teeth have anywhere from one canal to 3 canals with rare cases having as many as six) with gutta percha, a rubbery substance. The tooth is then filled. Often, especially in molars, the tooth will then need to be protected with a crown. When there is not enough tooth left to support a crown, Dr. Kvitko will insert pins or a post and core in order to give structure underneath the crown. The gutta percha inside the root canals and pulp chamber can last a lifetime, although not in every case.