Restorative Dentistry: What It Is and 4 Reasons Why You Might Need It

You know what preventative dentistry is – anything that helps you prevent decay and gum disease. Treatments like cleanings, x-rays, fluoride treatments, and periodic examinations.

But what is restorative dentistry in Gardena?

Restorative dentistry includes procedures that help restore damaged or missing teeth. Investing in restorative treatments can help improve the health of your teeth and restore your beautiful smile.

What Is Restorative Dentistry in Gardena?

Restoring damaged or missing teeth can help:

Improve your oral health (gums and teeth)
• Restore optimal chewing function
• Improve speech
• Reduce the risk of further damage
• Ensure better overall health

A restorative dentist restores damaged teeth with:

Fillings
• Crowns
• Inlays
• Onlays
• Dental Bonding
• Root canal treatment

They can also restore missing teeth with:

Complete dentures (if you’re missing all your teeth)
• Removable partial dentures
• Dental Implants
• Dental Bridges
• Implant-retained dentures

Why Is Restorative Dentistry So Important?

Teeth become damaged for various reasons, including trauma and dental decay.

Trauma can lead to cracked, chipped, or fractured teeth. Dental decay can damage the tooth’s nerve, leading to pain and possible eventual tooth loss.

Left untreated, damaged teeth can wreak havoc on your oral health.

Dental decay can lead to abscesses and infections that don’t simply cause nerve irritation and pain to the damaged tooth. The decay and infection can damage the health of surrounding teeth.

Missing, cracked, or fractured teeth can throw your bite off, causing strain on other teeth. Such strain can also damage the muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the head and neck, as well as the jaw joints. Without treatment, you can end up with severe pain, migraines, further tooth damage, dental emergencies, and even more tooth loss.

How Does Restorative Dentistry in Gardena Help Overall Health?

Small cavities, early gum disease, tooth loss, and jaw disorders aren’t life-threatening.

However, if these conditions aren’t treated, they can damage your overall health.

• Dental decay: Untreated decay can lead to an infection. The bacteria can travel outside the mouth through the bloodstream, leading to brain damage, compromised airway, deep neck abscesses, and sepsis.
• Gum disease: Untreated gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss. It is also linked to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, widespread inflammation, COPD, and pregnancy/delivery complications.
• Tooth loss: Tooth loss can make it difficult to chew, and chewing is the first step of digestion. If you cannot chew correctly, you can have difficulty digesting your food and getting the necessary nutrients. Additionally, it isn’t uncommon for people who have difficulty chewing to avoid crunchy foods like nutrient-dense nuts, seeds, and raw fruits and vegetables.
• Jaw Disorders/Malocclusion: When your jaw isn’t functioning optimally because of malocclusion, you can have a hard time chewing foods. You can face the same nutrient issues that people with tooth loss face. You’ll also likely experience chronic pain from headaches, migraines, and earaches that negatively impact your quality of life.

What Is a Gardena Restorative Dentist?

A restorative dentist performs restorative procedures. It’s likely that your restorative dentist in Gardena also offers preventative dental services.

Your restorative dentist also focuses their continuing education efforts on constantly improving their restorative skills. Continuing education also keeps them up-to-date on the latest technology and products that:

• Provide longer-lasting results
• Improve patient comfort
• Shorten appointment times
• Require a less invasive procedure or approach to a dental issue

Do You Need Restorative Dentistry in Gardena? 4 Reasons Why You Might

How can you tell if you might need restorative dental services? Here are a few indicators.

1. Tooth or Jaw Sensitivity or Pain

Several factors, including the following, cause oral pain:

• Dental decay
• A tooth or gum abscess/infection
• Enamel wear
• Gum recession and root exposure
• Cracked tooth syndrome
• TMJ disorder
• Trauma
• A broken tooth

Please contact your Gardena dentist immediately if you’re experiencing any pain – especially lingering pain. We want to help you get out of pain as quickly as possible. And we want to help prevent any long-term problems that can result in the need for an extraction or expensive dental treatments.

2. Tooth Discoloration

Tooth discoloration can be a sign of staining. Your teeth can become yellow if you drink a lot of coffee, tea, wine, or soda. You might even experience some darker staining in the pits and grooves of your teeth.

Discoloration is also a sign of a traumatized tooth. If the nerve of your tooth dies, the tooth will turn dark. The whole tooth will look dark brown, gray, or black. Trauma can be caused by:

• Biting down on a metal fork or spoon
• Biting into something hard (like a cherry or olive pit)
• Getting hit in the face/mouth

3. Chronic Bad Breath

Bad breath – as well as a bad taste in your mouth – is often a sign of an infection.

Gum disease is notorious for causing chronic bad breath due to the high level of bacteria and gum infections.

A tooth abscess can also cause bad breath or taste due to the bacterial infection’s exudate.

Other issues, such as fungal infections, can also contribute to chronic bad breath. Therefore, it is vital to see your Gardena dentist for an evaluation.

4. Loose Teeth

Trauma (like getting hit in the face) or gum disease can lead to loose teeth. In some cases, the ligaments that hold the tooth in place can heal, and the tooth will have a good prognosis. In other cases, you might lose the tooth.

In the case of gum disease, you might end up with tooth loss because of the extensive damage to the gum tissue, periodontal ligaments, and jawbone.

Is Restorative Dentistry in Gardena Really Worth the Investment?

Some people don’t think you need to treat dental issues unless you’re in pain or bleeding. Unfortunately, this type of attitude can lead to more dental problems (and pain!) in the future.

The goal of a Gardena restorative dentist is to help you achieve good oral health. To do that, they need to treat diseases that can damage your teeth, gums, and overall health.

If it’s been a while since your last dental visit, we urge you to schedule an examination with your dentist. The sooner they can treat any dental issues, the better. Your dentist can help ensure better long-term health and less pain. A beautiful smile is just icing on the cake.

Concerned you might need restorative dental work from a Gardena dentist? We’re here to help! Contact Gardena Dental Care at 424-295-7885 or use our contact form to schedule an evaluation.