Dr. Thoppay is a board-certified Oral Medicine Specialist who focuses on providing a personalized treatment plan with advanced dental procedures with laser, digital tools, and techniques for your oral health needs. She applies minimally invasive techniques to improve patient comfort and better clinical outcomes. Advanced imaging procedures, laser dentistry, same-day crowns, bridges, and digital technology are available for quick turnaround time on labs works.
Personalized Dentistry
Complex Medical Histories can involve cancer, kidney disease, cardiac concerns, patients with autoimmune conditions, or bone-strengthening infusions. Modifications are often needed for dental treatment so that you will be able to tolerate the procedure. Further, we will work with your medical providers to ensure a well-informed process. We practice minimally invasive dentistry at our practice. We try our best to provide stability to your oral condition based on your conditions using advanced techniques and technology. Treatments are rendered by our Board-certified Oral Medicine specialist.
Dr. Thoppay provides advanced personalized treatments for dental-related problems. Some conditions to mention are dry mouth or medically related tooth sensitivity management, Diabetes-related dental and oral related problems, facial pain/neuropathy-related dental conditions, bruxism and TMD-related dental problems, and dental implant consultations with advanced tools and techniques while also focusing on your overall health.
Dental Exams
Routine dental exams help to maintain healthy teeth and gums. They can also help avoid expensive treatment or unwanted pain and discomfort. The Academy of General Dentistry recommends checkups every six months for people of all ages. This way, problems can be caught in time, at an early stage.
Oral Cancer Screening
Oral Cancer screening is another important aspect of the routine exam. An oral cancer screening is a visual and physical exam of the oral cavity, neck, and facial areas. It can reassure a patient that there are no apparent concerns. It can help get early detection and treatment for any questionable areas. National Cancer Institute, states that cancer screenings should occur before symptoms begin to show.
At our practice any dental visit whether routine [a well-visit] or problem-based [a sick visit] will involve knowing your oral health concerns, understanding your medical history, your current medications, and your current health status, followed by a comprehensive exam. Full mouth radiographs or problem focussed X-rays may be needed for clinical decision-making. Based on the discussion and clinical presentation we can provide a personalized solution for your oral and dental health needs. The following are general recommendations for dental procedures. Patients with advanced dental care need personalized dental care with modifications to the following dental procedures. At our center, we focus to provide comprehensive care for general needs and advanced dental care for patients under cancer care, seniors, or medically complex patients.
Dental X-rays
Dental X-rays (radiographs) are images of your teeth that your dentist uses to evaluate your oral health. This can help your dentist to identify problems like cavities, periodontal disease, infections, oral diseases, jaw bone, and impacted teeth.
At our facility, we provide a low dose of radiation x-ray with a state of the art technology. These X-rays with low levels of radiation are used to capture images. These images give details of the interior of your teeth and jaw areas. We also have the Cone-beam CT scan for the jaw and facial area screening. It provides better comfort while providing great diagnostic details.
Procedures
Dental Cleanings
Dental cleanings are essential preventative programs for maintaining good oral health. There are various levels in the cleaning procedures. This can range from prophylaxis, a basic brush-off cleaning generally covered 100% by most insurances. Advanced scaling and root planing are indicated if there is gum bleeding or calculus build-up. Deep cleaning is indicated when periodontal health is compromised. Removing mineralized plaque that may develop even after regular brushing. Flossing, particularly in areas that are difficult to reach is important to clean. So generally, professional cleaning every six months is recommended to maintain a healthy smile. Oftentimes patients with medical and dental conditions may need more focused professional cleanings to provide extra care.
LASER DENTISTRY
Laser technology has revolutionized dentistry with more effective and less invasive treatments for patients than ever before. And they can be used for an amazing array of treatments – such as filling teeth, gum treatments, pain management, oral surgeries, teeth whitening, and more.
Benefits Of using laser
There are several benefits associated with using lasers in dental treatment. Contact our office today for more information about the conditions that can be treated with lasers or how laser dentistry can benefit your oral health.
A few notable benefits of laser-based surgical procedures are
- Minimized bleeding
- Less pain and discomfort to patients
- Faster healing time
- Reduced risk of bacterial infections
- Improved oral tissue regeneration
- Lower risk of damage to surrounding tissues
- Gently disinfects and evaporates diseased tissues
- Patients experience maximum satisfaction and comfort.
Gum Treatment
Gum disease is an infection that affects the gums and jaw bones. This can lead to a loss of gum and teeth. There are two major stages — gingivitis and periodontitis. Gingivitis is milder and often reversible. Periodontal disease is often more severe. For improvement, gum treatment may be necessary to reverse the effect of the disease.
At our practice, we provide traditional gum treatments and surgeries as well as minimally invasive techniques utilizing laser therapy options. Laser therapies provide more ease to the patients while providing better treatment outcomes according to a recent study published in the Journal of Americal Dental Association.
Fillings and Repairs
Dental fillings and repairs use restorative materials used to repair teeth. Composite fillings are tooth-colored and provide aesthetically pleasing results. Composites help repair chipped, decayed, discolored, or fractured teeth. Hence, for this procedure, the dentist chooses composite resin to match the color of your teeth. Several layers of resin are applied to each tooth. Each layer is hardened under ultraviolet light or laser. The final steps include shaping and polishing the resin material so the finished tooth looks natural and smooth.
Hard tissue lasers can design and help comfortably restore dental cavities with a minimally invasive technique. Even decay below the gum line can be removed without bleeding, meaning less pain and recovery time!
Crown, bridge, and Caps
A crown or cap covers a damaged tooth by decay, broken, badly stained, or misshaped. A crown is made of different types of material like Zirconia, acrylic, metal, porcelain, or porcelain bonded to metal.
Dr. Thoppay Offers same-day zirconia crowns and quick turnaround on bridges using digital technology.
Crown preparation
The crowns are custom-made, and it take more than one appointment to prepare your tooth. So to prepare a crown, the tooth is first frozen with anesthesia. It is then filed down so the cap can fit over it. An impression of the teeth and gums is made. A temporary cap is fitted over the tooth until the permanent crown is ready. On your next visit, the dentist will remove the temporary cap and cement the crown onto the tooth. The crown will closely match the color and shape of your natural teeth.
Extractions
Dental extractions may be needed at some point in life. It is important to remove severely damaged teeth. Otherwise, it may cause severe pain or infection. Depending on the tooth location, decay condition, and other related factors, the procedure may be a simple or complex surgical extraction. The procedure needs to be modified with a prevailing medical condition or the type of medication you take.
Dentures
There are two types of dentures – partial and full. A partial denture replaces only some missing teeth, a full denture replaces all teeth within a jaw that have been lost. There are a variety of dental material choices available in the market. Based on the material choice, the denture cost often varies. The procedure often needs three or more visits. Your jaw bone status, oral and medical condition, and material choices are common factors around denture fit and durability.
Dental Implants
Dental implants are a multi-step procedure. The first step is to see if you are a candidate for dental implants. Dental Implants are expensive and invasive procedures. The study shows that proper evaluation and treatment modification can improve success and significantly minimize post-operative complications. This reduces implant failure rates.
Dr. Thoppay reviews your medical and dental history and provides an evaluation if you are a candidate for Dental Implants.
Dental implant procedure steps vary based on your oral and medical conditions. The steps may follow, starting from the extraction of the teeth.
- Tooth Extraction – In cases where the dental implant is necessary because an existing tooth is fractured or dying, the tooth will need to be extracted before the implant procedure can begin. If there is a pre-existing infection in the tooth socket, or you have a medical condition that compromises your immune system, or an opportunity of infection may limit the possibility of proceeding to the next step. Steps are slightly different when placing an implant for a tooth that has already been lost.
- Bone Grafting – Bone graft is a procedure that helps to provide adequate bone support for the implant. Some patients who don’t have a thick enough jawbone will require bone grafting to enhance the bone before the dental implant procedure. This may be done soon after the extraction.
- Dental Implant – In this step, the titanium implant is surgically placed into the bone. Usually, to replace more than one tooth, 2 or more implants are required. There is typically a healing period from two to six months to allow the jawbone to fuse with the titanium implant.
- Temporary Crown or Denture – Patients may choose to have a temporary crown or denture placed during the healing period. This step may be vary depending on the function and cosmetic reasons.
- Placing the teeth: After healing, the teeth can be permanently placed as planned. It is a two-unit system called Abutment and the crown. The abutment is placed after reopening the gums to expose the dental implant and attach the abutment to it. Two weeks are needed for your gums to heal after getting the abutment. The final step is placing the tooth.
Teeth whitening
How Does Teeth Whitening Work?
Teeth whitening is a simple process. Whitening products remove surface stains and improve the color of your teeth, which makes your teeth brighter. We use laser whitening, light-activated whitening, as well as chemical whitening treatments based on your teeth’ condition as well as your preferences.
Your teeth can go from white to not-so-bright for a number of reasons:
Food and Drink
Beverages such as coffee, tea, and red wine are some major staining culprits that can stain teeth. Intense color pigments called chromogens that attach to the white outer part of your tooth (enamel). Below the hard, white outer shell of your teeth (enamel) is a softer area called dentin. If the enamel is worn off, the teeth may become exposed to an inner layer of the tooth (dentin) which absorbs chromogens, while also becoming a sensitive tooth.
Tobacco Use
Tar and nicotine are two chemicals found in tobacco that create stubborn stains. Tar is naturally dark. Nicotine is colorless until it’s mixed with oxygen. Then, it turns into a yellowish, surface-staining substance.
Age
Over time, the outer enamel layer gets thinner with brushing, and more yellowish dentin shows through.