Dallas County Living Well Magazine September/October 2020 | Page 23

The “Go To”
Place for
Your Dental
Treatments
Courtesy ALLEN DENTAL CENTER
When it comes to teeth, deep down inside of us all, we want
to have “nice” teeth, a beautiful smile and great oral health.
The journey to an ideal smile starts with understanding the different
points that may be bothersome cosmetically and to your overall
health. If I could give you just a few simple evaluation tools to assess
your own oral health, we can get you started on the right track
towards your ideal smile.
First, let’s start with gum health. Do your gums look pink? Not
too white or too red as that could be a possible sign of anemia or
gum disease. Do your gums bleed when you brush or floss? Do
your gums appear puffy or swollen? If you answered yes to any of
these questions, a simple check up can give you the information
and tools you need to build towards better gum health.
Second, something you may not have thought of as important
to your overall health is chewing. Most people are not aware that
inadequate chewing of food can cause digestive and stomach problems.
The digestive process begins with teeth and saliva breaking
down the foods we eat into more easily digestible particles for our
stomach to properly absorb. Even missing one tooth can compromise
what and how well we are able to chew. Replacing missing
teeth these days has become quite simple and effective and there is
usually more than one way to accomplish this.
Third, have you noticed your mouth being more dry lately? As
we age, or if we take any medicine on a daily basis, it is all too common
that our salivary flow is decreased. Simply drinking more water,
although a good thing, cannot replace the lost saliva we need
for digestion and pH buffering in our mouth. When you have your
normal checkup, it is routine to evaluate the salivary flow and make
recommendations on a range of products offered to offset the damage
being caused by the dry mouth.
Fourth, how do you really feel about your smile? I can tell you
that one of the best investments to make in yourself is your smile. It
is amazing to me how something as simple as restoring your smile
can brighten your countenance, make you look younger and feel
energized about your health. Some patients simply need one of the
many forms of teeth whitening we have to offer. Others have very
healthy teeth but the appearance is not what they want. For these
patients, we would explore a simple smile makeover using the best
cosmetic types of porcelain or zirconia on the market today. With
a dental team and high quality ceramists, the finished smile looks
phenomenal and incredibly natural. We often complete these cases
and stand back in awe of how life changes with a new smile. These
transformations are full of joy and our patients love their new smile.
Last on the cosmetic list is removing teeth that just aren’t able
to last and replace them with a new set of teeth. One of the newest
and fastest growing replacement options is the “All on X” process of
removing all the teeth and placing implants all in one day while our
patient is comfortably resting with IV sedation. This process is one
of the fastest ways to get rid of the old and bring in the new health
in a very short time. Implant dentistry has changed the way we restore
and replace teeth more than anything else we have been a part
of in the last few decades.
The Allen Dental Center has also become a place where other
dentists can come and watch and observe the most modern ways to
learn implant dentistry. We are often looking for patients to use as
“teaching” cases to help these dentists as well as help our patients in
the process. We love getting to offer a “teaching case” discount if a
patient is willing to allow other dentists to watch as we are restoring
their smile with implants. The Allen Dental Center has become
the “go to” place for many patients over the years as we offer many
different treatment options to satisfy what our patients are needing.
Give Allen Dental Center a call today or visit our website to learn
how we can impact your overall oral health, enhance your teeth
cosmetically and give you your ideal smile.
DALLAS COUNTY • 21