Preventive Dental Care helps you maintain a healthy mouth, reducing the need for dental intervention or restorative care.

Dental Exam and Cleaning

You don’t have to floss all your teeth, just the ones you want to keep! Remember, be true to your teeth or they will be false to you. The American Dental Association (ADA) advocates yearly check-ups and cleanings, and daily flossing and brushings. These measures go a long way toward preventing cavities and more serious dental problems, such as gingivitis, a gum disease that can lead to tooth loss.

The two major causes of tooth loss are decay and gum disease. The better we prevent or deal with these two problems, the more chance people have of keeping their teeth for life. The joint efforts of the dentist, hygienist, and the patient can help to prevent the need for treatment, fillings, extractions or any other intervention.

A course of treatment may be recommended to get your mouth into good condition, and a maintenance plan will be worked out to help you keep it that way. Routine exams also allow dentists to screen patients for oral cancers.

Sealants

Dental sealants are most often used with children to prevent cavities on the molars. These are hard to reach areas for young kids and sealants provide a protective shield that blocks out germs and food. Once applied, they can protect against 80% of cavities for up to 2 years.

Fluoride Treatment

Fluoride prevents tooth decay by strengthening enamel. Fluoride is also used to prevent tooth decay in people who undergo radiation of the head and/or neck, which may cause dryness of the mouth and an increased incidence of tooth decay.

Treatment of Gingivitis

Gingivitis is an inflammation of the gums surrounding the teeth. Gingivitis is one of many periodontal diseases that affect the health of the periodontium (those tissues that surround the teeth and include the gums, soft tissues, and bone).

Periodontal diseases are often classified according to their severity. They range from mild gingivitis, to more severe periodontitis, and finally acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis, which can be life threatening. Bacteria can cause inflammation of the gums. Although bacteria are normally found in our bodies and provide protective effects most of the time, bacteria can be harmful.

The mouth is a great place for bacteria to live. The warm, moist environment and constant food supply are everything bacteria need to thrive. If not for a healthy immune system, bacteria in the mouth would rapidly reproduce out of control overwhelming the body’s defense system. An infection begins when the body’s immune system is overwhelmed. Gingivitis is an infection that occurs when bacteria invade soft tissues, bone, and other places that bacteria should not be. At the moment of infection, bacteria no longer help us, they begin to harm us. Infections, like other diseases, range from mild to severe or life threatening.

Pain in the teeth, mouth and gums are usually signals that something isn’t quite right. Our dentists assess your oral health and, when needed, help restore your teeth to keep your mouth healthy and functional.

Fillings

To treat a cavity your dentist will remove the decayed portion of the tooth and then “fill” the area on the tooth where the decayed material once lived. Fillings are also used to repair cracked or broken teeth and teeth that have been worn down from misuse (such as from nail-biting or tooth grinding).

Dental Bridges

Dental bridges literally bridge the gap created by one or more missing teeth. A bridge is made up of two crowns for the teeth on either side of the gap – these two anchoring teeth are called abutment teeth – and a false tooth/teeth in between. These false teeth are called pontics and can be made from gold, alloys, porcelain or a combination of these materials. Dental bridges are supported by natural teeth or implants.

Dentures

A denture is a removable replacement for missing teeth and surrounding tissues. Complete Dentures are used when all the teeth are missing.

Partials

A partial denture is a removable appliance that replaces missing teeth. It is held in place by your existing teeth. It is important that these teeth be healthy in order to support your partial; often they may need treatment prior to making the partial. A partial can restore aesthetics and function to your mouth. With the loss of your teeth you may find it more difficult to chew as well as you used to. The partial can give you back much of this function, though not as much as natural teeth. A partial can also help stabilize your remaining teeth. This stabilization can minimize tooth drift, bite changes, and periodontal problems.

Root Canal Therapy

Root canal treatment removes the pulp from the center of a tooth when decay will likely damage or has already killed the tooth. It is done to prevent the development of a painful infection in the pulp that may spread to other teeth and to treat an infection that has developed into an abscessed tooth. This procedure can relieve toothache, stop infection, and promote healing.

Dental Crowns

A crown can restore the shape to teeth that have been broken, suffered extensive decay or been worn down. They can also be used to strengthen a weak tooth or add beauty to a discolored or misshapen smile. Crowns can be gold, porcelain or a combination of porcelain over metal.

Dental Implants

A natural tooth has a crown – the part which shows above the gumline, and a root – the anchor hidden below the gumline. When a tooth is missing, a dental implant takes the place of the missing root.

Everyone wants that perfect smile and yet almost no one develops perfect teeth. Lack of proper hygiene and preventive care can lead to damage that can harm your smile.

Cosmetic dentistry can help create or restore a beautiful smile and prevent long-term damage to the structure of your mouth.

Teeth Whitening

Tooth whitening can be performed to reduce discoloration and staining, or simply to correct discoloration of the teeth by removing the brown and yellow staining. The term “teeth whitening” can refer to a number of techniques to improve the brightness of the patient’s teeth. Among them are chemical whitening, mild acid whitening, abrasive teeth brightening and the newest technique, laser teeth whitening.

Your teeth are not all naturally the same color. The goal of teeth whitening is to achieve each tooth's optimum whiteness and uniformity of color while still looking natural. During your first consultation for tooth whitening, your dentist will go over what you can personally expect for your smile.

Dental Bonding

The dental bonding procedure utilizes a composite resin to restore chipped or broken teeth, fill in gaps, and reshape or recolor your smile.

Porcelain Veneers

Porcelain veneers are ultra-thin shells of ceramic material, which are bonded to the front of teeth. This procedure requires little or no anesthesia, and can be the ideal choice for improving the appearance of the front teeth. Porcelain veneers can mask undesirable defects like teeth staining from tetracycline, injury, or root-canals. This is an ideal method for masking discolored fillings in the front teeth. Highly resistant to permanent staining from coffee, tea, or even cigarette smoking, the wafer-thin porcelain veneers can achieve a tenacious bond to the tooth, resulting in an aesthetically pleasing naturalness that is unsurpassed by other restorative options. We offer and recommend Lumineers ™ for most patients. Lumineers are thinner and stronger than other forms of veneers and do not require drilling.

Dental Implant Technology

Implants are very durable and will last many years. They require the same “maintenance” as real teeth, including brushing, flossing and regular dental check-ups. Dental implants can help restore almost anyone’s smile even if natural teeth have been lost to injury or disease.

A very common reason people consider implants is because a sliding lower denture makes chewing and talking difficult. Implants can also replace individual teeth and partial bridges in the upper and lower jaws. The majority of patients treated with dental implants experience a significant improvement in their ability to chew food and feel more comfortable.

Dental implants are permanent fixtures of titanium posts anchored to the jawbone and topped with individual replacement teeth or a bridge that screws or cements into the posts. Implant technology and materials used today in the United States were developed more than 30 years ago in Europe. The success rate for implants is remarkable: 98 percent for lower implants and 91 percent for upper implants.

Wisdom Tooth Extraction 

Your wisdom teeth are four permanent adult teeth located at the back corners of your mouth on the top and bottom. For some, these teeth grow in without issue. However, if a wisdom tooth doesn’t have room to grow it can become impacted and result in pain, infection or other dental problems and will need to be removed to alleviate those symptoms. 

Tooth Extraction

Tooth extraction is the removal of a tooth from its socket in the bone. Overcrowding, placement of braces, and teeth that are severely broken or damaged by decay and cannot be repaired may require tooth extraction. 

Periodontal Disease Treatment

Periodontal disease treatment depends on the severity of the decay in your mouth. If decay has progressed, surgical treatment may be needed to restore health to the gums and bones in your mouth in order to prevent progression of the disease. 

Bone Grafting

This procedure is generally performed when periodontitis has destroyed the bone surrounding your tooth root. Bone grafting uses either your own bones, donated bones or synthetic material. Bone grafting helps hold your tooth in place to prevent tooth loss. It also encourages regrowth of the natural bone.

Gingivectomy

A gingivectomy is the total removal of a portion of gingiva (gum) from in and around a tooth or teeth to treat gum disease. At Dedicated Dental, we generally use laser technology to reduce bleeding and decrease healing time. The laser is used to remove and cauterize the gum and then sutures are used to reattach the remaining gums. 

Bone Growth Removal 

Often called Tori Removal or Reduction. Tori are excess bone that develop in the mouth. With some these are painless growths that don’t cause any issues but with others they can cause pain and irritation, and can be removed.

A beautiful smile and a healthy mouth are critical for self-confidence. But fear and anxiety over dental procedures and cleanings are very common and often keep patients from visiting the dentist regularly. We believe your comfort during dental visits is just as important as your oral health and offer nitrous oxide (laughing gas) upon request so you can have the beautiful smile and healthy mouth you desire.

"As a patient of Dedicated Dental for the past 9 years I have experienced the highest level of professional dental care from routine teeth cleaning to having just received a dental implant. Dr. Bedoya and his team treat their patients like family. I'm also extremely impressed with their professionalism, expertise, but also, the way Dr. Bedoya has an artistic approach to dental procedures ensuring you leave with a beautiful smile."
-Mary Martin