General dentistry services in St. Augustine
Taking care of your teeth and gums begins in childhood and continues throughout your adult life. When you think about it, brushing and flossing for a few minutes each day is a small thing you can do to enjoy a lifetime of loving your smile. General dentists help you to maintain your oral health by providing services that prevent and treat tooth decay and other forms of dental disease.
Why Is It Important to Go to the Dentist?
If you’re trying to get motivated to go to a general dentist near you, then it might help to consider what happens when you don’t visit a dental office regularly. Tooth decay is often preventable when you get frequent cleanings. The same is also true about gum disease. Treating an injured tooth quickly can also help to preserve it rather than allowing an infection to lead to an extraction.
What Dental Services Can a Traditional Dentist Provide?
A traditional dentist has chosen to provide a full range of general dentistry services that work for improving the health of people of all ages. You’ll sometimes hear general dentists being called family dentists, and they can use these services to help you, your children, or senior parents preserve your smiles.
Tooth Repair & Replacement
If you fracture your tooth or get one knocked out, your dentist can offer you an array of options to restore your smile that include bonding, crowns, and bridges.
Dental Bridges
A dental bridge is sometimes the preferred tooth replacement option for someone who loses a single tooth and isn’t ready for dentures.
Crowns
Dental crowns are made to look like your natural teeth, and they fit over them like a thick shell to provide more strength to weakened ones after an injury or extensive dental treatment.
Porcelain Crowns
Not everyone wants a gold tooth in their smile zone, and porcelain crowns come close to having the same strength while providing a closer match to your natural tooth color.
Fillings
At our dentist general practice, fillings are what our dentists do the most often to repair teeth that are damaged by decay.
Porcelain Fillings
A porcelain filling flows into the hole that dentists create when they remove decay, and it provides a durable replacement for the lost tooth structure.
Composite Fillings
This common type of filling material also comes in tooth-colored shades, and it can last for seven years or more before it needs to be replaced or touched up.
Laser Dentistry
Our general dental office is proud to offer laser dentistry services that can take some of the pain and risk out of common procedures, helping you maintain your oral health with ease.
Dental Bonding
Dentists use composite resin to repair teeth chips or to cover up stains that won’t lift with teeth whitening treatments.
Sealants
A sealant is just a special coating that dentists put on teeth to fill in grooves that could otherwise trap food debris and plaque.
Nitrous Oxide
Nitrous oxide has a calming effect on the body, which is perfect for helping people overcome dental anxiety during their treatments.
What Is the Right Timeline for Going to the Dentist?
Once you’ve completed your initial consultation at our general family dentistry clinic, you’ll receive information about how often you need to see your new dentist. Usually, you’ll want to schedule exams and cleanings for every six months.
What Should You Expect When Dentists Clean Teeth?
A general dentist in St. Augustine performs basic teeth cleanings by brushing debris away and using several types of tools to remove stuck-on plaque and tartar. Occasionally, you might need a deeper cleaning to remove buildup below the gum line. With both types of cleaning, your dentist will use gentle motions to keep you as comfortable as possible while they perform this important hygiene service.
What Is a General Time Frame for a Dentist Appointment to Take?
General dentistry services don’t take long compared to more specialty types of treatments. We like to see our patients get in and out of our office with a half hour to an hour for most types of care. If you need multiple fillings or a root canal, then ask us how long to expect for your appointment. We’ll do our best to provide a close estimate, and we might discuss doing multiple fillings on different days when you are in a time crunch.
What Steps Should You Take to Prepare for a Dentist Appointment?
Very little prep work is necessary for our appointments once you've found the answer to your question of where to find a general dentist. You might find it easier to complete your paperwork when you have a list of your current medications on hand. Setting a calendar reminder can also help you to remember your appointment and avoid any last-minute rushing around that could cause you stress.
Building a relationship with your general dentist in St. Augustine helps to make it easier to take care of your teeth. Are you curious about what else a general dental care provider can do? Give our office a call to connect with a general dentistry professional today!