Over the years, dentistry has come a long way. This is often an overlooked blessing when you consider what dentistry used to consist of. Going back thousands of years, we find evidence of dental work being performed with incredibly crude tools such as sharpened rocks and primitive filling materials comprised of honey, hair, and ground barley – things you definitely won’t find at our Rigby dental clinic.
There are also many myths about what caused dental decay that modern science has rendered obsolete. One such theory is the “tooth worm”. This was an idea ancient people had about cavities being caused by tiny worms boring their way into and throughout the tooth. While it may seem silly to us today, one can understand why people would believe it. After all, cavities do resemble little holes that a worm would create, and our ancestors did know about small worms that could bore their way into durable substances like wood.
Fortunately, our Rigby dental clinic isn’t handicapped by such primitive technology or ideas. When you choose Cedar Creek Dental, here’s what you will find:
Effective Pain Management And Sedation
At our Rigby dental clinic, we understand just how difficult it can be for many people to visit the dentist, even for a routine exam and cleaning. After all, the teeth are incredibly sensitive parts of the body. The thought of someone poking and prodding at them can send shivers up many people’s spines.
Almost everyone deals with anxiety about the dentist to some degree, and some suffer from it worse than others. The problem is that this can deter people from getting much needed dental work, and over time, the problems only get worse.
At Cedar Creek Dental, we provide everything you need to manage your pain and help you relax. In fact, we offer a variety of spa amenities that are free with your visit! These include:
- Warm Hand Wax
- Aromatherapy
- Chair Massage
- Warming Blankets
- Sorbet (choose from mango or any of our other tasty flavors after your work is done!)
CEREC Same-Day Crowns
For many years, dentists were limited to old-school crowns to repair dental decay and badly damaged teeth. This meant shaving down and shaping the damaged areas and assigning a temporary crown until the permanent crown was create and placed. These temporary crowns were notorious for falling out – sometimes that very night! – while eating food or brushing your teeth. The result is not pleasant, leading to discomfort and pain until another temporary crown or the permanent crown was installed.
At our Rigby dental clinic, we provide CEREC same-day crowns. We can create the perfect crown for your tooth in a single visit. We’ll shape your damaged tooth so it accommodates the new crown that we’ll create via 3D imaging software and our dental crown milling machine.
Extractions and Dental Implants
In ancient times, sever and advanced tooth decay was often solved through tooth extraction, a far more crude method for which better options can be provided at our Rigby dental clinic. One such example was in ancient Greek culture. As the Greeks prided themselves on their ability to withstand incredible amounts of pain, dental decay was often dealt with by merely waiting things out until the tooth fell out, or by crude dental extraction.
In more recent times, we can look at the dental key as a common method of extracting teeth. This is incredibly crude compared to today’s methods. The dental key was named for the way it resembled a door key. It would be fastened to the tooth and turned until the tooth was loosened. This would often cause the tooth to shatter, as well as cause jaw and soft tissue damage.
For many centuries, the extracted teeth could not be replaced, and dental patients would spend the rest of their lives with one or more missing teeth.
At our Rigby dental clinic, we incorporate far safer, cleaner, and virtually painless dental extractions. This is of great benefit for people who require wisdom teeth extractions. Wisdom teeth should be extracted sooner rather than later, as the longer they are allowed to grow, the more damage they can cause to surrounding teeth. The whole procedure is also easier and less complicated.
We also provide high-quality dental implants that look, feel, and function just like natural teeth. While wisdom teeth do not need to be replaced with dental implants, it’s always a good idea to replace other teeth with implants for aesthetic and utilitarian reasons.
Modern Root Canal Therapy
You’ve probably heard plenty of horror stories about root canals. Many years ago, these stories would have been justified, but fortunately, root canal therapy no longer has to be the nightmare it once was given advancements in modern dentistry.
At our Rigby dental clinic, we offer safe and clean root canal therapy using advanced technology, pain management methods, and conscious sedation. When a tooth needs a root canal, it’s generally because dental decay has advanced to the point that it’s beginning to infect the tooth pulp, the soft tissue underneath the tooth that contains the tooth nerve. When this tissue is infected, the resulting pain can be incredibly severe.
We will numb your tooth and remove the infected tissue. Then, we’ll fill the tooth with healing medicine and install a dental crown.
It may not sound like fun, but at our Rigby dental clinic, you can expect an easy root canal that will ultimately eliminate your pain.
Digital X-Ray Technology
For those worried about the amount of radiation they’ll be exposed to for a mere dental diagnostic, digital x-rays at our Rigby dental clinic are a major advantage. These x-rays require far less radiation (90% less!) than convention x-rays. They also provide a number of other benefits:
- Fast results (in as little as 5 seconds).
- Far more comfort due to the rounded corners that are much easier on the gums.
- Images that can be emailed instead of mailed.
- More safety to you, our staff, and the environment.
White Fillings
More and more dentists are turning away from amalgam (silver) fillings for the following reasons:
- They contain high amounts of mercury, a known toxic heavy metal.
- They don’t look or feel like natural teeth, creating a “metal mouth” look.
- They have no adhesive quality and have to be forced into place. This creates micro-fractures in the tooth.
- They expand and contract due to temperature changes, creating further micro-fractures.
Instead, we use resin-based white fillings, which look just like natural tooth tissue. Given enough time, you probably won’t even know which tooth has been worked on, or where.
White fillings and all of the above dental services can be found at our Rigby dental clinic. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
