Archive for May, 2015

Implant-supported dentures provide better oral health and better self-esteem than traditional dentures.

Human beings should have a total of 32 permanent teeth at adulthood (28 if the wisdom teeth have been extracted). However, a wide variety of factors including poor diet, inadequate oral hygiene, accidents, and unavailability of affordable dental care collaborate to deprive many adults of their natural teeth, sometimes at a surprisingly early age.

According to the latest data from the CDC, only about 67 percent of adults aged 20 to 39 have all their teeth. Adults 40 to 64 are twice as likely to be missing teeth, with only 34 percent of this age group having all their natural…

Discover the top 3 advantages dental implants offer over a bridge.

For many years, patients missing a single tooth or several adjacent teeth were limited to some kind of dental bridge as a replacement. This involved creating a false tooth or teeth to replace what was lost, and supporting this prosthesis with crowns placed on neighboring teeth.

Now, however, patients are increasingly being offered the choice of a traditional bridge or a dental implant to replace their missing teeth. Dental implants consist of a titanium implant peg topped with a crown. You might get one implant for each missing tooth, or, in the case of three or more missing teeth in a…

Get the preventative and restorative care you need at California Dental Group.

According to new statistics released by the CDC this month, 91 percent of American adults over age 20 have had dental caries, aka cavities, in their lifetime. Worse still, 27 percent of adults over age 20 have untreated dental caries.

The problem is greatest among minorities. The CDC reported that 36 percent of Hispanics and 42 percent of African-Americans over age 20 have untreated tooth decay.

These statistics are very worrisome considering the consequences of dental caries, which are by no means limited to simple cavities. Dental caries can also result in:

• Unsightly white spots on teeth
• Tooth pain and sensitivity
• Possible infection of tooth…
  

Get the real facts on 3 common misconceptions about dentists.

Are you letting any of these top 3 myths about your dentist interfere with your ability to get the care you need? Read on to find out.

A Busy Dentist is a Better Dentist

Having a lot of happy patients coming back to them for routine care is definitely a sign of an excellent dentist. However, you should not assume that one dentist is better than another purely on the availability (or unavailability) of appointments. The fact that a dentist is booked solid for months may simply indicate that they have not expanded their practice to properly accommodate all of their…

California Dental Group works hard to provide quality care at an affordable price.

According to a study recently released by Families USA, 1 in 4 Americans who bought their own health care last year did not receive all the care they needed. Instead, they skipped things like medical tests, prescription drugs, and doctor visits because they could not afford them, even with the limited help they would have received from their insurance plans.

Among lower- to middle-income families, the figure was even worse—1 in 3 of these Americans skipped necessary care due to cost concerns. And considering that many of these individuals did not even have any dental coverage at all, it…

Make your orthodontic treatment as comfortable as possible by following these tips.

Have you ever heard the statement “It isn’t easy being beautiful”? This could certainly apply to the process of getting orthodontic treatment to create a beautiful smile. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize the temporary discomfort associated with orthodontic treatment, and in the end your beautiful new smile will be well worth the experience.

Main Causes of Orthodontic Pain

There are two main types of pain or discomfort that patients may experience during orthodontic treatment:

• Cheek Irritation—When receiving treatment with traditional metal braces, the brackets and wires may protrude from teeth and irritate the inside of your cheeks. In most cases this is…
  

Get some initial information to use in deciding whether or not to get dental implants.

Dental implants offer a very exciting alternative to traditional methods of replacing missing teeth like bridges and dentures. Though the process is safe and studies show a long track record of successfully providing dental implants that last for decades, nonetheless dental implants are not right for every patient.

To figure out if dental implants may be right for you, begin by asking yourself these 4 questions.

How Old Are You?

If your jaw is not yet done developing, you are not a good candidate for dental implants. This makes dental implants unavailable to most patients under age 18. However,…

Our skilled cosmetic dentists can make chipped teeth look better than they did before your accident.

While healthy teeth are quite strong—in fact tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body—teeth can still get chipped or broken in the event of an accident. For example, maybe you were playing sports without a mouthguard and you took a blow to the face, maybe you had a bad fall, or maybe you were involved in a car accident. In any case, chipped or broken teeth can be a painful and disfiguring problem, especially if your top front teeth were among the ones that were damaged.

The good news is that a skilled…

California Dental Group offers expert crown repair and crown replacement in Upland CA.

Crowns are a very useful type of dental restoration that can help repair broken, cracked, or severely decayed teeth. Unfortunately, crowns do not last forever. If you have lost or damaged one of your crowns, here’s what to do:

1. Carefully remove the crown. If the crown is very loose or damaged, you could accidentally swallow or inhale it. In this case it is best to gently remove the crown and put it in a clean container.
2. Call the dentist. Whether or not the tooth that lost the crown is painful, you need to get the crown replaced as soon as…
   

Learn about the most common scenarios in which your dentist would order x-rays.

If you’ve ever been to the dentist, no doubt you are familiar with dental x-rays. X-rays allow dentists a glimpse of what lies beneath the hard outer surface of teeth or underneath the gum line so he or she can devise the best possible treatment plan. Here are the 7 most common scenarios in which your dentist might order dental x-rays.

Routine Care: At California Dental Group, we are strong believers in the importance of preventative dental care. In other words, we want to fix small issues before they have the chance to cause you major pain…