Winners

Small upper front teeth with severe spacing. With braces we reduced the size of the spaces. For now temporary fillings were  done to achieve typical size of upper front teeth. Plan is for veneers on the four front teeth at a later date.

Dental Chair Selfies

Dental Chair selfies don't get much better than this! #dentalchairselfies #sanmarcosdentist 

Raffle Winners!

Congratulations to Our Raffle Winners!

 M Anguiano 

J Gaffney 

L Gonzalez

We appreciate all the patients who refer their friends, family or coworkers to our office. Please continue to share our practice with those you care about and you could be the winner in our next raffle!

Raffle

How to reduce morning breath?

Easy!
Make sure to brush and floss the night before, including your tongue 

Orthodontic Treatment Before & After

Class 3 molar relationship with excessive overbite and overjet. Upper arch had 9 mm of spacing and lower arch  had 3 mm of spacing. Treatment time 2 yrs 7 mo.

If you are loosing all your teeth, 
an "ALL ON 4 FIXED IMPLANT BRIDGE"
 is a great option! 

Patient with 4 broken front teeth and an underbite. We opened the bite with posterior crowns, did crown lengthening on the front 4 teeth to obtain enough tooth axial wall length and to make the gumline as even as possible. We placed crowns on the front teeth for an improved smile.Our material of choice was lava for its strength (zirconia) and esthetics (feldspathic porcelain).

How do I overcome dental anxiety?

 How do I overcome dental anxiety?

*Tell your dentist about your anxiety, they are here to help you, not judge you.

*Discuss your past negative experiences, it tells your dentist what not to do.

*Your dentist can give you a sedative to alleviate anxiety.

What does a dental hygienist do for me?

What does a dental hygienist do for me?

A dental hygienist cleans your teeth, examines and educates dental patients on oral disease.

 A regular schedule with the dental hygienist is a great way to " catch things" before they go bad.

staining of teeth

Things that cause extrinsic staining of teeth:

tea, coffee, soda, red wine & tobacco

What does a nightguard do for me?

 What does a nightguard do for me?

*Get a good night's sleep.

*Get rid of headaches.

*Get rid of jaw pain.

*Keeps me from damaging my teeth, crowns, dentures etc.

missing teeth

 If your bite is off or you are missing a tooth, your jaw muscles have to work harder to bring your teeth together, causing muscle strain and headaches.

Periodontitis

Type II Mild Periodontitis with heavy tartar build up, which caused severe inflammation of the gums. 6 weeks after Scaling and Root Planing (deep cleaning). 

Wow! How nice the gums look! 

Dental Health After 50

Dental Health After 50

Wondering why you are suddenly getting more cavities? 50's signals a 2nd round of cavity prone years. Primarily due to dry mouth caused as a side effect of 500+ medications for high blood pressure, cholesterol, pain, anxiety, diabetes, etc

-Healthy mouth ADA 

Class I severe crowding with excessive overbite and over-jet. 24 months treatment time

  BEFORE 

AFTER 

Patient was missing 4 anterior teeth that were replaced with a fixed bridge. Lava was the material of choice due to durability and aesthetics.

Our patient presented with bonding on her upper and lower front teeth and porcelain fused to metal crowns on her upper and lower posterior teeth. There was nothing dentally wrong with them except she said the teeth looked " lifeless and blah". We decided to do all porcelain restorations for her, I chose Lava as my material. Your typical all porcelain crown materials are all zirconia crowns like bruxir with great strength characteristics for anyone who grinds their teeth but are too opaque for anterior teeth. IPSEmax is a fantastic combination of strength and aesthetics. Empress has the best aesthetics! If i am only working on anterior teeth or on a single anterior tooth and if the patient is not a bruxer (grinder), it is the best material to create a natural lifelike smile. Due to its translucency used with the right cement I can alter the shade and the value of the crown/ veneer to get the best match. However  it is not as strong. I like Lava because it is the best combination of strength and beauty. It has a zirconia substructure and a layer of feldspathic Lava ceram. It gives me lifelike translucency and durability. We added surface texture, positioned line angles and planned the extent of translucency to give her smile a softness and brightness that better suited her face as compared to the flat bonding.  Choice of materials varies with each patient--their aesthetic requirements, how much they clench/ grind their teeth, willingness to wear a night guard, whether they want a Hollywood smile or a natural look. If left to my own judgement I choose a natural look.