Prevention (including Mouth Guards)
With our preventive services we can help you stay on the path to excellent lifelong oral health. Today there is no reason a person can’t have their teeth for their lifetime. We have many patients well into their 90's with healthy teeth and gums. Dr. Melnick is the leading preventive dentist in Encino with his emphasis on a complete preventive care program. With the help of our skilled dental hygienist you will receive excellent preventive care in our office. Adults, children and teens have so much to gain from our program.
Starting with a thorough examination of your mouth, we take the time necessary to help our patients develop proper oral hygiene habits. We will evaluate your hygiene and make adjustments to your routine as needed. Dr. Melnick and our hygienists will also make suggestions to protect your teeth and gums.
You may also need help in protecting your teeth from wear and grinding. With proper care you can expect your teeth to last a lifetime. Necessary x-rays are taken only as needed to make a thorough evaluation. We feel that if we are not thorough in our examination we have not served you well.
We are also concerned when we see the presence of any cosmetic restorations. Cosmetic restorations require special care. There are a number of essential special steps you should be using to take care of them. You want them looking their best. We are happy to go over that information with you.
We often find people that have have bleeding gums. There should be no bleeding, none, in healthy gums. If you are suffering from gingivitis or more severe gum disease, we always recommend a thorough cleaning or in office comfortable treatments to restore healthy gums. These measures can be essential in preventing a more aggressive gum disease. We believe that good prevention is the key to good dental care.
Preventive Services
Our State of the Art Preventive Services in 2010
- Cleaning and gum care (Hygiene with our R.D.H.)
- Bite Guards Appliances to stop grinding damage
- Patient Education and hygiene instruction
- Mouth Guards for sports damage protection
- Fluoride Treatments to prevent decay from starting
- Regular check up timing as needed to prevent disease
- New NTI bite correcting appliance for joint problem correction
- Helping to select the optimum brush for each person
- Sealants for chewing surfaces to prevent decay
- Topically applied Fluoride Varnish that harden roots.
- Enamel restoring compounds to repair damaged enamel
Professional Teeth Cleanings
Regular teeth cleanings are an important part of preventive dental care program. Not only will it help you to promote good oral health but it can help us to catch any problems early on. We now know how very important this is because of the relationship between oral health and other diseases. Keep in mind that dental problems rarely get better on their own. They only get worse.
Regular teeth cleanings, also called prophylaxis, is done in our office by a California trained, experienced licensed dental hygienist. You can expect a cleaning to take about 45 minutes to one hour. It is necessary to remove all the hard materials called
tartar and the soft material called plaque. Even with the most thorough brushing and flossing tartar and plaque build up and can not be removed by brushing and flossing at home.
Professional cleanings include tooth polishing, tooth scaling and at times a process called debridement. This is the removal of very heavy tartar deposits as a first step to healing the gums. This is done with ultrasonics.
Scaling is the removal of hardened tartar with small instruments and a smoothing of the top of the root surfaces until we reach a smoothness point where plaque will have a hard sticking. See the picture adjacent.
Polishing uses a fine pumice like material on a soft rotary instrument to remove surface discolorations such as coffee and tea stains. It will also remove any traces remaining of invisible small areas of gum line plaque and stain.
Additional Services
When the gums are inflamed, the dental hygienist will consult with the Dr. Melnick about irrigating under the gums with an anti-microbial agent or placement of a time released antibiotic to treat or prevent gum infections. An antibiotic product called Arestin has been shown to control swelling and bleeding in inflamed gum pockets.
We generally recommend professional cleaning at least once every six months. Some people need either a longer or shorter interval depending on how well they clean their teeth and how fast their body develops plaque.
Dental plaque contains over 400 different bacteria. It is white, sticky and invisible film found all surfaces of the teeth. This includes the biting surfaces, in between and the outsides of all the teeth. Plaque exposed to sugars and starches produces acids that cause cavities.
We also frequently recommend a fluoride treatment for decay prevention in both children and adults. Adults often have root surface decay that can be prevented. One of the most difficult situations to treat is multiple root surface decay where a crown and tooth come together. Many crowns are lost this way and we are aggressive in trying to prevent this problem.
In addition to the above services your dental hygienist will check your fillings, evaluate the health of your mouth and develop with you a program to keep you keep your mouth healthy. She will discuss the best tooth brushes, dental floss, electronic brushes and other cleaning devices for your personal oral situation.
She can also teach tongue cleaning, one of the most common sources of bad breath. Our dental hygienist is trained to include oral cancer screenings at each visit.
Mouth and Oral Cancer Screenings
- During a dental examination, Dr. Melnick and our hygienist will check your neck and oral tissues for lumps, red or white patches or recurring sore areas. Dr.Melnick believes strongly in this and gives the most complete oral cancer exam of any dentist in Encino, Sherman Oaks, Woodland Hills, Northridge, Van Nuys or Tarzana.
- Screening for early changes in the oral tissue can help detect cancer at a stage when it can be most successfully treated.
- Smoking, especially combined with heavy alcohol consumption, is the primary risk factor for oral cancer. In fact, this combination is estimated to be the most likely trigger in about 75 percent of oral cancers diagnosed in this country.
- There are 37,000 deaths in the U.S. annually from this disease. Please follow the link below to learn more about this vital topic. Read more about Mouth and Oral Cancer Screenings at this linking page.
Sports and Tooth Injury Prevention / Mouth Guards
A mouth guard can feel uncomfortable and annoying until you see someone without a night guard severely injured. Sports related injuries are inevitable. Each year 15 million dental injuries will occur during sporting events. Fortunately there is one simple device you should never leave at home when at sports or active recreation - Your Mouth Guard!
It has been estimated (2007) that the total dental costs involved can reach $15,000 when a tooth is knocked out. This includes all the dental care that will be required over the persons lifetime. This is approximately 30 times the cost of the mouth guard. Besides the expenses, a mouth guard can save your teeth, lips, jaws, tongue, and cheeks from serious injury, even when you strap on a helmet or face guard. A mouth guard provides protection for everyone, children and adults, men and women, young and old.
Read more details about Sports and Tooth Injury Prevention follow this link.
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"I wo Hillary M., Teacher - Van Nuys |
uldn't even think of going to another dentist. I have never had a bad experience in Dr. Melnick's office. I never put off an appointment. Never. I hope he stays in practice forever! I don't know what I would do if I had to find someone new. He is one of a kind."