Our Dental Services

One of the best things you can do to keep your teeth and gums healthy is to get regular dental exams. This simple preventative action, combined with home brushing and flossing, can help you keep your teeth for life. Problems like cavities and gum disease are easier to fix if detected early, so coming in every six months for a checkup allows us to catch any problems as they are beginning.

A professional dental cleaning removes the buildup of plaque and tartar which forms around and below your gum line and causes gum disease. Home brushing cannot handle this buildup. Plaque is a sticky film left on your teeth by bacteria in your mouth. Tartar is the hard substance which forms from plaque and can’t be removed by home brushing.

When you have a damaged tooth, or one that has too much decay for a filling to work, a restorative dental procedure is used to place a dental crown over your tooth. This procedure restores the missing or damaged tooth structure. A crown is a ceramic or porcelain cap that fits over your tooth, giving you a strong chewing and biting surface. We take impressions of your teeth so the crown can be fabricated to fit properly with your other teeth once it’s in place.

A dental bridge is used to replace a missing tooth. It’s an artificial tooth which is attached to two crowns which fit over the teeth on either side of the missing tooth. A bridge is an effective way of restoring your smile by replacing a missing tooth.

When you have a tooth that has become infected, you usually have only two choices. You can have it pulled, or you can have a root canal done. The root canal procedure can save the tooth, which is usually better than extracting it and putting in a false tooth. Some signs that you may need a root canal are:

• Tooth pain
•  Tooth is sensitive to hot and cold
•  Chewing causes pain in the tooth
• Swelling on your face or cheek
• Swollen, tender lymph nodes

 The procedure is called a root canal because the inside of your tooth’s root where the infection occurs is called a canal. Any infection in your mouth can become a serious health issue, so should be addressed right away. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms related to a tooth infection, call us right away at (845) 704-4219 for an appointment.

A permanent solution for missing teeth is dental implants. Implants don’t require shaving off healthy enamel from surrounding teeth to make room for a crown, like bridges do. The implant is a titanium post which gets attached to the bone of your jaw. As the bone heals, it fuses around the implant, anchoring it firmly. The implant then acts just like a tooth root. Your replacement tooth is attached to the titanium post, and you have a natural-looking tooth that functions just like a normal tooth. You can have one tooth or several replaced using implants. You can even replace your traditional dentures with implant-supported dentures using a procedure known as “All-on-4.” With this procedure, your new teeth are firmly attached, restoring your ability to easily eat firmer foods which can be difficult with dentures.

Dentures have been a solution for replacing your teeth for ages. Today’s dentures consist of a full set of replacement teeth in an acrylic base which is molded to fit your mouth. Dentures will never feel exactly like your natural teeth, but they restore your ability to eat solid foods and give you back your smile.

For nearby dental emergencies, call us immediately at (845) 704-4219 . We will get you in to see the dentist as quickly as possible. For a tooth that has been knocked out, hold it only by the crown (top) and keep it in water or milk. Go to the emergency room if the injury occurs when our office is closed.

When your gums bleed after brushing or flossing, it’s a good sign you may have gum disease. Gum disease is caused by bacteria which grow on your teeth. Poor oral hygiene practices allow the bacteria to grow and spread below your gum line. Once this happens, regular brushing and flossing won’t remove the bacteria, allowing them to multiply and cause and infection in you gums. This infection causes redness, soreness and even swelling of your gums. Left untreated, it can become a serious health problem.

We treat gum disease by removing the buildup of bacteria below the gum line. The procedure is called “deep cleaning” and it’s similar to when your hygienist cleans the hard deposits from your teeth during a normal cleaning, only deep cleaning goes below the gum line.

Some of the warning signs of gum disease are:

• Swelling, tenderness or redness in your gums
• Gums that bleed when you brush and floss 
• Bad breath 
• Receding gumline 
• Teeth that are becoming loose

We will examine your gums to determine whether or not you have gum disease. Detecting and treating your gum disease early will ensure your teeth and gums remain healthy. 

Are you being robbed of a good night’s sleep because of sleep apnea? Men suffer from sleep apnea more frequently than women, but it does affect women and even children. Untreated sleep apnea can lead to serious health issues such as:

• Cardiovascular disease
•  Stroke
•  Type 2 diabetes
•  Asthma 

If a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine isn’t working well for you, we offer a different solution. We can create an oral appliance which keeps your breathing passages open while you sleep, alleviating your sleep apnea. Call us today at 845-704-4219 for a consultation to see how an oral appliance can help you get a good night’s sleep again.

There are times when tooth extraction is the best option. This procedure usually becomes necessary for your teeth when the tooth has become too decayed or damaged for a filling or crown to repair it. The only option is to remove the tooth and replace it with a bridge or implant.

The other common situation requiring extraction is when your wisdom teeth come in and crowd your molars, or push them out of place. When this happens, you may need to have your wisdom teeth removed even though they are healthy. 

Cavity fillings have evolved over the years. No more mercury amalgam, the silver fillings that stand out when you smile. Today we use tooth-colored fillings made from a mixture of glass or quartz and resin. This durable material allows us to match the color of your teeth so it virtually disappears. There is no mercury in these fillings and they usually require less healthy enamel to be removed in order to fill a cavity than metal fillings. This is just one of the restorative dental services we offer to keep your teeth and gums healthy!