Preventive Dentistry Rogers
Ensuring Your Smile is Always at Its Best
Even if you’re brushing and flossing daily, your smile still isn’t fully protected from the various threats out there – you might still end up with a cavity, gum disease, or another issue despite your excellent efforts. Fortunately, it’s quite easy to ensure that your whole smile is safeguarded; simply visit our team here at Metro Park Dental Arts twice a year for routine preventive dentistry! To learn more about these visits and how they’re an easy and surefire way to preserve your smile’s health, contact our Rogers office today!
Why Choose Metro Park Dental Arts for Preventive Dentistry?
- Patient-Friendly Office with Comfortable, Modern Amenities
- Dental Insurance Accepted and In-House Financing Available
- Oral Cancer Screenings Included with Every Checkup
Dental Checkups & Cleanings
Each checkup involves our hygiene team carefully inspecting your teeth and gums for any signs of concern, like cavities, decay, gum disease, etc. After we’ve ensured things are in great shape, we’ll thoroughly clean your teeth, remove any built-up plaque and tartar, and then polish them, leaving your smile dazzling! Every checkup also includes an oral cancer screening using our Velscope instrument. This allows us to closely inspect all of your oral structures for cancerous signs; though oral cancer is quite serious, it’s very treatable if caught in a timely manner!
Children’s Dentistry
Dental health matters at every point in life – but especially during youth! By establishing good oral hygiene habits and pristine teeth and gums early on and during the teenage years, children can enter adulthood with radiantly healthy smiles that set them up for future wellness and success. During each checkup, our team will carefully inspect your child’s smile and look for any underlying issues that warrant treatment. This may involve taking X-rays for a more detailed look. We’ll also thoroughly clean their teeth of any built-up plaque and tartar and provide them with a fluoride treatment.
Fluoride Treatment
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that carries inherently remarkable oral health benefits. For this reason, it’s often added to local water sources and certain foods. It can assist your teeth by helping to remineralize their enamel layer, or outermost surface. We can apply a special fluoride treatment to your teeth following a standard dental checkup; this process is quick, safe, affordable, and most importantly, guaranteed to promote improved oral health.
Dental Sealants
Children are normally at a much higher risk of getting cavities on their back teeth since these molars have grooves and pits on their surfaces. Adult molars are similar, meaning that they’re also vulnerable to decay. Our team can place dental sealants on these teeth to provide them with a greater amount of protection! These sealants are made from materials that are completely safe and biocompatible, so rest assured, they won’t just look natural – they’ll serve you or your child well and promote oral wellness for several years moving forward.
Athletic Mouthguards/Sportsguards
If you’re an athlete, no matter your skill level, did you know that participating in sports can drastically increase your chances of experiencing a dental injury? All it takes is one foul ball, misplaced hand or elbow, or accidental trip and fall to harm or knock out a tooth. Luckily, you can often prevent these mishaps with a custom-made athletic sportsguard in Rogers. These devices redistribute the force of the impact when the mouth is struck, lessening the chances of teeth sustaining harm.
Who Can Benefit from Getting a Sportsguard?
Proper mouth protection benefits any athlete, regardless of the sport. Researchers claim that 52% of children aged 11-13 have suffered oral injuries due to sports, and 70% of all athletes have experienced orofacial and dental injuries.
Contact sports might seem like the most obvious place for sportsguards, but even if you aren’t a boxer or play football, rugby, volleyball, basketball, baseball, softball, lacrosse, or soccer, you can still benefit if you are a cyclist, weightlifter, gymnast, etc.
Professionally Customized vs. Store-Bought Sportsguards
Finding the best mouthguard for kids means deciding between a professionally customized appliance or a store-bought brand. Sporting goods stores may offer more affordable options, but don’t expect these to provide the same quality protection. Ready-made and mouth-formed (boil-and-bite) versions can be bulky, uncomfortable, and make it hard for you to breathe.
Customized sportsguards are made to fit your mouth, offering superior comfort. We’ll take impressions of your bite and craft an appliance that offers greater protection than anything you’ll find in a store. You’ll be able to breathe and talk, so you won’t be tempted to take it out during the big match or game.
The Benefits of Wearing a Sportsguard
The most obvious benefit of wearing a sportsguard is its ability to protect your teeth against damage, but there are other reasons you’ll want to make sure you have one before you enter the ring or take to the field or court:
- They reduce the risk of damage to your lips, cheeks, and tongue.
- They spread the force of impact to all areas of your mouth instead of one portion taking the blow. This is especially helpful in preventing jaw injuries.
- They give you more confidence while playing because you’ll enjoy greater security during the game.
- They can protect your braces (if you have them) so you don’t have to deal with costly repairs.
- They make it easier for you to breathe and talk because of their customized fit.
One of the biggest advantages is saving money by preventing the need for emergency restorative care (dental crown, root canal, tooth extraction) due to facial trauma.
Caring for Your Sportsguard
A custom-made sportsguard is an investment, so taking care of it will help it last longer. Don’t weaken the material by chewing on it, as this can make it less effective over time. Eventually, you’ll need to replace it, but if you notice any kind of damage to your sportsguard, call our office so we can have a new one created for you.
Before wearing it, give it a good rinse with cold water and be sure to clean it with a toothbrush and toothpaste. This will get rid of any saliva and bacteria. Also, rinse it well before you store it in a protective container.
Never use hot water or place it in the sun. This can warp the material and cause it to no longer fit properly.
Nightguards for Bruxism
Bruxism is a condition that causes patients to grind their teeth or clench their jaws, often while they’re sleeping. This makes it a little challenging to diagnose and treat, but not impossible. If we’ve determined that your teeth are being worn down or your jaw joints are being strained due to bruxism, we can provide you with a custom-made nightguard to be worn over the teeth while you sleep. It will facilitate proper jaw position throughout the night and ensure that you aren’t unintentionally harming your smile!
TMJ Treatment
Your TMJ, medically known as your temporomandibular joints, are perhaps the most important and complex joints in your entire body. They connect your mandible to the rest of your skull and grant your mouth a very impressive range of movement. However, these joints are susceptible to a variety of issues that can end up causing damage to your teeth and gums if left unaddressed. Our team can diagnose and treat various types of these TMJ issues using solutions like occlusal splints and equilibration/occlusal adjustments.