Veneers For A Smile Makeover

Patients of Fullerton Dental are always asking our doctors about the latest cosmetic solutions for their teeth.  Some fixes are recommended just to repair damage or just to whiten, but veneers are the best way to give your smile a total makeover. Veneers are thin ceramic shells that bond directly to the surface of your teeth.  This gives you the opportunity to completely change the appearance of your smile and still look natural. 

Patients with cosmetic issues like staining, cracked or chipped teeth, and even crooked teeth and small gaps can achieve a dazzling smile with veneers. We can make this happen in two to three visits!  First, your dentist will discuss the shape and look you want for your new smile.  Then an impression of your teeth is taken in order to custom fit the final product to the surfaces of your teeth.  The impression is sent to a dental laboratory where your custom veneers will be fabricated, which may take up to two weeks.  On your final visit, the veneers are bonded to your teeth for you to wear and enjoy!

To learn more about veneers and all the services available at our practice, visit www.fullertondental.com for more information. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Eric M Meyer, DDS, in Fullerton CA, call 714-879-7943.

Pediatric Dentistry

Fullerton Dental is proud to serve the families from our community, and we want them to know it’s just as important for children to have regular dental visits.  A child’s first dental visit should be scheduled when the first baby tooth appears, or around the child’s first birthday.  Baby teeth eventually come out, but their growth and development is important for overall oral health for the child and the development of their adult teeth. Baby teeth should be brushed and cared for like adult teeth, and it’s important to monitor their growth and development. 

Missing any tooth for too long can change the development of surrounding teeth and compromise the structure of the jaw bone, but regular checkups can keep a child’s tooth development right on track.  Our dentists are skilled and experienced in administering dental care to children.  If your child has seems nervous about seeing a dentist for the first time, we recommend going through a brushing routine with them at home, and talking about the dental visit before you arrive.  Once we get your child’s oral health off to a great start, we offer a full range of services for child patients including dental cleanings, fluoride treatments, and sealants.

We love to see good oral hygiene habits formed early, and make lifetime patients out of kids from our community!  To learn more about the services we offer, visit www.fullertondental.com for more information. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Eric M Meyer, DDS, in Fullerton CA, call 714-879-7943.

Reasons for Tooth Extractions

You can trust the professionalism and compassion of Dr. Eric Meyer’s dental team to see you safely through a tooth extraction. But having a tooth removed is a serious undertaking and we think it’s best for our patients to understand in what circumstances we would recommend it.

Modern dentistry provides all sorts of safe, aesthetically pleasing ways of fixing teeth that have been chipped, broken, infected, or eroded. But there still isn’t a good way to repair a tooth that has been cracked down the root. In these cases, we would discuss replacing the tooth with an implant or bridge. There are also cases of pulp infection in which it might be necessary to remove a tooth, although this would usually only be done after an unsuccessful root canal.

Most extractions are recommended for children and teenagers whose teeth are becoming overcrowded. Modern peoples’ jaws usually are not large enough to accommodate wisdom teeth, causing them to get stuck while erupting. It is also common for people to have a set of premolars removed before undergoing orthodontic treatment in order to allow the remaining teeth to be moved into a symmetrical arch. Baby teeth may also be removed if they do not fall out after the adult tooth has come in behind them.

Eric M. Meyer, DDS, operates at 2720 North Harbor Blvd, Fullerton, California, 92835. To schedule an appointment, call 714-879-7943 or visit Fullerton Dental and fill out a contact sheet.

 

Basics of Bridges

We’re experienced providers of replacement teeth at Dr. Eric Meyer’s Fullerton dental office. When multiple teeth need to be replaced, a dental bridge is one of the patient’s best options. These prosthetics have come a long way in a short time, which is why we want to provide a run-down of their possibilities.

Bridges are linked artificial crowns. A classic dental bridge was one that used two reshaped natural teeth as abutments and had a third crown suspended between it. These kinds of bridges have the advantage of keeping the teeth straight and retaining the natural tooth roots, which are more stable. However, the necessity of reshaping two teeth led dentists to usually only recommend them in cases where there was widespread dental decay or they believed a healthy tooth would need to be replaced, anyway.

Modern bridges can be made as part of removable dentures and skirt around healthy teeth. They have to be reshaped if the teeth shift, but they allow more targeted treatment and easier hygiene. Bridges can also be permanently attached with implants, which will help the jaw bone retain its structure.

Eric M. Meyer, DDS, operates at 2720 North Harbor Blvd, Fullerton, California, 92835. To schedule an appointment, call 714-879-7943 or visit Fullerton Dental and fill out a contact sheet.

 

White Spot Lesions

Do you know what the first sign of tooth decay is? If not, we at Dr. Eric Meyer’s Fullerton dental office are glad you found us. An incipient dental lesion is characterized by the white spot that develops on tooth enamel and its appearance means that the patient needs to improve their oral hygiene.

Enamel takes on an unnaturally white appearance when it is first exposed to acid. This can be observed in people with chronic acid reflux as well as those going through the early stage of tooth decay. Acid is a by-product of bacteria eating food debris, and it gets stuck in tartar. The enamel in contact with acid first loses minerals, and then develops pits and cavities unless the bacteria, its food source, and the acid are removed.

White spots most commonly form in the area surrounding orthodontic brackets. This can result in hollow rectangular stains on the teeth when they are removed. Good brushing is essential to preventing this, but if it does happen, the teeth may be able to remineralize naturally. Otherwise, we may remineralize them artificially or provide masking treatments, such as bonding or veneers.

Eric M. Meyer, DDS, operates at 2720 North Harbor Blvd, Fullerton, California, 92835. To schedule an appointment, call 714-879-7943 or visit Fullerton Dental and fill out a contact sheet.

 

Rheumatoid Arthritis and Gum Disease

People with autoimmune disorders need to be especially careful about maintaining their oral health. At the Fullerton dental office of Dr. Eric Meyer, we want our patients to understand their challenges as much as possible, which is why this week’s blog post is dedicated to the connection between gum disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

People with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) experience inflammation in their joints as a result of the body’s immune system turning on a part of the joint called the synovium. The disease also harms the eyes, blood vessels, salivary glands, and, according to new research, the gums. Severe periodontal disease is six times as common in people with RA as in the general population. RA is believed to be largely caused by genetic factors, and scientists have determined that gum tissue has similar DNA and cellular mechanisms in common with synovium.

That periodontal disease is common even in people whose RA is in its early stage implies that the problem isn’t just caused by difficulty holding a toothbrush. However, people with RA should consider electric toothbrushes and other devices which make oral hygiene easier, as well as artificial saliva to compensate for damage to the salivary glands. People with RA still benefit from maintaining regular dental cleanings, and we have an experienced periodontal team dedicated to helping patients with RA.

Eric M. Meyer, DDS, operates at 2720 North Harbor Blvd, Fullerton, California, 92835. To schedule an appointment, call 714-879-7943 or visit Fullerton Dental and fill out a contact sheet.

 

How to Pick Your Toothpaste

Your toothbrush is a powerful tool used to protect the teeth and gums from inflammation and decay but a toothbrush would be nothing without toothpaste. Brushing with toothpaste using the proper technique works to remove plaque, the sticky harmful bacteria that grow on the teeth and causes cavities, and gum disease. Dr. Eric M Meyer, DDS, doesn’t want his patients using whitening toothpaste when they should be using desensitizing toothpaste, so use this guide when shopping for your next tube of toothpaste.

• Anti-cavity: This type of toothpaste contains fluoride. Fluoride plays an active role in preventing decay, and it actively strengthens tooth enamel.


• Anti-gingivitis: If you spit blood in the sink, this is an early sign of gingivitis, a mild form of gum disease. Anti-gingivitis toothpaste help reduces oral bacteria and can be very effective at stopping gingivitis in its tracks.


•  Desensitizing: If you’ve ever bit into an ice cream cone and felt a sharp pain in your tooth’s nerve, this type of toothpaste will provide relief by blocking the tooth’s pain signal to the nerve.


• Tartar-control: This toothpaste does exactly what it says, however, the best way to remove tartar is by scheduling a professional dental cleaning with one of our doctors.


• Whitening: This toothpaste contains chemicals that are able to help maintain the natural color of your teeth.

If you have questions or concerns regarding oral care or dental hygiene, please give us a call. To learn more about the services provided at the practice, visit www.fullertondental.com for more information. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Eric M Meyer, DDS, in Fullerton CA, call 714-879-7943.