General Dentistry

Healthy, natural teeth are stable, aesthetically pleasing and vital to a patient’s overall oral health. At the Manhattan Beach Dentist office we educate our patients in order to stress the importance of preventive dental care to achieve a beautiful, healthy smile.

Staying a Step Ahead of Oral Disease

We recommend a combination of routine dental cleanings, exams, and education about proper oral hygiene practices. Our patients benefit from the knowledge that their teeth are healthy and free of cavities.

Plaque forms on the surface of tooth enamel and between teeth as we consume food and drinks on a daily basis. Food that lingers on your teeth attracts bacteria, causing plaque to form on surfaces and between teeth. Plaque is a harmful a sticky combination of bacteria and sugars that damage teeth because the acidity eats away at healthy dental enamel. Proper at-home oral hygiene can play an important role in removing a certain amount of plaque buildup from dental enamel.

Routine Professional Cleanings

But it is just not possible to reach every crevice of your teeth, even with the most conscientious oral hygiene practices. Plaque that remains on your teeth eventually hardens into tartar, or “calculus.” Tartar calcifies on the teeth and creates a perfect environment for enamel-eroding bacteria and sugars that damage healthy tooth structure.

Once tartar builds up on your teeth, it can only be removed by a dentist through deep cleaning. Dental professionals have always understood the important role that prevention plays in preserving healthy teeth. That is why the Manhattan Beach Dentist urges patients to schedule professional dental cleanings twice a year for a healthy, cavity-free smile.

Oral Health and Physical Health

The need for preventive maintenance has become even more important as dentists continue to learn about the connection between oral health and diseases of the body. Current research shows that chronic oral infections and decay can increase a patient’s risk of heart disease, respiratory disorders, and stroke.

Maintaining the healthy condition of your teeth preserves your oral health and protects your overall physical well being. We are committed to helping our patients achieve this goal, and we will be happy to work with you to develop a specific treatment plan to ensure your optimal oral health. Please call the Manhattan Beach Dentist to arrange your next cleaning and exam.

Missing teeth can have a significant negative impact on your life. The result of a missing tooth goes far beyond inconvenience and aesthetics. But the Manhattan Beach Dentist wants you to know that we offer several effective options for dealing with missing teeth.

Depending on your specific situation, we can choose one of several options. Let’s take a look at a few:

Dental Implants

Dental implants are an innovative tooth replacement solution. Since dental implants were first introduced, they have helped thousands of people like you enjoy healthy and beautiful smiles after losing teeth.

An easy explanation of how dental implants work is that a tiny titanium post is surgically placed in your jaw bone. This post eventually bonds with surrounding bone and tissue and acts as a replacement root for the rest of the implant.

Once the implant has healed, our dentist will cap the implant with a natural looking restoration. A dental implant can last for years while helping to maintain the structure of your jawbone as well as your general oral health.

Dental Restorations – Bridges and Crowns

Bridges and crowns are both effective solutions for replacing a single missing tooth or multiple missing teeth. In some cases they may be removable, but bridges and crowns are usually permanently affixed with dental cement. Bridges are held in place by attaching them to adjacent teeth, and dental implants may be used for added stability.

Please Contact Our Office for More Information

Deciding which option is most suitable for you is based on your oral health, lifestyle habits, and budget. The Manhattan Beach Dentist will be happy to work with you to help you decide which replacement option will work best for you. Together we can achieve the beautiful, healthy, and complete smile you’ve always desired.

At the Manhattan Beach Dentist office we know how important it is for you to find a dentist who is qualified to handle the needs of your entire family. Having your family’s oral health needs in one location makes it easy for you to schedule dental treatments for your whole family at one time. More importantly, though you want to be assured that the dentist you choose offers a wide range of services that are designed to protect your family’s overall oral health.

The Importance of Prevention

Prevention is of primary importance when addressing the needs of your family. We want to make sure that you and your family receive the important preventive treatments that safeguard their oral health now and in the future. But family dentistry should also include a variety of services aside from routine exams, x-rays, and cleaning. These include treatments for:

• Periodontal disease
• Unbalanced bite
• Root canal therapy
• Sensitive teeth

Regular visits to the Manhattan Beach Dentist include a thorough oral exam that allows us to detect any changes or abnormalities since your last visit. Professional cleanings with our hygienist are an important part of prevention, and their purpose is to remove plaque buildup that causes tooth decay and gum disease. Your dentist and hygienist will determine how frequently you should have a professional cleaning.

Please Contact Our Office for More Information

The American Dental Association recommends visits to your family dentist at least twice a year for checkups. Monitoring the oral health of your family with routine visits also allows us to build a relationship with your family and establish an ongoing oral health history. This history becomes an important tool in helping us identify potential problems before they become serious and difficult to treat.

Fluoride treatments alone are not enough to prevent the onset of tooth decay. It is, however, the most effective agent available to help maintain healthy teeth aside from conscientious at-home oral hygiene and regular trips to our Manhattan Beach Dentist Office. Fluoride is a found to varying degrees in most all foods and water supplies. The benefits of fluoride are well-documented by over 50 years of positive results, and its use is supported by many health and professional organizations.

Why do I need fluoride?

While the majority of the population absorbs fluoride from food and water, the quantities are not always sufficient to help prevent decay.  Your dentist or dental hygienist may recommend the use of fluoride for any of the following reasons:

• Deep pits and fissures on the chewing surfaces of teeth
• Exposed and sensitive root surfaces
• Fair to poor oral hygiene habits
• Frequent sugar and carbohydrate intake
• Inadequate exposure to fluorides

How does fluoride work?

Topical fluoride is introduced through the use of fluoride-containing dental products such as toothpaste, mouth rinses and gels. Topical fluoride strengthens teeth, making them more resistant to decay by seeping into the outer surface of the tooth enamel. At our Manhattan Beach Dentist Office, we generally recommend that children have a professional application of topical fluoride twice a year during dental check-ups.

We gain systemic fluoride from most foods and our community water supplies Systemic fluoride strengthens not only teeth that have erupted, but those still developing under the gums. It can also be obtained as a supplement in drop or gel form prescribed by your dentist or physician.  Generally, fluoride drops are recommended for infants, while tablets are best suited for children up through the teen years.

It is very important for a dental professional to monitor the amounts of fluoride a child ingests. If too much fluoride is consumed while the teeth are developing, a condition called fluorosis (white spots on the teeth) may result.

Your general and oral health go are directly linked, and whatever is going on with the rest of your body can also impact your teeth, gums and other oral tissues. That’s why the Manhattan Beach Dentist strongly emphasizes maintaining a diet with the right balance of healthy foods, while cutting back on unhealthy ones that contribute to tooth decay and other health issues.

What Constitutes a Healthy Diet?

When we refer to a healthy diet, we’re talking about foods with a high nutritional value. These foods provide nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water that build strong bodies, fight disease and help our bodies maintain good function on the cellular level.

A healthy diet has three components: variety, eating several different kinds of foods with a wide range of nutrients; balance, eating a proper portion from different food groups; and moderation, eating portions that are enough to meet energy needs and cellular health while not overindulging. It’s important to remember that excess carbohydrates, proteins and fats are stored as body fat, which has an impact on a healthy weight.

How Does My Diet Affect My Teeth?

You should be aware of the ways in which certain foods have a direct effect on your teeth and gums. Foods with added sugars and starches are a rich food source for decay-causing bacteria; naturally occurring sugars found in fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products are not as great a threat. In this regard, the best approach is to decrease the amount of processed foods in your diet, while increasing your intake of whole foods.

What Foods Improve Oral Health?

You can also help deter tooth decay with certain foods. Eating cheese after a sweet snack helps prevent an increase in the mouth’s acidic level, a contributing factor in tooth decay. Eating plant foods that require chewing stimulates saliva, which also helps prevent a rise in the acidic level.

Good nutrition a key for maintaining good overall health because it’s just as important for keeping your teeth and gums healthy and functioning. If you’d like more information about your diet and the effect it has on your teeth, please contact the Manhattan Beach Dentist to arrange a consultation.

Your good dental health is important and something that should not be taken for granted. Your teeth serve many purposes that most of us never think about. Today, the Manhattan Beach Dentist shares 5 of the top reasons you need to maintain a healthy mouth.

1. Chewing the Foods You Love – Healthy teeth are necessary for chewing, especially hard or crunchy foods. Our teeth give us the ability to tear and break down all kinds of food, from celery sticks and crusty bread to turkey and all the trimmings.

2. Convey Friendliness and Warmth – Our smiles convey to others how we feel towards them. A warm smile and hug to a close friend is sure to brighten the day for both of you. Smiles tend to be contagious they just make you and others feel happy! Without healthy teeth, smiling becomes awkward and embarrassing.

3. Communicate Clearly – Proper speech is directly related to tongue and tooth position. Without our teeth we would have a hard time communicating correctly. Speaking with damaged or missing teeth is extremely challenging.

4. Improve Your Appearance – Your teeth give your face a fullness and symmetry that you lose when teeth are missing. When a person is missing teeth, facial support is gone, causing a sunken in appearance. Your teeth are important as support for your lips and cheeks and give your face a full, rounded, youthful, look.

5. Maintain Healthy Bones – The bones of the face are strong because they work to support our teeth. Once the teeth are gone, the bone is resorbed and re-utilized by other parts of the body. The jaw will atrophy and shrink. As the bone atrophies, there is a greater risk of jaw fracture.

Give the Manhattan Beach Dentist a call today and take the first step to improving your oral health. Whatever the current state of your oral health, we’re here to help!