Restorative Dentistry – Northampton, MA
Comprehensive Restoration Options Keep You Smiling
When it comes to dental care, prevention is always best. Unfortunately, even the most diligent at-home hygiene routine and dedication to regular dental exams and teeth cleanings may not be enough to completely avoid dental damage or decay. In these cases, the EMA Dental team in Northampton offers a wide range of restorative dentistry solutions to repair damaged smiles to their full form and function. When you’re in need of dental repair, simply call our Northampton dental office to schedule an appointment with our team. We’ll get to work immediately to relive pain and restore your smile to full, healthy function.
Tooth-Colored Fillings
Tooth-colored fillings are used to repair minor tooth decay and dental damage. Made from a natural-looking composite resin, fillings are placed in just one visit to our office. We remove damaged tooth structure. Then, an etchant material is placed onto the prepared tooth to create more porous structure. The putty-like resin is applied to the tooth and molded into place, seeping into the pits and grooves in your smile. Once the filling is in place, we use a curing light to harden it into position.
Dental Crowns
A dental crown is used when tooth decay or damage is too advanced for treatment with more conservative fillings. Crowns are crafted to fit completely over the top of a damaged tooth to recreate the lost structure and protect the damaged tooth. Crowns can also be used to support a fixed bridge tooth replacement.
Dental Bridges
A fixed bridge is a tooth replacement prosthetic that uses dental crowns attached to both sides of a replacement tooth or teeth. Then, the dental crowns are attached to remaining healthy teeth to flawlessly recreate your lost tooth structure, leaving you with a flawless smile.
Partial Dentures
Partial dentures use a gum-colored base material to support numerous replacement teeth. The partial’s base is molded to fit between healthy teeth. Clasps attached to the remaining teeth hold the partial firmly in place, recreating your healthy tooth structure and function.
Full Dentures
Full dentures are used to replace one or both full rows of teeth A gum-colored base material is molded to fit against the jaw line, creating suction that holds the denture in place. In some cases, a small amount of denture adhesive is used to improve the stability of your denture.
Root Canal Therapy
In most cases, we see patients in need of root canal therapy on an emergency basis when they experience severe toothache or dental sensitivity. These procedures are necessary when decay or damage reaches the inner layer of the tooth, the pulp. The tooth’s nerve is housed within the pulp layer, and when the nerve becomes irritated, the result is severe pain. Root canal therapy allows us to save the damaged tooth by removing the pulp and nerve tissues. Then, the inner part of the tooth is refiled. A dental crown is placed over the top of your damaged tooth to protect and strengthen the remaining structure.
Tooth Extractions
In some cases, we are unable to save a damaged tooth, or we need to remove a tooth as part of an advanced restorative treatment plan. Our skilled dentists can provide safe and comfortable tooth removal options. For teeth that have fully emerged from the gum line, we’ll use clasps to shift the tooth until it breaks free from the supportive structures. When teeth are fully or partially impacted (unable to erupt), we will need to surgically remove them. This process can simply involve cutting away soft tissue to reveal additional healthy tooth structure, or it may include breaking the tooth into small pieces to allow for easier extraction.