Restorative Dentistry San Marcos
Rebuild Your
Broken Smile
While it’s always ideal to avoid dental damage altogether, Dr. Nelson Y. Howard is well-prepared when it comes to restorative dental procedures meant to repair damage that has already been done to your smile. If we find signs of decay or dental injury in your mouth during one of your six-month exams, we’ll quickly narrow down what kind of restoration is needed to protect your oral health and restore the beauty of your smile. As with all of our treatments, our restorative services are enhanced by the state-of-the-art technology we use to accurately identify oral health issues so that we can provide appropriate restorative dentistry in our San Marcos dental office.
Despite how strong they are, teeth can be damaged in any number of circumstances, such as physical trauma, extensive infection, or cavities that go unaddressed for too long. In some cases, your teeth might be simply misshapen. Once we have pinpointed the problem with your tooth, we can address the problem through various means, such as:
- Filling cavities with a natural-looking composite resin
- Correcting certain dental imperfections with inlays and onlays
- Placing crowns to protect already broken or weakened teeth
- Strengthening and repairing worn, fractured, or gapped teeth
- Filling in the gaps in your smile with dental implants
- Treating gum disease and other forms of oral infection
Why Choose Nelson Y. Howard, D.D.S. for Restorative Dentistry?
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Dentist Uniquely
Credentialed in
Cosmetic Dentistry -
State-of-the-Art
Dental Technology
and Materials -
World-Renowned
Dental Office with Friendly,
Knowledgeable Team
Dental Crowns
The purpose of a dental crown is to bring back a tooth’s lost strength and function. Dr. Howard offers different types of crowns specific for each patient's particular needs. Most crowns are made out of porcelain, which can last for a very long time in your mouth and has a highly natural appearance that lets it blend in with your natural smile. Each crown will be carefully customized so that it matches the shape of your original tooth along with its size and color. One particularly notable feature of crowns is their versatility. Not only can they be used to cover broken teeth and strengthen weakened ones, but they can also be placed for cosmetic purposes and even correct certain bite problems. In certain cases, if you don’t need a full crown to repair the tooth, we can place an inlay or onlay to restore specific parts of the teeth.
Learn More About Dental Crowns
Dental Bridges
Two crowns placed on either side of one or more prosthetic or missing teeth make up a fixed prosthesis called a dental bridge. This is often considered the easiest way to replace a single tooth or several teeth in a row. The crowns will use the teeth on both sides of the gap for support. Just like individual crowns, bridges can be carefully customized to look as natural as possible. When properly fitted, they’ll prevent future oral health issues such as dental drift.
Tooth-Colored Fillings
A tooth-colored filling is made out of composite resin, laboratory processed resin, or porcelain. These materials are different from the metal amalgams traditionally used to fill cavities. In addition to the obvious aesthetic differences, they can bond directly with your enamel, meaning there’s no need to remove parts of the tooth’s structure to keep the filling in place. In general, composite resin fillings are suitable for both the front and back teeth and are usually the best choice for patients who want their fillings to look natural. Laboratory processed resin and porcelain fillings are usually the best choice in the back teeth where biting forces are heaviest and where stronger materials are preferred for longevity and function.
Full Mouth Reconstructions
Has your smile been completely compromised in an accident or after years of decay?
Dr. Howard has seen numerous patients over the years, and through full-mouth reconstruction he has been able to help them smile again. In order to bring your mouth back to full health and function, we’ll need to perform a complete assessment of your oral health. Once we have a clear idea of what dental conditions you have, we can start developing a treatment plan, which could combine any number of services to replace teeth, repair damage, treat decay, and so on. The goal is to get your mouth to a place where it can function normally again.
Learn More About Full Mouth Reconstruction
Dentures
When you lose all of your teeth, your confidence is likely to go with them. Luckily, you can get it back with a set of lifelike dentures! Full dentures are available to replace entire arches of teeth, but if you only have a few gaps to worry about, you can get partial dentures instead. Modern dentures are much less bulky than they used to be, making them far more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. They can also be attached to dental implants in order to keep them secure.