At Texas Dental, we believe that a healthy smile is the foundation of a happy and confident life. A bit of prevention will go a long way toward eliminating more expensive dental problems in the future. Our dentists use cleanings, regular check-ups, and other dental treatments to prevent decay and disease. Our mission is to keep you and your children’s mouths healthy by preventing issues like decay and disease.
General dental services will keep your teeth and gums in great shape, so you can enjoy a lifetime of pain-free smiles. From routine checkups and cleanings to personalized preventive care, our dentists will help you maintain the best oral health.
Our friendly team in Plano, TX, is ready to provide gentle and high-quality care to you and your family. Texas Dental also provides additional dental services so you can get everything you need in one location. Visit our general dentistry for dental exams, fillings, and more. Let’s work together to prevent problems before they start and keep your smile looking and feeling its best.
General Dentistry in Plano, TX
Our regular dental services are all about keeping your teeth healthy and dealing with common dental problems like cavities and infections. Our goal is to help you learn good habits for taking care of your teeth so you can keep them in top shape.
Dental Exams and Check-Ups
We make sure all our patients develop good oral hygiene habits. The team wants to make your dental visits stress-free and take care of your teeth while helping you keep healthy oral hygiene routines.
It begins with a dental exam and check-up. Comprehensive dental exams are a vital part of maintaining a healthy mouth for the whole family. Our dentists and hygienists thoroughly check every tooth, the gums, the temporomandibular joint, and the mouth’s overall health.
We use modern techniques, including digital X-rays, to detect any issues such as decay, tumors, cysts, and bone loss. We also customize dental care, tailoring each treatment plan to meet individual needs and smile goals. The team makes sure you have a pleasant experience in a comfortable environment.
We also provide dental sedation options for patients who want a pain and anxiety-free experience. To learn more about our sedation services, see Sedation dentistry.
Dentistry for Children
Our enthusiastic yet gentle team goes above and beyond to provide the best pediatric dental care. Partnering with your children, we strive to foster a love for oral care from an early age. We help kids establish healthy habits that last a lifetime. To learn more about pediatric dental care, see Pediatric dentistry.
Professional Dental Cleaning
Daily brushing and flossing will keep dental plaque and calculus to a minimum. But a professional dental cleaning will remove plaque from places your toothbrush and floss don’t reach. You should visit our Plano dental office at least twice a year so we can keep your gums healthy and prevent gum disease.
Having our office clean your kids teeth regularly can help prevent early childhood cavities too. It also keeps your mouth healthy as you get older. Learn how to take care of your teeth at home and bring your family along too. We’ll help your children get into the habit of visiting us for checkups and cleanings.
Dental Sealants
We use the newest dental sealant technology to keep your teeth healthy. The sealants prevent cavities and other issues on the back teeth in kids and young adults. They can also help stop decay and disease from getting worse. Even adults can benefit from getting sealants on their teeth.
The procedure is not invasive and only takes one visit. All a dentist has to do is paint them on the back teeth and let it dry before sending you home. Children with a high risk of cavities should try this economical and painless procedure today.
Oral Pathology
Oral pathology is simply the process of identifying, assessing, and treating diseases in the mouth. Our dentists ensure optimal care by accurately detecting and managing suspicious oral changes. A comprehensive consultation with our highly knowledgeable dentists will put your fears to rest. The dentists will discuss immediate, appropriate, and effective care and treatment options with you.
Dental Fillings
Dental fillings are an affordable, natural-looking, and safe solution for cavities and decay. Not only are our fillings some of the most aesthetic restorations available, they’re also strong and long-lasting. We offer white fillings that will completely blend in with the rest of your teeth. Most patients even forget they have fillings after a while.
Root Canal Treatment
If you have an infected tooth, a non-surgical root canal procedure will stop the pain and bad breath from decay. Our doctors are highly trained to perform painless root canal treatments. Contrary to the myths, root canals are a painless and common routine dental procedure. To learn more about saving your infected tooth, see Root canals.
Tooth Extractions
We will do our best to save your natural teeth whenever possible because a tooth extraction is a last resort. A tooth extraction is only necessary when you have a severely decayed or damaged tooth. We use the latest technology and cutting-edge techniques to provide safe, comfortable, and quick extractions. To learn about how we remove teeth for various reasons, see Tooth extraction.
Wisdom Teeth Removal
If your child is between 17 and 25, now is the ideal time for a wisdom tooth removal evaluation. The roots are not fully formed so the procedure will be simple and routine. Our friendly team is prepared to answer all your questions and gently guide you or your child through the process.
Dental Prophylaxis
A dental prophylaxis is a deep clean for your teeth and gums. It’s one of the best ways to keep your mouth healthy and stop problems like gingivitis and gum disease in their tracks. Regular deep cleanings are a simple but super effective way to keep your smile in great shape.
Even if you’re a brushing and flossing pro, there’s only so much you can do at home. Plaque and tartar love to hide in hard-to-reach spots, especially below the gumline. That’s where our team comes in. With special tools and a trained eye, we can remove buildup that you can’t see or reach on your own.
Here’s what a professional cleaning can do for you:
- Plaque and Tartar Removal: Plaque and tartar aren’t just gross. They can cause serious gum issues. Our hygienists use specialized tools to clean above and below your gumline to keep your gums healthy and happy.
- A Brighter Smile: Stained or yellowed teeth can make you feel self-conscious about your smile. A professional cleaning polishes away surface stains to leave your teeth looking fresh and bright.
- Fresher Breath: Bad breath, or halitosis, is often a sign of gum disease or trapped food particles. By removing plaque, tartar, and bacteria, we can help you say goodbye to bad breath and hello to a healthier mouth.
We provide professional dental cleanings at our Plano dental office. We recommend getting a dental cleaning twice annually as a preventative measure. However if you have periodontitis, you should get one every 3 to 4 months. You can’t completely reverse gum disease, but we can use dental cleanings to effectively halt its progression.
Oral Cancer Screening
The inside of your mouth has a special kind of skin (mucosa) that is smooth and coral-pink in color. Any changes in how it looks could be a sign of a problem. The most serious issue to watch out for is oral cancer. Some early signs of oral cancer are:
- Reddish patches (erythroplasia) or whitish patches (leukoplakia) in the mouth
- A sore that fails to heal and bleeds easily
- A thick lump on the skin lining the inside of the mouth
- Chronic sore throat or hoarseness
- Difficulty in chewing or swallowing
A dentist can detect these changes on the lips, cheeks, palate, and gum tissue around the teeth, tongue, face, and neck. Oral cancer isn’t always painful, and sometimes the patient doesn’t even know they have it. However, any patient with facial and oral pain without an obvious cause may be at risk for oral cancer.
We recommend performing an oral cancer self-examination monthly, especially if you smoke or chew tobacco. Remember that your mouth is one of your body’s most important warning systems. Don’t ignore suspicious lumps or sores.
How to Brush Teeth
If you have any pain while brushing your teeth or have questions about brushing properly, please call our office. Our doctors recommend using a soft toothbrush. Position the brush at a 45-degree angle where your gums and teeth meet.
Gently move the brush in a circular motion several times using small, gentle strokes brushing the outside surfaces of your teeth. Use light pressure while putting the bristles between the teeth, but not so much pressure that you feel discomfort.
When cleaning the outside surfaces of your teeth, follow the same directions while cleaning the inside of the back teeth. To clean the inside surfaces of the upper and lower front teeth, hold the brush vertically. Make several gentle back-and-forth strokes over each tooth. Don’t forget to brush the surrounding gum tissue gently.
Next, you will clean the biting surfaces of your teeth by using short, gentle strokes. Change the brush’s position as often as necessary to reach and clean all surfaces. Try to watch yourself in the mirror to make sure you clean each surface. After that, rinse vigorously to remove any plaque you might have loosened while brushing.
How to Floss
Periodontal disease usually appears between the teeth that your toothbrush cannot reach. Flossing is an effective way to remove plaque from those surfaces. However, you should use the proper technique. The following instructions will help you, but remember it takes time and practice.
Start with a piece of floss (waxed is easier) about 18″ long. Lightly wrap most of the floss around the middle finger of one hand. Wrap the rest of the floss around the other hand’s middle finger.
To clean the upper teeth, hold the floss tightly between the thumb and forefinger of each hand. Gently insert the floss tightly between the teeth using a back-and-forth motion. Do not force the floss or try to snap it into place.
Bring the floss to the gum line, then curve it into a C-shape against one tooth. Slide it into the space between the gum and the tooth until you feel light resistance. Move the floss up and down on the side of one tooth.
Remember, you are cleaning two tooth surfaces in each space. Continue to floss each side of all the upper teeth. Be careful not to cut the gum tissue between the teeth.
To clean between the bottom teeth, guide the floss using the forefingers of both hands. Don’t forget the backside of the last tooth on both sides, upper and lower.
When done, rinse vigorously with water to remove plaque and food particles. Don’t panic if your gums bleed or are a little sore. If your gums hurt while flossing, you could be doing it too hard or pinching the gum. As you floss daily and remove the plaque, your gums will heal, and the bleeding should stop.
Choosing Oral Hygiene Products
Sometimes after dental treatment, teeth are sensitive to hot and cold. This should not last long, but only if you keep your mouth clean. If your mouth is not clean, the sensitivity will remain and could become more severe.
If your teeth are especially sensitive, consult with our dentists. They may recommend a medicated toothpaste or mouth rinse for sensitive teeth.
So many products on the market can become confusing, and choosing between them can be difficult. Here are some suggestions for choosing dental care products that will work for most patients.
Automatic and “high-tech” electronic toothbrushes are safe and effective for most patients. Oral irrigators (water spraying devices) will rinse your mouth thoroughly but will not remove plaque. You need to brush and floss in conjunction with the irrigator. We see excellent results with electric toothbrushes called Rotadent and Interplak.
Some toothbrushes have a rubber tip on the handle to massage the gums after brushing. Tiny brushes (interproximal toothbrushes) also clean between your teeth. However, improper use could injure the gums, so discuss proper use with our dentist.
Fluoride toothpaste and mouth rinses in conjunction with brushing and flossing, can reduce tooth decay by as much as 40%. Remember, these rinses are not for children under six. Tartar control toothpaste will reduce tartar above the gum line. But gum disease starts below the gum line, so these products do not reduce the early stage of gum disease.
Anti-plaque rinses, approved by the American Dental Association, contain agents that help bring early gum disease under control. Use these in conjunction with brushing and flossing.
Visit us for a Dental Exam Today
If your bite feels uneven, you have persistent pain, or you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at 972-636-4522. You can also request a dental appointment online.