Patient Financing Options
If you want to get the dental care you need now but break down your payments over time, we offer convenient patient financing through CareCredit. CareCredit offers both interest-free and long-term payment plans to make your dentistry convenient and affordable.
At our Naugatuck, CT dental office, we offer comprehensive oral evaluations to diagnose and treat common dental conditions. Millions of Americans suffer from a clenching and grinding habit known as bruxism. Bruxism can cause premature wear to your teeth, headaches, jaw pain, muscle pain, and even cracked teeth.
We incorporate bruxism exams into our regular exams and look for signs of clenching or grinding. This can include looking for signs of tooth wear, bite marks on the insides of your cheeks, bony growths beneath your tongue called tori, and tooth fractures. We also test your muscle tension.
Using an intraoral camera, we can show you many of these signs of wear. You may even be able to feel tori with your tongue. Left untreated, bruxism may cause long-term problems such as tooth sensitivity, headaches, facial tension, jaw conditions (temporomandibular joint dysfunction, or TMJD), and even tooth loss.
We treat bruxism with a custom nightguard. Wearing a nightguard places a barrier between your upper and lower teeth, guiding the jaw into a more comfortable position and allowing for relief of muscle tension – a common cause of headaches.
If you suffer from any of these symptoms, call us to learn more about how we can restore your comfort and protect your smile.
Brushing and flossing is the cornerstone of good oral health. Your home habits determine the health of your gums and teeth throughout your lifetime. By following the American Dental Association recommendation of brushing twice daily and flossing once daily, you are taking the best steps toward lifelong oral health.
Simply skimming the toothbrush along the surfaces of your teeth is not enough. A thorough job of brushing and flossing is essential. Here are some tips to help:
- Select a toothbrush that is soft-bristled and fits into your mouth easily.
- Angle the bristles toward your gums where plaque collects.
- Brush every surface of your teeth – tongue side, cheek side, chewing surface, and behind your back teeth.
- Brush for at least two minutes with gentle pressure. It’s the tips of the bristles that do the work. There is no need to press hard. Doing so can damage your gums.
- When flossing, gently move the floss up and down each surface of your tooth on either side of your papilla, the v-shaped tissue between your teeth.
- Move the floss as you go, giving yourself clean, unfrayed floss to work with.
- Use the right floss for you – dental tape for closely crowded teeth or woven floss for widely spaced teeth. Most people find that waxed floss is easier to move between teeth.
You do not need an electric toothbrush to do a great job of brushing, as long as you follow the guidelines. For some people with dexterity issues, an electric toothbrush can be a great way to make sure you reach every surface of your teeth.