Fillings
Enamor Dentistry is an amalgam-free practice. We fill smaller cavities will tooth colored composites that are strong, smooth, and esthetic.
We hold ourselves to the highest standards on even the smallest restorations – you can expect your fillings to have lifelike anatomy, good contact with adjacent teeth, and smooth transitions to natural tooth structure.
Root Canals
When bacteria reach the nerve, the only choices are to remove the tooth or to remove the nerve. A root canal is the removal of the nerve tissue and blood supply of a tooth. The remaining space is then enlarged and filled with a rubber material.
Root canals have earned their reputation in the distant past for being quite painful, but should no longer cause any discomfort.
Root canals on posterior teeth are always restored with a crown.
Crowns/Onlays
In the past, a tooth with a larger cavity would be diagnosed for a crown. This would mean that your tooth would be drilled down below the gumline all the way around, leaving nothing but a stump. With the advancements in dental technology, this aggressive approach is no longer necessary.
We believe in saving as much of your healthy tooth as possible. Dr. Melander will remove the diseased tooth structure and restore it with the most conservative restoration possible.
Most crowns will stay well above the gumline, and the all ceramic crowns that we use are typically almost impossible to detect and impossible to break.
Bridges
Bridges are one of several ways to replace a missing tooth. They connect the teeth on either side of a gap, literally bridging the space where the tooth may have been. Dr. Melander will prepare the gum tissue in the area of the missing tooth for the most esthetic result.
Under close inspection the restoration will appear to be emerging from your gum tissue, as opposed to just sitting on top of it.
Bridges are functional as well as esthetic, spreading the biting force between more teeth, increasing chewing function, and preventing teeth from shifting.
Implants
We partner with the finest oral surgeons to make beautiful and esthetic implant restorations. Although an excellent long term restoration, implants can take a long time to see to completion; crowns aren’t usually placed until four months after the implant is inserted. Most doctors will let you spend those four months toothless or with an ill-fitting removable flipper.
Dr. Melander will make you a fixed temporary implant crown that not only is convenient and attractive, but prepares the tissue around the implant for the most esthetic final restoration.
Extraction & Bone Grafts
If a tooth is not savable Dr. Melander will make your tooth extraction as pleasant as possible. He has extensive oral surgery experience, including full mouth extractions and impacted wisdom tooth extractions.
Dr. Melander will ensure that the process is pain free, and will remove roots individually when necessary to reduce the force applied to your jaw.
Bone grafting the socket afterwards will prevent bone shrinkage and make the site more ideal for a future implant. Grafting also lessens the chance of a painful dry socket.