General Dentistry Services

Also known as tooth grinding, bruxism causes damage to your teeth by wearing down tooth enamel, weakening fillings and crowns, creating sensitivity, causing jaw pain, and effecting your smile over time. In some cases, it can even cause headaches. Bruxism that is left untreated can lead to fractured or chipped teeth or even permanent teeth loss, while also increasing the risk of tooth decay. If grinding your teeth becomes a nightly occurrence, our team of general dental professionals will thoroughly examine the health of your teeth, cheeks, and gums to determine the severity of the grinding and whether you will benefit from a custom-made nightguard. In certain cases, your general dentist may recommend that we repair the damage to your teeth before fitting you for a bruxism nightguard.

Some of the most common signs of bruxism are:

• Painful or stiff jaw
• Sensitive, loose, or broken teeth
• Sore gums
• Sores on the insides of your cheeks
• A popping sound in the jaw joint
• Morning headaches
• Worn-down teeth
• Fatigue caused by restless sleep

To help protect your teeth from decay, a thin plastic coating, known as dental sealant, can be applied in liquid form to the chewing surface of your teeth. Uniquely designed to seep into the fissures and pits on a tooth’s surface, dental sealants create a protective shield over the tooth’s enamel while also smoothing out the surface, making it easier to clean.

The benefits of dental sealants include:

• Cavity prevention—liquid sealants smooth out and seal off grooves, crevasses, pits, and fissures, making it easier to brush the surface.
• Easy application—sealants are brushed onto properly prepared and clean teeth using a paintbrush-like tool and are then cured using a safe, ultraviolet light.
• Fast application—dental sealants can usually be applied in as little as 5 minutes per tooth.
• Cheaper than fillings—since dental sealants are cheaper than most restorations and other tooth decay treatments (fillings, crowns, root canals, extractions, etc.), most insurance companies will cover the cost of dental sealants.
• Attractive—dental sealants can be matched to your natural tooth colour.
• Durable—if properly cared for by maintaining a regular home care routine and avoiding the crunching of hard foods, dental sealants can last a very long time.

By using digital x-rays and CBCT scans, our general dentistry professionals can expose tooth decay hiding underneath the gumline, fillings, and caps, as well as in between teeth. CBCT scans and x-rays can also help detect bone loss caused by abscesses, cysts, gum disease, tumours, and early signs of cancer. Please be advised, for CBCT scans our general dentistry  professionals perform a consultation. If a CBCT scan is required, our team will organize a referral with our associates at Lethbridge Dental Services South to perform the scan.

The types of X-rays used in dentistry are:

• Bitewing—taken on either side of the mouth (two on the left side and two on the right side), this type of x-ray is ideal for detecting cavities and seeing how well teeth match up.
• Occlusal—taken with a closed jaw, this type of x-ray is ideal for showing how the top and bottom teeth line up, as well as for detecting abnormalities in the mouth floor and palate.
• Periapical—focusing on two complete teeth, showing everything from the crown to the root.
• Full-mouth—utilizes 18 films that capture the entire inside of your mouth.
• Panorex – a single picture of all your teeth and surrounding bones of the face and neck.

Caused by acid, cavities are small holes that form on the surface of the teeth and, if left unchecked, can cause infections and further decay. This can lead to weakened teeth, pain, and even tooth loss, effecting the look of your smile. By practicing preventative dental care and by carefully monitoring problem areas, your dentist can catch and repair small cavities with fillings before they grow larger and become more painful and expensive to treat.

The types of fillings you can choose from include:

• Tooth-coloured composite fillings
• Silver-coloured amalgam fillings
• Cast-gold fillings

Fluoride treatments are specifically designed to help prevent cavities by hardening enamel, rebuilding lost tooth enamel, and re-mineralizing teeth. Fluoride slows down the loss of minerals from teeth, preventing proliferation of oral bacteria, reversing early decay, and treating tooth sensitivity. In most cases, brushing your teeth with fluoride toothpaste is sufficient for home dental care because most of North America has fluorinated drinking water; however, if you are from somewhere in the world where drinking water is not fluorinated, our dentists may prescribe you fluoride tablets or drops to take daily.

At Crossings Dental, one of our dentists will perform an oral cancer exam during your regular dental visit by thoroughly checking the soft tissues in your face, neck, and head (including cheeks, tongue, tonsils, soft palate, lips, pharynx, and salivary glands) for white or red areas, lumps, and rough spots. Our dental professionals may even ask you a series of routine questions about whether you have experienced numbness, unusual bleeding, a change in your voice, or if there have been changes to your ability to eat, swallow, chew, the way your teeth fit together, and/or jaw movements.

Endodontics or root canal therapy focuses on treating injuries and diseases that affect dental pulp (the soft interior of blood vessels, nerves, and connective tissue inside your teeth). While dental pulp is extremely important for the development of baby teeth, adult teeth can survive without pulp. This means that the best dental service for fixing teeth with pulp that is inflamed or infected is to remove the remaining Dental pulp along with the infection. Removing the pulp allows us to relieve the pain as quickly as possible while also saving the tooth instead of removing it. Infected teeth that are left untreated will need to be removed, which means that the remaining teeth will have to work harder to chew/bite and may even shift into the gap left by the missing teeth, impacting the way your jaw and teeth fit together.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a condition that effects your breathing in which your airway may become blocked or collapse, decreasing airflow to your lungs and causing you to pause or stop breathing while you are asleep. When you pause or stop breathing, your body will instinctively wake you up so that you will resume breathing, which can prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep and leave you feeling tired during the day.

If left untreated, sleep apnea can potentially cause oral health risks, such as:

• Heart disease
• Depression
• Acid reflux
• Memory loss
• Mental confusion
• Adult asthma
• High blood pressure
• Low blood oxygen levels
• Decreased sexual desire
• Abnormal cholesterol
• Higher blood sugar levels
• Weight gain
• ADHD
• Bed wetting
• Liver problems

Sleep apnea oral appliances are custom-fitted oral appliances that are uniquely designed to treat snoring and mild to moderate OSA. For some patients, a sleep apnea oral appliance may be an effective, comfortable, and durable alternative to CPAP therapy or corrective surgery. In some cases, patients may need to use “co-therapy” which involves using both an OSA appliance and CPAP machine.

Did you know that our general dentists can treat your canker sores? At Crossings Dental, we provide canker sore services using the Dent Mat NV pro3 Diode laser to help treat our patients.

Benefits of using a laser for canker sores:

• Affordable
• Fast healing and relief
• Quick treatment with no anesthetic required

As soon as your lip starts tingling or when your canker sore first appears, make sure to call our office to book your treatment.

While tooth sensitivity is often caused by tooth decay, cracked teeth, worn enamel, worn fillings, or exposed tooth roots, it can sometimes be treated by simply using desensitizing toothpaste, which helps block the sensation that causes pain. If desensitizing toothpaste does not help, we can apply a special desensitizing agent or fluoride gel to the affected teeth. In case this treatment is not as effective as desired, our professionals will look at other general dentistry services—fillings, crowns, inlays, or bonding—based on your unique needs.

Regular dental cleanings and examinations are essential for growing kids. While these appointments will often include fluoride therapy and x-rays, we can delay these services until the next appointment if your child feels apprehensive.

Our services for children also cover:

• Cavity control and dental hygiene
• Thumb sucking treatment
• Space maintainers to prevent teeth from shifting into empty spaces
• Dental sealants to protect permanent teeth from developing cavities

We want to make dentistry fun for kids. At Crossings Dental, our special little patients get to choose from a selection of different costumes to wear during their Junior VIP visit—superhero, princess, puppy, police officer, cowboy, or cowgirl—balloon animals, and access to our toy shelf! Our cavity-free club members also get a free smoothie or ice cream treat!

Having regular dental hygiene appointments every 6 months will allow your dentist to identify and address developing health problems long before they become serious. During your appointment, our dental professionals will thoroughly examine your bite, gums, and teeth, as well as perform any necessary services such as x-rays, oral cancer screenings, and additional diagnostic procedures. Our experienced hygienists will also professionally clean your teeth during your appointment by using a scaler to get rid of the plaque and tartar around your gumline and in between your teeth before applying a fluoride treatment.

An athletic mouthguard can help protect your teeth and jaw while participating in various sports and activities. All mouthguards are custom-fit to the individual’s mouth and are perfect for athletes of all ages, from teenagers to adults. They are also helpful in protecting your family members from concussions.