DentalServices

Services at Frankfort Winterset Dental Care
Comprehensive and Integrated Treatment

Our main focus is replacing teeth, the specialty known as prosthodontics. To replace teeth, patient care often needs to be coordinated with multiple dental specialists. Rather than a patient running from one specialist to another, Winterset Dental prides itself on creating your functional, attractive smile by a full professional staff in one location. In our experience, patients understand and appreciate the procedures best when speaking with all dental specialists simultaneously, or a short time later. Here are some examples of the care that our team provides:

Restorations / Prosthodontics
In addition to making a smile whole and healthy, our goal is to help patients enjoy steak, crisp fruit, and corn on the cob again. Whether teeth are already missing, broken, about to be lost, or are in need of full mouth reconstruction due to accident or illness, Dr. Agarwal can help. Our care encompasses implants, high-quality full or partial dentures, and precision-crafted porcelain crowns and bridges that look and feel natural and youthful.

Most patients refer to restorations as "fillings" because material is used to "fill" a hole or broken spot in the tooth. Today's new dental materials now allow dentists to remove minimal tooth structure and attach tooth-colored materials in a process that involves etching, to roughen the spot, and bonding to create adhesion. Patients usually prefer restorations that cannot be seen, although traditional silver fillings are also available for those who prefer them.

When too much tooth structure is missing, a tooth must receive a crown (cap). This is made from metal, porcelain, or both, that is cemented in place for years of service. Crowns are also linked together to create a "bridge", a restoration that closes a gap where teeth are missing, allowing patients to resume proper chewing.

Implants
When a tooth is completely removed, it leaves a space that is often replaced with a permanent, titanium-metal root structure that attaches to the jawbone. This is called an implant and it serves as the foundation upon which to build a natural-looking tooth.

Sometimes, implants are also used to anchor precision-crafted lower dentures that stay in place while chewing. Implants require minor surgery and very exacting techniques, usually studied extensively by dentists following dental school, to ensure successful attachment to bone.

Disease Prevention
The vast majority of adults will have some form of dental disease in their lifetime. One of those diseases, periodontitis, causes bone loss around teeth and ruins their foundation. Periodontitis is often painless and remains undetected until a dentist or hygienist takes X-rays and measures the bone with a special ruler. Like most diseases, it continues to get worse unless treated by the removal of tartar, also known as calculus. Treatment may be as simple as flossing daily and periodic maintenance, or as complex as surgery for gums and bone, performed by a specialist known as a "periodontist."

The disease must be treated before extensive dental work begins. Licensed dental hygienists remove deposits that form under the gums and around teeth with ultrasonic technology and hand instruments. They also monitor the condition of gum tissue, advise dentists of changes, and teach patients how to better maintain the health of their gums.

Smile Design
Patients often admit that they are embarrassed to smile because their teeth are too yellow, too short, too crooked, or any number of other reasons. Some believe that their gums show too much. They are amazed to discover that two hours of dental treatment solves the whole problem.

Sometimes, a person's teeth need whitening so they can wear specially fit trays that place gel on the teeth at bedtime. Porcelain veneers, similar to the procedure for artificial nails, are fitted to teeth when patients need to reshape teeth and brighten them. Tooth-colored materials can fill in chips or roughness, or even appear to straighten a tooth that has rotated out of position.

Sedation Dentistry
Few dental practices have the training to administer state-of-the-art medications to reduce anxiety or encourage sleep during dental procedures. This process is excellent for those patients who like to "get it over with" in one longer appointment rather than deal with temporary teeth or multiple, short appointments.

	Glossary of Terms
	Amalgam Restoration = silver-colored filling material that replaces tooth structure damaged by decay or fracture.
	Build-up = strong material used to replace the inner core of a tooth, prior to placing a crown, when natural tooth structure is missing.
	Bridge = a series of crowns that attach together, permanently cemented in place, to fill the space where teeth are missing.
	Composite Restoration = tooth-colored filling material that replaces tooth structure damaged by decay or fracture.
	Crown = a porcelain or metal structure that covers the entire tooth above the gum line, usually used to mend a cracked tooth, strengthen a dead tooth, or replace missing tooth structure.
	Edentulous = absence of all natural teeth.
	Erosion = wearing away tooth structure by mechanical means, such as vigorous brushing.
	Framework = metal structure to which replacement teeth in a partial denture are attached.
	Full Denture = acrylic, and sometimes porcelain, structure that resembles natural teeth that have been removed.
	Furcation = area on a tooth in which the roots split into separate directions from the main body of the tooth. This area is difficult to keep clean with ordinary home care.
	Gingivitis = inflamed gums, a reversible condition that occurs with inadequate oral hygiene.
	Immediate Denture = acrylic, sometimes porcelain, structure that resembles teeth, inserted immediately after surgical removal of natural teeth.
	Implant = pure titanium metal post that is surgically inserted into the jaw to replace a tooth or teeth that have been lost, serving as a stabile foundation for additional crowns or a denture.
	Incipient Decay = beginning decay on the outermost (enamel) surface of a tooth that has not yet penetrated to the softer layer (dentin) underneath, where it requires dental treatment.
	Interproximal = space between the teeth, in which one tooth touches another.
	Malocclusion = teeth that do not line up properly to function at their best, and healthiest.
	Microleakage = deterioration of dental restorations that allows bacteria to leak down into tooth structure, often causing sensitivity or more decay.
	Overhang = excess dental material that causes a ledge on a restoration, making the area difficult to floss and keep clean.
	Periodontal Disease = irreversible condition that painlessly allows bacteria to destroy bone and tissue that holds teeth in the jaw.
	Periodontal probing = a tiny ruler that slips into the sulcus (space around a tooth, under the gumline) to measure the level of bone present in 6 places around each tooth.
	Periodontal pocket = an area of missing bone around a tooth that traps bacteria and accelerates the disease process, when not properly maintained or corrected.
	Pulpitis = inflammation of the nerve of a tooth, sometimes irreversible, but often not.
	Recession = exposure of the root surface, which is more prone to decay, caused by gum tissue that slowly moves toward the tip of the root.
	Resorption = dissolving of bone or tooth structure from excessive force, movement, or disease.
	Rest = metal platforms on a partial denture which prevent it from pushing onto the gums while chewing, which are located near "clasps" that hold the partial denture onto teeth.
	Root canal = removal of infected nerve(s) within the tooth that may be, or may become, non-vital. The area must then be debrided, sterilized and filled with a sealing material.
	Subgingival = located under the gumline.
	Supragingival = located above the gumline.
	Sulcus = the healthy, 2-3 millimeter fold of gum tissue that surrounds each tooth, much like a turtleneck collar.
	Veneer = thin layer of porcelain that is cemented to the front of front teeth to change their shape or color.
	Xerostomia = a dry mouth condition, often induced by aging or medications, which encourages decay.

In accordance with the Health Information Privacy and Accountability Act of 1997, this office uses
coded information, rather than patient names, when handling personal documents. This ensures
that privileged information about patients' health status and dental treatment is confined to use on
an as-needed basis.