General and family dentistry involves taking care of your oral health and preventing oral health problems in the future. While many people only think of visiting the dentist when they have a problem that needs to be resolved, they should visit the dentist regularly to keep overall health in check and to catch issues before they have a chance to cause significant damage. We recommend that patients make at least two yearly visits for routine cleanings, examinations, and oral cancer screenings. Similarly, we also recommend that children visit the dentist at Rocklin Dental for the first time around their first birthday or when their first tooth erupts. Doing so can help to check for any issues with the gums or the emergence of new teeth. It also exposes children to the dentist at a young age, which reduces dental anxiety as they get older. Our amazing treasure chest is full or toys for any child who visits the dentist. We hope to make the experience fun and enjoyable for all ages.
The following are some of the general and family dentistry services we offer:
Athletic Mouthguards
An athletic mouthguard is a mouthpiece worn to protect a person’s teeth from breaking or becoming damaged while participating in sports such as boxing, football, lacrosse, basketball, or hockey. They are typically made from rubber and plastic and fit over a person’s upper row of teeth. They prevent sports-related injuries like broken teeth, jaw fractures, and even concussions. They also help prevent lacerations or cuts on the tongue and lips due to falls or collisions. We custom-fit the mouthguards we provide to ensure proper fit and protection.
Cosmetic Dentistry
Cosmetic dentistry can not only improve your confidence and help you feel better about yourself overall, but it can also protect your dental health as well. Several things can cause cosmetic concerns, such as staining and discoloration from drinking coffee or red wine; teeth chipped or broken due to an accident or injury; crooked or misaligned teeth that haven’t grown into proper positioning; and even gaps between teeth and gums. We can fix all of these problems with cosmetic dentistry solutions to improve the appearance of your smile.
Dental Cleanings and Exams
Regular dental cleanings and checkups are essential to maintaining oral health. Even the best oral hygiene practices at home can’t achieve the same results as professional dental care, and both are needed. Professional teeth cleanings are better at reaching those hard-to-reach areas that your toothbrush and floss can’t reach, helping prevent tooth decay and gum disease from developing. Dentists can also detect the early signs of cavities and oral cancer before they worsen into serious problems that affect your dental health and quality of life.
Dental Sealants
A sealant is a thin coating painted on the teeth's chewing surface, usually the back teeth. This plastic resin bonds to the depressions and grooves of the teeth and acts as a barrier against the accumulation of food particles, plaque, and bacteria to prevent tooth decay and cavities.
Halitosis Treatment
Halitosis treatment begins with a thorough examination to diagnose the underlying cause of the odor. Once diagnosed, our dentist can recommend appropriate treatment options, including medications or lifestyle modifications. Brushing and flossing are cornerstones of dental hygiene and should be practiced twice daily using the proper technique. Proper nutrition can help you prevent tooth decay and gum disease, which are both common causes of bad breath. Drinking plenty of water can also help to prevent dry mouth. Lastly, regular professional cleanings and exams can help prevent the buildup of plaque and tartar, which contribute to odor.
Night Guards
Night guards are designed to be worn while you sleep to prevent teeth from grinding and protect your smile from damage due to clenching or bracing your jaw. It avoids bruxism—the clenching and grinding of teeth while sleeping. This can damage the enamel of your teeth and cause jaw pain. Night guards can also help to prevent headaches caused by night-time bruxism.
Non-Surgical Gum Treatments
Non-surgical gum treatment is also known as scaling and root planing or deep cleaning. This is a highly effective procedure used to treat mild to moderate gum disease, leading to decreased pocket depth, improved attachment levels, reduced bleeding and inflammation, and improved comfort. This treatment removes plaque and tartar from the tooth surfaces above and below the gum line. The rough surface of the damaged area will be smoothed out. This helps to prevent bacteria from accumulating and forming abscesses in the gums and bones.
Oral Hygiene Care
Brushing and flossing your teeth twice daily is the best way to maintain healthy teeth and gums. When you brush and floss correctly, you remove harmful plaque from teeth and along the gum line. Scheduling regular professional cleanings and exams at Rocklin Dental will remove the hardened plaque from the surfaces of teeth that your toothbrush cannot reach, and alert you of any signs of common oral health problems.
Teeth Whitening
If your teeth have become discolored over the years due to foods and drinks high in dark pigments like coffee, tea, soda, red wine, or tobacco, you may be a good candidate for teeth whitening treatment. Our in-office procedure involves about an hour of treatment time and can erase stains caused by yellowing from aging or poor oral hygiene.
TMJ Treatment
There are several possible treatments for TMJ disorder, including using oral appliances, pain medications, injection therapy, physical therapy, and even surgery. Oral appliance therapies can consist of splints and mouth guards designed to reposition the jaw to relieve symptoms caused by malocclusions. Sometimes, a dentist may recommend wearing a mouthguard at night to prevent teeth grinding while you sleep.
Patients can use pain medications to relieve painful symptoms of TMD, including mild to severe headaches or migraines, earaches, and toothaches. Injection therapy is another treatment option that involves injecting an anti-inflammatory medication into the soft tissues of the face to reduce pain and swelling. Physical therapy helps address problems with head and neck posture. This includes using specific exercises to help stretch stressful facial and neck muscles. Finally, surgery can treat the underlying causes of TMD if other treatment options have not worked or are ineffective. We can perform jaw reconstruction surgery or even corrective jaw surgery.
Tooth Extractions
If a severely decayed or infected tooth cannot be saved, our dentist may recommend extracting the tooth. At Rocklin Dental, we do everything we can to save a tooth so it can be kept for your lifetime! But when an extraction is the only option, we will make the procedure as quick and comfortable as possible. We offer sedation dentistry to help patients relax during the process, so they do not experience discomfort or pain.
Wisdom Tooth Extractions
If your wisdom teeth are causing you pain because they are impacted or infected, our dentist will refer you to one of our Oral Surgery doctors to perform a wisdom tooth extraction procedure to prevent future complications from arising. An infected wisdom tooth could also cause gum disease that can spread or the loosening of surrounding teeth.
To learn more about these treatments and your options for restoring oral health, visit Rocklin Dental at 5800 Stanford Ranch Rd #900, Rocklin, CA 95765, or call (916) 663-5555.