How to Prevent Gum Disease

Gums protect your pearly whites and the tissue that holds them to the bone. When your gums aren’t healthy, you risk losing those teeth – and damaging your overall health. At Top Choice Dental, Dr. Greg Fort wants you to have the healthiest smile achievably possible, which is why he wants you to know how to identify, treat and manage gum disease.

Gum disease is usually caused by plaque, a sticky film of bacteria that constantly forms on teeth. If plaque is not removed with thorough daily brushing and cleaning between teeth, gums become irritated and inflamed. If left untreated, this inflammation can cause the gums to deteriorate. This can lead to gum recession or even tooth loss.

While regular dental exams are necessary to remove tartar and detect early signs of gum disease, oral health begins by properly caring for your teeth and gums at home. Adding these habits to your daily routine can help.

• Brush your teeth after meals because it helps remove food debris and plaque trapped between your teeth and gums.


• Flossing at least once a day helps remove food particles and plaque between teeth and along the gum line that your toothbrush can’t reach.


• Using mouthwash can help reduce plaque and can remove remaining food particles that brushing and flossing have missed.

To learn more about root canal therapy and the procedure itself, give us a call or visit www.hoptowndental.com for more information. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Greg Fort at Top Choice Dental in Hopkinsville, KY, call 270-886-8585.

Root Canal Treatment at Top Choice Dental

At Top Choice Dental, Dr. Greg Fort utilizes root canal treatment to repair and save a tooth that is badly decayed or becomes infected. During a root canal procedure, the nerve and pulp are removed and the inside of the tooth is cleaned and sealed. Without treatment, the tissue surrounding the tooth will become infected and abscesses may form.

There is a space inside the tooth called the pulp chamber and this houses the root canal system and pulp – the living tissue that keeps the tooth alive. The pulp includes blood vessels, nerves and connective tissues, and during childhood, creates the surrounding hard tissues of the tooth. Root canal treatment is needed when the pulp becomes inflamed or infected. The causes could be deep tooth decay due to poor oral hygiene, repeated dental procedures on one tooth, or traumatic damage such as a crack, chip, or even a root fracture.

If you have a tooth that is causing you pain, give us a call to discuss your options. To learn more about root canal therapy and the procedure itself, give us a call or visit www.hoptowndental.com for more information. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Greg Fort at Top Choice Dental in Hopkinsville, KY, call 270-886-8585.

Oral Cancer Screening

 

Oral cancer screening is an examination performed by Dr. Greg Fort at Top Choice Dental to look for signs of cancer or precancerous lesions in your mouth. The goal of oral cancer screening is to detect mouth cancer or precancerous lesions that may lead to mouth cancer at an early stage – when cancer or lesions are easiest to remove and most likely to be cured.

During your dental visit Dr. Greg Fort can talk to you about your oral health history and examine your oral cavity for signs of mouth/throat cancer. The oral cavity includes your lips, cheek lining, gums, front part of your tongue, floor of the mouth beneath the tongue and the hard palate that makes up the root of your mouth. The screening itself will consist of a visual inspection of the mouth and palpation of the jaw and neck. Regular visits to Top Choice Dental can improve the chances that any suspicious changes in your oral health will be caught early, at a time where cancer can be treated more easily. 

Ask us today whether oral cancer screening is appropriate for you. To learn more about oral cancer screenings, give us a call or visit www.hoptowndental.com for more information. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Greg Fort at Top Choice Dental in Hopkinsville, KY, call 270-886-8585.

Oral cancer screening is an examination performed by Dr. Greg Fort at Top Choice Dental to look for signs of cancer or precancerous lesions in your mouth. The goal of oral cancer screening is to detect mouth cancer or precancerous lesions that may lead to mouth cancer at an early stage – when cancer or lesions are easiest to remove and most likely to be cured.

During your dental visit Dr. Greg Fort can talk to you about your oral health history and examine your oral cavity for signs of mouth/throat cancer. The oral cavity includes your lips, cheek lining, gums, front part of your tongue, floor of the mouth beneath the tongue and the hard palate that makes up the root of your mouth. The screening itself will consist of a visual inspection of the mouth and palpation of the jaw and neck. Regular visits to Top Choice Dental can improve the chances that any suspicious changes in your oral health will be caught early, at a time where cancer can be treated more easily.

Ask us today whether oral cancer screening is appropriate for you. To learn more about oral cancer screening, give us a call or visit www.hoptowndental.com for more information. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Greg Fort at Top Choice Dental in Hopkinsville, KY, call 270-886-8585.

 

Anxiolysis Sedation

The purpose of oral sedation is to allow a dentist to work more effectively by helping a patient become as comfortable as possible with the use of sedative medications administered orally and sublingually. Here at Top Choice Dental, Dr. Greg Fort utilizes a safe and effective minimal sedation called anxiolysis – a drug-induced state during which patients respond normally to verbal commands.

The definition of anxiolysis is simply, a reduction in anxiety. Although cognitive function and coordination may be impaired, ventilatory and cardiovascular functions are unaffected. In the spectrum of sedation, anxiolysis is the lightest level of sedation. Anxiolysis involves the use of a single anxiolytic drug in a single dose, prescribed before a patient’s appointment, and administered prior to the beginning of the dental appointment. The anxiolysis technique can be administered on fearful and anxious patients as well as patients with a pronounced gag reflex.

After the procedure you will even be able to drive yourself home since anxiolysis uses a light sedative. If you have been fretting having dental work done, call us to learn about our anxiety free options for dentistry. To learn more about anxiolysis sedation, give us a call or visit www.hoptowndental.com for more information. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Greg Fort at Top Choice Dental in Hopkinsville, KY, call 270-886-8585.

Tooth Extractions at Top Choice Dental

If a tooth has been broken or damaged by decay, one of our doctors at Top Choice Dental will first try to fix it with a filling, crown or other dental treatment. However, when there’s too much damage for the tooth to be repaired, the tooth may need to be removed from its socket in the bone. Here at Top Choice Dental we offer tooth extractions to eliminate your oral discomfort.

A simple extraction is performed on a tooth that can be seen in the mouth. In a simple extraction, the dentist at Top Choice Dental loosens the tooth with an instrument called an elevator. Then, the dentist uses forceps to remove the tooth. A surgical extraction is a more complex procedure. It is used if a tooth may have broken off at the gum line or has not come into the mouth yet, such as wisdom teeth. During a surgical extraction, the doctor will make a small incision into your gum. Sometimes it’s necessary to remove some of the bone around the tooth or to cut the tooth in half in order to extract it.

If you have a tooth that is causing you pain, give us a call or visit www.hoptowndental.com for more information. To schedule a consultation with Top Choice Dental here in Hopkinsville, KY, call us at 270-886-8585.

Teeth Whitening at Top Choice Dental

Everyone wants a bright, confident smile and sometimes that isn’t an easy to achieve. Teeth-whitening is an excellent way to restore the natural color of your teeth or even make them whiter than your natural color if you would like. Here at Top Choice Dental we make it easy for you to revitalize your grin by utilizing a tray system that can be completed in two simple steps.

As you might imagine, intensely colored foods and beverages tend to be the biggest offenders of tooth discoloration. The color in these foods and beverages come from chromogens, intensely pigmented molecules with a reputation of latching on to dental enamel. To accomplish the whitening of your teeth, we at Top Choice Dental will first take an impression of your teeth. With this impression, we’ll craft you custom whitening trays that you can use over and over again. Finally, you will take the whitening gel home with you and use the trays for a period of a few days. This often results in a whiter smile of 4-8 shades!

If you wish to inquire about teeth whitening, give us a call or visit www.hoptowndental.com for more information. To schedule a consultation with Top Choice Dental here in Hopkinsville, KY, call us at 270-886-8585.

What is Scaling and Root Planing?

If you suffer from gum disease, root planing and scaling is one of the most effective ways to treat it before the case becomes severe. Root planing and scaling is done when gums have either started to pull away from the teeth or the roots of the teeth have hard mineral deposits (tartar) on them. Here at Top Choice Dental, offer scaling and root planing services that cleans between the gums and the teeth down to the roots.

As a non-surgical procedure, scaling and planing is performed without any anesthesia, (depending on the patient) in the dentist’s office. Dental scaling occurs with manual hand instruments, ultrasonic instruments or both. One of our dentists will start the procedure with a thorough examination of your mouth. Next, an ultrasonic scaling device will be used to eliminate the plaque bacteria with sonic vibrations. The ultrasonic scaling device removes tartar, plaque, and biofilm from the tooth surface and underneath the gum line.

If you wish to inquire about the comfort level of the scaling and root planing procedure, give us a call or visit www.hoptowndental.com for more information. To schedule a consultation with Top Choice Dental here in Hopkinsville, KY, call us at 270-886-8585.