General dental care is key to keeping your teeth and gums healthy. Our team helps patients of all ages with preventive treatments to support their oral hygiene routine. Routine exams and cleanings with our skilled hygienists can stop future dental problems. Dr. Cappy Sinclair and Dr. Mark Reichley offer these services in Virginia Beach, VA, to help you maintain great dental health for years.
General Dentistry & Routine Dental Care in Virginia Beach
We suggest visiting our office for routine dental care twice a year. Our hygienists perform dental cleanings to remove plaque and tartar from your teeth and gums. Cleanings help reduce harmful bacteria and keeps your mouth healthy.
We also offer other dental procedures like fillings, root canals, and extractions. We use fillings to fix cavities or tooth decay. After a root canal, which removes infected tissue from a tooth, you might need a filling or crown.
If our dentist can’t save your tooth, we might need to extract it, especially if it’s crowded, infected, or impacted. Removing such teeth can prevent more damage or infection.
Our general dental services help prevent problems and ease current symptoms. We provide custom sports mouthguards to protect your teeth and gums from injury during activities. These mouthguards help prevent dental damage and tooth loss. For emergencies, we offer care for issues like lost or broken teeth and severe toothaches.
As a family dental office, we care for patients of all ages. We work with families to fit dental visits into busy schedules. We also help those who are nervous about dental visits understand there’s nothing to worry about. Our dentists offer dental sedation to help patients relax and get the care they need, especially for those with dental anxiety.
The Importance of Preventative Dentistry
Preventive dental care is key to keeping your smile healthy. It helps stop dental problems before they start. Good care happens both at home and at the dentist’s office.
To keep your teeth in top shape, visit the dentist every six months. During these visits, we do a deep cleaning with special tools to get to tough spots. Even with good brushing and flossing at home, some areas of your mouth are hard to clean properly. That’s why professional cleanings are so important to prevent tooth decay and gum disease.
When you visit our office, we also do a check-up. Some oral health issues, like early signs of oral cancer or gum disease, might not show obvious symptoms at first. You might not notice these problems until they are more serious.
Our team has the expertise to spot early warning signs and uses modern tools to find these issues early. This way, we can offer treatments that are less costly and less invasive than if we catch the problem much later.
Dental visits help us keep track of changes in your mouth, especially for kids. We can also give you advice on the best products and diets for your teeth. Some people might need special products for gum health or a whiter smile.
It’s also important to eat a balanced diet. Too much sugar or acid can harm your teeth. Eating fresh fruits and vegetables helps produce saliva, which is important for cleaning bacteria and debris from your mouth.
You need to take care of your teeth at home, too. Brush and floss at least twice a day, or after every meal if you can. Regular brushing and flossing stop plaque and tartar from building up on your teeth.
If you only rely on dental visits, bacteria will have too much time to grow, and plaque and tartar will build up. Staying on top of your oral health is important, no matter where you are.
Diet and Oral Health
What you eat and drink plays a large role in your oral health. Your teeth and gums need nutrients to stay healthy and work well. However, there are also foods you should avoid for your oral health.
What Your Smile Needs
Calcium and Vitamin D are key for healthy teeth. Calcium helps strengthen the outer layer of your teeth, called enamel, and keeps your jawbone strong. Vitamin D helps your body use calcium better. You can get calcium from dairy products, which often have Vitamin D added, and sunlight.
Vitamin C is important for healthy gums. It helps your body make collagen, which keeps gums strong and healthy. It also fights infection and reduces swelling, which helps with gum disease. Foods like oranges, strawberries, and broccoli are rich in Vitamin C.
Fruits and vegetables with lots of fiber act like natural toothbrushes. They help remove food particles from between your teeth and need a lot of chewing, which increases saliva production. Saliva keeps your mouth healthy by washing away food and bacteria and neutralizing acids that cause tooth decay.
Things to Avoid
Sugar and acid can be very bad for your teeth and gums. Sugar feeds harmful bacteria, which then make acids. These acids can cause cavities by wearing away your tooth enamel. If the decay reaches the root, it can lead to a painful infection. Foods like crackers and potato chips also turn into sugar, which can harm your teeth.
Acid makes tooth enamel break down faster. Eating sugary and acidic foods together is especially damaging because it speeds up erosion. After eating something acidic, wait at least 30 minutes before brushing your teeth. Brushing too soon can make the problem worse.
Be careful with acidic and sugary snacks. Snacking all day means your teeth come in contact with acids all the time. After eating these foods, drink water to help reduce the damage.
General Dentistry FAQs
General dentistry covers many services to keep your teeth and gums healthy. This includes regular check-ups, cleanings, fillings, extractions, and preventive care. Our general dentists keep your mouth in great shape. Discover more about general dental care by looking at these common questions.
Why is a regular dental check-up so important?
Regular dental check-ups are important for several reasons. First, they help dentists spot and fix problems before they get worse and need more treatment. Check-ups let us find early signs of tooth decay, gum disease, oral cancer, and other issues.
Second, check-ups include a professional cleaning by a dental hygienist. This cleaning removes plaque, tartar, and stains that regular brushing and flossing doesn’t get rid of. It also helps prevent tooth decay and gum disease and keeps your mouth healthier.
Additionally, dental visits give you a chance to get advice on how to care for your teeth. Our dentists can show you the best brushing and flossing techniques, recommend good dental products, and answer any questions you have.
Regular check-ups can also help find non-dental health problems that start in the mouth. Dentists might spot signs of conditions like diabetes or vitamin deficiencies during these visits.
In short, regular dental check-ups are key to keeping your mouth healthy. They help prevent problems by catching issues early and guide you on good oral care. By making these appointments a priority, you’ll leave with a healthier smile and better overall health.
Why should I visit the dentist each year?
We suggest that our patients come in at least once a year if they have few oral health issues and aren’t at high risk for new problems. If you have ongoing dental issues, we may recommend more frequent visits. Also, if you need dental work that requires more than one visit, you’ll need to come to our office more than once.
What can I do if I have dental anxiety?
Call us if you feel anxious about dental visits. We offer sedation dentistry to help you stay calm during long procedures, oral surgery, or if you have dental fears. Sedation is safe and effective.
How do I know if I need a dental extraction?
Dentists usually recommend tooth extractions if you have a badly decayed tooth, or one causing problems. First see a dentist for a thorough check-up, but some signs might suggest you need an extraction. These include:
- Severe toothache or pain.
- Visible cracks or fractures in the tooth.
- Gum inflammation or infection around the affected area.
- Overcrowding of teeth leading to misalignment or bite problems.
- Impacted wisdom teeth causing pain or infection.
It’s important to deal with these issues quickly to avoid more damage and keep your teeth healthy. We will take x-rays and carefully check your teeth to decide if you will benefit from an extraction treatment.
Receive Comfortable Dental Care Today!
Contact Coastal General Dentistry for comprehensive treatment at 757-216-9914. You can also request a consultation with our dental team on our website. Our team looks forward to seeing you at your next appointment. Feel free to let us know if you have any questions about your oral health or treatment options; we will be glad to help.