Archive for July, 2010

Afraid of the Dentist? Your San Diego Sedation Dentist Can Help

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

Afraid of the Dentist? Your San Diego Sedation Dentist Can HelpIf you live near San Diego and experience severe anxiety when undergoing (or even thinking about!) dental treatment, oral sedation is for you.

Sedation dentistry is available in San Diego at Marcos Ortega DDS. We have been providing sedation dentistry for several years with excellent outcomes. Whether it is called relaxation dentistry, oral conscious sedation or anxiety-free dentistry, it is completely safe and very popular for our nervous cosmetic and restorative dental clients in the San Diego area.

Though it may sound impossible, with sedation dentistry, dentistry patients can actually relax during dental visits. In addition, healing times for oral surgery and extensive cosmetic dentistry procedures are often shorter if the patient is sedated during treatment.

Sedation dentistry is great for alleviating anxiety for our San Diego patients, and it can be effective for treating or working with the following:

Teeth sensitivity;
Fear of needles;
A powerful gag reflex;
Difficulty controlling body movement;
Lengthy multi-procedure visits;
Difficulty becoming numb with traditional injections.

If you need dental work more extensive than a filling; such as a root canal, tooth implant, crown replacement or wisdom tooth extraction; call Marcos Ortega DDS. When you come to our office at 306 Walnut Avenue, Suite 25, San Diego CA 92103, we can give you more information about sedation dentistry.

Sedation dentistry is only one of the services we offer at Marcos Ortega DDS, where your smile is our top priority!

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Healthy Teeth and Your San Diego Diet

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Healthy Teeth and Your San Diego Diet Maintaining healthy teeth is an important concern for our local San Diego residents. As your Dentist, it’s my job to help you understand how to care for your teeth and to keep them healthy. Everyone in the San Diego knows that maintaining healthy teeth requires regular daily brushing and flossing. Regular visits to your local San Diego dental practice is also necessary to keep watch for cavities and to help you maintain proper dental hygiene. We often forget that maintaining a healthy diet can also be beneficial for the health of your teeth.

A San Diego diet that includes foods that help your muscles and bones will also help you develop healthy gums and healthy teeth. Examples of local San Diego foods to include in your diet include foods rich in vitamin B such as breads and cereals. Foods rich in vitamin C, usually fruits and vegetables, help improve the health of your gums. Zinc and magnesium are also good for the health of your teeth and are found in foods like lean beef, fish, and poultry.

All foods increase the production of saliva. Saliva is important to healthy teeth because it helps to maintain the pH balance in your mouth. Maintaining this balance helps keep your teeth and gums healthy. Foods high in fiber also encourage saliva production as does the chewing of sugar-free gum. Gum, however, can damage unhealthy teeth or pull out dental fillings, so always use caution when deciding whether to chew gum and which brand to chew.

Just as certain diet choices in the San Diego area can be beneficial to the health of your teeth, others can be detrimental. Foods and drinks that are high in sugars are more likely to form the acids that attack your teeth and result in decay. And while table sugar is often associated with the formation of cavities, other sugars such as glucose, fructose, and maltose are also causes, and are often found in juices and sodas. Limiting the consumption of sugars to mealtimes lessens the amount of time your healthy teeth are exposed.

Making good diet choices and limiting between meal sugar consumption can improve the health of your teeth and gums.

If you would like to learn how to better care for your healthy teeth in the San Diego area, contact Marcos Ortega DDS at 619-717-8459. We would love to hear from you.

-Dr. Marcos Ortega

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Save Money With Dental Implants at Marcos Ortega DDS

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

San Diego Tooth Implants

Q: For San Diego residents: When is the least expensive tooth replacement method really the most expensive?

A: When it ends up costing far more in the long run.

Many San Diego dentistry clients who lose a tooth do not understand the importance of replacing it with a dental implant. They wrongly believe that one missing tooth is not a significant problem. In fact, some people in Mission Hills or San Diego who have an abscessed tooth extracted are so glad the pain is gone that they forget that the extraction is not the solution. When a tooth is lost, the risk of losing the adjacent teeth increases dramatically.

Dr. David Scharf, a Board Certified Periodontist and Dental Implant Surgeon and a Clinical Assistant Professor at New York University College of Dentistry says:

“Many times consumers will choose to replace a missing tooth with a removable partial denture because it is the least expensive option. In the long run however, removable partial dentures may be more costly due the loss of adjacent teeth and the need for future replacements. Many people opt to replace teeth with dental implants because they do not compromise the survival of the adjacent teeth.”

Dr. Scharf notes…

“With the price of gasoline and food soaring people try to cut back wherever they can. Unfortunately choosing the least expensive options for tooth replacement can have some very costly ramifications down the road.”

If you are missing a tooth, you may still be able to save the adjacent teeth if receive an implant soon. An implant bonds chemically with the jaw bone and helps maintain its stability.

To schedule a dental implant consultation, call Marcos Ortega DDS at 619-717-8459. In addition to cosmetic dentistry, we provide comprehensive general dentistry for families in the San Diego, California area.

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Which Tooth Whitener Works Best in San Diego?

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

Dazzling White Teeth in San Diego What is the best professional tooth whitening system to use in San Diego?

There are two types of dentist-supervised tooth whitening systems available in San Diego. In order to determine the best choice for your teeth, schedule, and budget, you need to understand the differences in the systems.

Both systems use a bleaching agent containing peroxide. San Diego dentists who offer professional in-office tooth bleaching use a whitening gel with a high concentration of peroxide. Some Mission Hills, Mission Valley, and San Diego in-office tooth whitening systems use a light that causes the tooth bleaching agent to work faster. There are different types of lights including halogen, plasma arc, metal halide and laser; but they all work the same way. When the light is shined at teeth on which the whitening gel is applied, it causes the peroxide to break down into free radicals, which are active oxygen molecules. This process naturally occurs without the light, but the light makes it happen faster. That is why you can get whiter teeth in just one hour.

Most San Diego cosmetic dentists also offer take home tooth whitening systems. Although these procedures take a bit longer to work, they achieve the same dramatic results. For many clients, this is the most affordable teeth whitening system.

At Marcos Ortega DDS, we offer safe and effective teeth whitening. Our San Diego cosmetic dentistry patients can’t believe how great their teeth look when they remove the stains and restore the brightness. If you would like to learn why our system is superior, schedule a consultation by calling our office at 619-717-8459.

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