“Restorative dentistry” in Leawood and Kansas City is comprised of dozens of different types of basic and cosmetic dentistry techniques for your natural teeth. Whether your dental health is affected by cavities or chipped teeth, or we need to restore function with an artificial tooth, each dental restoration plays its own unique role.
At Gordon Dental, our restorative dentistry procedures don’t just rebuild and strengthen tooth structure, they also help improve the appearance of your overall smile.
What Does Restorative Dental Treatment Cover?
What is restorative dentistry? Simply put, your general dentist uses restorative procedures to repair damaged teeth. Your care plan may involve one or more teeth, depending on what your smile has been through and the integrity of your surrounding teeth.
With modern dental restorations, we can preserve a natural tooth, replace missing teeth, and enhance your appearance for cosmetic purposes at the same time. Tooth colored fillings or a porcelain dental crown are just a couple of examples. They predictably save teeth and extend the lifetime of your smile, giving you the confidence you didn’t know you needed.
What Are The Types Of Dental Restorations Available?
Some of the most common dental restorations that we use in Leawood and Kansas City include:
Dental Crowns: Unlike veneers, which only cover the front of your teeth, crowns cover the entire tooth above the gumlines, like a small tooth shaped “cap”. You may need a dental crown if you recently had a root canal, there are large fractures or areas of decay in your teeth, or if traumatic injuries have altered a significant portion of your tooth structure. Crowns are functional dental restorations that also serve cosmetic dentistry purposes, as they blend in with your natural teeth. We can also use them on top of dental implants if you’re replacing missing teeth.
Dental Fillings: Whether made from silver amalgam or a composite material, fillings restore areas of your teeth destroyed by decay. A filling restores the void/missing parts of your tooth so that plaque bacteria and food don’t get caught inside of it or lead to additional oral health concerns. The American Dental Association recommends treating decay as early as possible before it expands into surrounding tooth structures.
Composite Bonding: For chipped teeth or slight surface discrepancies, tooth colored bonding is usually considered cosmetic, but it can also restore areas of small cavities, tiny gaps between teeth, or exposed tooth roots.
Bridges: A bridge is one of the most traditional was to replace missing teeth. With bridges, an artificial crown is suspended between two functional crowns, filling in empty spaces in your smile. Either end of the bridge is supported by a healthy tooth or implant.
Full or Partial Dentures: For an efficient way to replace missing teeth, dentures are an excellent choice. Complete dentures restore a full arch of teeth at one time. But if you have healthy remaining teeth, partial dentures only replace the ones that are missing and snap into place around your existing teeth.
Dental Implants: Our Leawood implants provide permanent results for patients suffering from tooth loss. An implant procedure replaces a non-restorable, damaged tooth. They can also be used in sets to provide full arch reconstruction (i.e., “All-on-4” or “All-on-6” implants). Most experts and general dentists recommend that implants be used for restorative purposes whenever possible, as they outperform most common services like dentures or bridges.
Root Canal: Endodontic therapy (root canals) preserve abscessed teeth so that your dentist does not need to remove them later on. The American Dental Association supports root canal therapy as a safe way to preserve natural teeth and reduce your risk for extraction.
Replace Missing Teeth In Kansas City with Restoration Dentistry
Part of restorative dental care is using tooth colored plastic, porcelain, or composite materials to replace missing teeth. Prosthodontics are types of dental procedures that rehabilitate your mouth back to its naturally functional state. Dentists who are specialists in this field of dentistry are called prosthodontists. They frequently offer dentures, partial dentures, or work with your general dentist for full arch implant planning.
Tooth Restoration Options
If you’re looking for restorative dental procedures, be sure to consider physical or financial factors. Do you have dental insurance? Do you need a tooth extraction because of gum disease? How is your oral health overall? Your personal dentist will make it a goal to preserve your teeth unless restoration is not possible. Full or partial dentures are often the best option when your missing tooth cannot be replaced with a bridge or dental implant. Or if you want to minimize the length of the overall procedure.
Benefits of Restorative Dentistry
At Gordon Dental, a restorative dentistry procedure doesn’t just rebuild your smile. It complements your lifestyle and overall wellness. Your quality of life—including your self-confidence, diet, and social connections—all benefit. Even if there is a recovery time to keep in mind, the benefits of working with our restorative dentist far outweigh the negatives of living with missing or broken teeth.
Dental Restoration Costs and Insurance
Whether you’re treating tooth decay or rehabilitating your entire mouth, Gordon Dental works closely with your insurance carrier to maximize your coverage and reduce out-of-pocket costs. Our patient coordinators will review all of the options available—including different restorative procedures—so that you know exactly how much everything will cost and can select the best treatment for your needs.
Restorative Dentistry at Gordon Dental
Gordon Dental offers a number of different restorative dentistry services, with dental implants in Leawood being one of our most popular. During your consultation, we will discuss which teeth can be preserved or repaired and which ones need to be replaced entirely. As one of the Kansas City area’s choice dentists for dental implant therapy, Gordon Dental provides a wide variety of tooth replacement options for our patients with missing teeth. However, other restorative procedures and cosmetic dentistry options like veneers, whitening, and porcelain crowns are also available. Contact Gordon Dental today to reserve a no-obligation exam.