Frequently Asked Questions

What type of material do you use for fillings and crowns?

Today you can have a tooth restored with resin (composite) or porcelain instead of the silver mercury material. We use only the most modern and highest quality materials and techniques in our office, which includes bonded resins and porcelains. Unlike many offices, we do not use silver mercury amalgam fillings anymore. For small cavities, tooth colored, composite resin fillings are excellent. For larger problems, there are options such as reinforced porcelain inlays, onlays, and crowns that are custom fabricated in a dental laboratory. Each of these materials is beautiful and can be bonded to the tooth so the final result is as strong as the natural tooth.

Mercury fillings saved many teeth from extraction and they provided great service to the dental field for a long time. But today's materials are far superior and look like real teeth, allowing dentists to provide true restorations.

What are the advantages of the adhesively bonded resins and porcelains?

1.  As the name implies, this material is adhesively bonded to the tooth, something the old style silver mercury amalgam fillings don’t offer. The advantages to having a bonded filling include:

• Enhanced strength of the tooth compared to that of one restored with a SMA with the properties of the tooth/restoration whole approaching that of the natural tooth.
• Reduced chance of developing cracks and fractured teeth, something seen routinely with teeth restored with SMA fillings.
• Reduced leakage of bacteria under the filling due to the bonded and sealed interface.

2.  The material is natural tooth colored allowing you to restore teeth to their original natural look.

3.  No known health risks. If there is even a slight chance that silver mercury fillings are even mildly unhealthy, why take that chance when there is an alternative like adhesive bonded materials that can be used instead, which offer no health risks and the added benefits as mentioned above?

What are inlays and onlays and how do I benefit from them?

When a tooth needs more structural support than a filling can provide, the treatment options include an inlay, onlay or a crown. Crowns (or “caps”) cover the entire tooth, while inlays and onlays cover only a portion of the tooth.

Today, crowns, inlays, and onlays can be made of all ceramic (porcelain) materials and be bonded to the tooth, restoring the tooth to its natural strength and looks. The inlays and onlays strengthen and protect the tooth like a crown, but require the removal of only the damaged and decayed areas of the tooth, while crowns often require removal of additional healthy tooth structure. Inlays and onlays are the most conservative and healthy option when a tooth needs more structural support than a filling can provide and they are our treatment of choice when this situation arises. We only suggest crowns when decay or trauma damages a tooth so extensively that inlays or onlays are unreasonable.

Not all offices offer their patients these options, which is one of the many advantages our patients enjoy by being clients here.

Are there health concerns with the old style silver mercury amalgam (SMA) fillings?

This continues to be a controversial issue, as some people believe that silver mercury amalgam fillings are unhealthy, while other people believe the material is quite safe. My personal position on this issue is that the debate may be a mute point.

In this day we have more contemporary options for restorative materials that offer many advantages over the silver mercury amalgam option, irrespective of the supposed health issues. The properties of the new materials stand on their own to warrant using them over the older SMA material, but add to that the mere potential for health risks associated with SMA filling, and the choice is clearly in favor of using the contemporary materials. So, no matter what side of the SMA health debate a person is on, the advantage goes to the modern materials based on its performance, making the SMA debate mostly academic.

That said, below is some information on silver mercury amalgam fillings that may be of interest to you.

Mercury fillings, euphemistically called "silver" or "amalgam" fillings, have been used in dentistry since the Civil War era. They are an amalgam of 50% mercury, mixed with silver, copper, tin and other metals. Mercury fillings were invented as a cheap alternative to gold. Because they are easy to place and inexpensive, mercury fillings have been widely used for 150 years. They continue to be used because they’re cheap and easy to place, not because they’re the best material. So, what's the controversy?

• By volume, amalgam fillings contain over 50% mercury--one of the most toxic substances on earth.
• Mercury amalgam technology is ancient by modern medical standards. Mercury amalgam was standardized for manufacture in 1895 and dentists have been using it to fill teeth for at least 150 years.
• Mercury silver fillings do not bond (stick) to the tooth structure. This requires the dentist to wedge the filling into the tooth to keep it from falling out. However, creating this wedge effect requires the removal of excessive amounts of healthy tooth structure--weakening the tooth and predisposing it to cracks and fractures.
• The lack of a bond between the filling and the tooth permits bacteria to leak underneath the filling. This creates decay that is often not detected until the tooth has been further damaged.
• Just like in a thermometer, the mercury part of the filling expands and contracts. These expansion and contraction cycles wedge the tooth apart. Eventually the tooth will fatigue, crack and split. Repairing a cracked tooth usually requires either a root canal and/or a crown.

In contrast, modern tooth-colored restorations are adhesive, highly cosmetic and mercury-free. These esthetic restorations are strongly bonded to the tooth using a state-of-the-art technique that intimately binds the material to the surrounding tooth structure. Using these advanced materials and techniques we can restore the original strength and beauty of the tooth.

What does it mean that you have received advanced training at LVI?

The Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI) is a world-renowned teaching center for dentists. LVI graduates are among the most progressive dentists in the world. Capitalizing on the talent and knowledge of some of the most experienced dentists in the world, LVI offers a comprehensive and revolutionary curriculum. Once mastered, LVI trained dentists are able to offer the amazing benefits of their LVI training to you--their patient.

What are my payment options?

We take pride in what we have to offer our clients through our dental services. As a health care facility, we always have your best interests in mind and will do what we can to help you get the care you deserve. High quality dentistry is an excellent investment in your health and well-being and we believe that financial considerations, to a point, should not be an obstacle to obtaining the treatment you desire. So, we’ve set-up a variety of payment options to help make quality dental care affordable and realistic. Many of our patients choose to pay for their dental investment over time. We work with companies such as Dental Fee Plan, Care Credit, and www.enhancepatientfinance, all of whom provide credit options specifically for dental procedures. These companies offer the following benefits:

• No initial payments
• 3 and 6 months no interest options
• Low, fixed rates with terms ranging from 18 to 60 months
• No prepayment penalty

Do you offer price quotes over the telephone?

That's almost impossible to do. It doesn’t benefit anyone to short cut the process and try to quote costs over the phone. Dentistry is about health care and treating each person in a way that is specific to their unique situation and in a way that is best suited for their needs. Each person and each situation is different. Each dentist is different and may offer a different set of treatment options for a given set of circumstances, so to ask for a quote over the phone without giving the dentist the opportunity to assess the situation for himself is unrealistic. Treatment can’t be taken from the shelf like in a department store and compared by price.

We offer a health care service, not a product, and that service varies depending on the specific findings, diagnosis, and reasonable treatment options, all which may vary from dentist to dentist and patient to patient. It's a lot like asking a contractor to quote you a price on building a house, without them having seen the property, plans, or talking to the client about their needs and goals. In the end, it’s for the benefit of all that a personal one–to-one consultation take place, so that a complete assessment can be made and options discussed along with potential costs.

We are happy to meet for a complimentary consultation, or a complete examination, whichever you prefer. We know you'll be glad you did.