Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Patient Services : Bonding


Composites or bonding is a tooth colored filling material that will fix chips, cracks and spaces so that you can have a great smile. Bonding is similar to sculpting individual teeth with a special tooth-like material that looks and feels like the real thing. It is an affordable, quick and painless way to repair many cosmetic flaws or injuries. Bonding can quickly fill in ugly gaps between teeth.

Visit our website and contact us today to see how we can make you smile.

1001 Nut Tree Rd, Ste 230
Vacaville, CA 95687

707-453-1776

Sunday, September 25, 2022

can you OVER BRUSH your teeth!?


Let's talk about what happens if you brush your teeth too much!

Brushing your teeth more often than the recommended two minutes twice a day is perfectly fine. But only as long as you’re not being overzealous and overbrushing. Teeth are hard but not indestructible. If you scrub too aggressively or use stiff toothbrush bristles, it’s only a matter of time before you do permanent damage to your teeth and gums.
 
If you’re having a hard time breaking an aggressive scrub-brushing habit, work with your dentist or hygienist to find a solution. It could be as simple as changing your toothbrush or the way you hold it. By brushing correctly (and not overbrushing teeth), you can prevent unnecessary tooth pain, aesthetic damage, or the need for restorative treatments later on down the road.

707-453-1776
1001 Nut Tree Rd, Ste 230
Vacaville, CA 95687
donnathedentist@gmail.com

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Patient Services : Bridges

Bridges are a series of crowns linked together to strengthen teeth that are weak. They are also used to replace missing teeth. Bridges are used to give you a great smile with no spaces and allow you to function properly.

Visit our website and contact us today to see how we can make you smile.

1001 Nut Tree Rd, Ste 230
Vacaville, CA 95687

707-453-1776

Monday, September 19, 2022

Patient Services : Orthodontics


It's never too late to improve your smile. Braces can correct a wide range of problems, not just for your children but for you as well. Orthodontics may be the perfect way to the perfect smile.

Visit our website and contact us today to see how we can make you smile.

1001 Nut Tree Rd, Ste 230
Vacaville, CA 95687

707-453-1776

Friday, September 16, 2022

Aging and Oral Health


Aging can affect your oral health, just as it does your overall health. With age, teeth may become darker or look dull and gums may begin to recede, which can lead to an increase in plaque. Learn more about the steps you can take to correct or minimize these and other age-related changes in your oral health.

707-453-1776
1001 Nut Tree Rd, Ste 230
Vacaville, CA 95687
donnathedentist@gmail.com

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Meet The Team

Dr. Burton graduated from Seaside High School, Seaside, CA in 1972. She earned her B.A. in biology from Yale University in 1976, and received her D.D.S. from New York University in 1980.

For more than 20 years, Dr. Burton has been providing high quality dental care with a gentle touch. She has practiced at the letterman Army Medical Center for the Department of Defense and she was clinical professor at Beth Israel Hospital and with the Children’s Aid Society in New York City.

Dr. Burton opened Regency Dental in 1995. She completed the Straight Wire Institute for orthodontic certification and the University of Phoenix Business Academy. She continues to attend various seminars and classes to stay informed and keep up to date on all the latest treatment techniques. One of her goals is to change people’s perception of dentistry by providing options to make dental care non-threatening and as pain free as possible.

Dr. Burton is very interested in the community and donates time and resources to school children and children’s sports teams in Vacaville, as well as participating in the Smiles For Life foundation charity every year for the last 10 years. She and her team have helped raise $4 million to help children’s charities across North America.

707-453-1776
1001 Nut Tree Rd, Ste 230
Vacaville, CA 95687
donnathedentist@gmail.com

Saturday, September 10, 2022

Developmental Disturbances of Teeth

The absence of third molars is very common, occurring in 20–23% of the population, followed in prevalence by the second premolar and lateral incisor.

Anodontia is a complete lack of tooth development. It is rare, most often occurring in a condition called hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia.

Hypodontia is a lack of some tooth development (not including third molars). It is one of the most common developmental abnormalities, affecting 3.5–8.0% of the population. Hypodontia is often associated with the absence of a dental lamina, which is vulnerable to environmental forces like infection and chemotherapy medications. It is also associated with many syndromes, such as Down syndrome and Crouzon syndrome.

Hyperdontia is the development of extraneous teeth. It occurs in 1–3% of Caucasians and is more frequent in Asians. About 86% of these cases involve a single extra tooth in the mouth, most commonly found in the maxilla, where the incisors are located. Hyperdontia is believed to be associated with an excess of dental lamina.

Dilaceration is an abnormal bend found on a tooth, and is nearly always associated with trauma that moves the developing tooth bud. As a tooth is forming, a force can move the tooth from its original position, leaving the rest of the tooth to form at an abnormal angle. Cysts or tumors adjacent to a tooth bud are forces known to cause dilaceration, as are primary (baby) teeth pushed upward by trauma into the gingiva where it moves the tooth bud of the permanent tooth.

Enamel hypoplasia or hypomineralization is a defect of the teeth caused by a disturbance in the formation of the organic enamel matrix, clinically visible as enamel defects. It may be caused by nutritional factors, some diseases (such as undiagnosed and untreated celiac disease, chicken pox, congenital syphilis), hypocalcemia, fluoride ingestion, birth injury, preterm birth, infection or trauma from a deciduous tooth. In some circumstances enamel hypoplasia can be so severe that last sections of enamel is missing, exposing the underlying dentin.

Some systemic conditions may cause delayed tooth development, such as nutritional factors, endocrine disorders (hypothyroidism, hypopituitarism, hypoparathyroidism, pseudohypoparathyroidism), undiagnosed and untreated celiac disease, anemia, prematurity, low birth weight, renal failure, heavy metal intoxication or tobacco smoke, among others.

Regional odontodysplasia is rare, but is most likely to occur in the maxilla and anterior teeth. The cause is unknown; a number of causes have been postulated, including a disturbance in the neural crest cells, infection, radiation therapy, and a decrease in vascular supply (the most widely held hypothesis). Teeth affected by regional odontodysplasia nevAmelogenesis imperfecta is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by a defect in dental enamel formation. Teeth are often free of enamel, small, misshapen, and tinted brown. The cause of these deformities is due to a mutation in enamel in expression. Dental patients with this disease should be especially cautious and visit their dentist frequently.

Natal and neonatal teeth are an anomaly that involves teeth erupting in a newborn infant's mouth earlier than usual. The incidence ranges from 1:2,000 to 1:3,500 births. Natal teeth are more frequent, approximately three times more common than neonatal teeth. Some authors reported a higher prevalence in females than males. The most common location is the mandibular region of the central incisors. Natal teeth and neonatal teeth are associated with genetics, developmental abnormalities and certain recognized syndromes. Additional names for this condition include precocious dentition, baby teeth, and milk teeth.

Read more, here.

707-453-1776
1001 Nut Tree Rd, Ste 230
Vacaville, CA 95687
donnathedentist@gmail.com

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

A New Day for Dentistry: Dr. Nicole McGrath-Barnes on Mentorship and Rep...


Dr. Nicole McGrath–Barnes found her passion for dentistry at the age of 15, after finding an opening for a dental assistant position in the help wanted pages. Unaware of the qualification requirements, she went in to apply. That dentist became her mentor. Witnessing his empathy and compassion inspired Dr. McGrath-Barnes to become a dentist herself and to make an impact in her community.
 
Our community has the power to influence what’s next for dentistry – a profession that reflects and celebrates everyone’s unique talents and voices. It’s a new day for dentistry. Let’s build it together.

707-453-1776
1001 Nut Tree Rd, Ste 230
Vacaville, CA 95687
donnathedentist@gmail.com

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Nutrition and Tooth Development

As in other aspects of human growth and development, nutrition has an effect on the developing tooth. Essential nutrients for a healthy tooth include calcium, phosphorus, and vitamins A, C, and D. Calcium and phosphorus are needed to properly form the hydroxyapatite crystals, and their levels in the blood are maintained by Vitamin D. Vitamin A is necessary for the formation of keratin, as Vitamin C is for collagen. Fluoride, although not a nutrient, is incorporated into the hydroxyapatite crystal of a developing tooth and bones. The dental theory is the low levels of fluoride incorporation and very mild fluorosis makes the tooth more resistant to demineralization and subsequent decay.

Deficiencies of nutrients can have a wide range of effects on tooth development. In situations where calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D are deficient, the hard structures of a tooth may be less mineralized. A lack of vitamin A can cause a reduction in the amount of enamel formation.

Fluoride ingestion has been noted to delay eruption of teeth for as much as a year or more from the accepted eruption dates since the initial 1940s fluoridation trials. Researchers theorize that the delay is a manifestation of fluoride's depressing impact on thyroid hormones. The delay in eruption has been suggested as the reason for the apparent difference in decay among the youngest children. Fluoride ingestion during tooth development can lead to a permanent condition known as fluorosis with varying levels of severity, the result of fluoride's interference with the normal osteoblast development.

Undiagnosed and untreated celiac disease often causes dental enamel defects and can be the only manifestation of the disease, in absence of gastrointestinal symptoms or malabsorption signs.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a hormone-disrupting chemical that has been implicated in having negative effects on human health, including, but not limited to, fetal development. As shown in animal studies which mimic human enamel, the mother's consumption of products with BPA during pregnancy can lead to the child's tooth development being obstructed. Those children are shown to be prone to incisor and first molar hypomineralization, a weakened state of the enamel. Additionally, it is most important for mother's to avoid BPA during pregnancy, but also avoid BPA-use in the child's products up to five months of age.

Read more, here.

707-453-1776
1001 Nut Tree Rd, Ste 230
Vacaville, CA 95687
donnathedentist@gmail.com

Thursday, September 1, 2022

Patient Services : Crowns

Crowns cover and strengthen broken or decayed teeth. Crowns look natural and give you a healthy smile. When the size of a filling exceeds a certain proportion of the tooth, it must be replaced with a cap also called a crown. Porcelain crowns look very natural and don’t have a dark metal line. They reflect light with a natural healthy glow. Porcelain crowns can make even the ugliest teeth look like a movie star smile!

New CEREC™ Restoration System

We now offer the newest in permanent restoration technology! With the new CEREC™ system, we can do crowns, onlay and inlay restoration procedures in just one office visit saving you both time and money!

707-453-1776
1001 Nut Tree Rd, Ste 230
Vacaville, CA 95687
donnathedentist@gmail.com

Tooth Eruption

Tooth eruption occurs when the teeth enter the mouth and become visible. Although researchers agree that tooth eruption is a complex process, there is little agreement on the identity of the mechanism that controls eruption. Some commonly held theories that have been disproven over time include: (1) the tooth is pushed upward into the mouth by the growth of the tooth's root, (2) the tooth is pushed upward by the growth of the bone around the tooth, (3) the tooth is pushed upward by vascular pressure, and (4) the tooth is pushed upward by the cushioned hammock. The cushioned hammock theory, first proposed by Harry Sicher, was taught widely from the 1930s to the 1950s. This theory postulated that a ligament below a tooth, which Sicher observed under a microscope on a histologic slide, was responsible for eruption. Later, the "ligament" Sicher observed was determined to be merely an artifact created in the process of preparing the slide.

The most widely held current theory is that while several forces might be involved in eruption, the periodontal ligaments provide the main impetus for the process. Theorists hypothesize that the periodontal ligaments promote eruption through the shrinking and cross-linking of their collagen fibers and the contraction of their fibroblasts.

Although tooth eruption occurs at different times for different people, a general eruption timeline exists. Typically, humans have 20 primary (baby) teeth and 32 permanent teeth. Tooth eruption has three stages. The first, known as deciduous dentition stage, occurs when only primary teeth are visible. Once the first permanent tooth erupts into the mouth, the teeth are in the mixed (or transitional) dentition. After the last primary tooth falls out of the mouth—a process known as exfoliation—the teeth are in the permanent dentition.

Read more, here.

707-453-1776
1001 Nut Tree Rd, Ste 230
Vacaville, CA 95687
donnathedentist@gmail.com