Dental Problems and Solutions

Dental Problems and Solutions for Cosmetic Dentistry Patients in the Madison, Sun Prairie Area

As a skilled cosmetic dentistry provider, Dr. Lotowski and his top notch team treat patients with a broad range of dental problems. The following is a list of the most common problems they see and solutions they offer at their cutting-edge Madison / Sun Prairie dental office.

Common Problems and Solutions for Natural Teeth

Toothaches – The most common causes of a toothache are a deep cavity, an infected tooth or gums, or a cracked tooth.  Our team takes toothaches very seriously and work hard to get their dental patients out of pain as quickly as possible. If you have a toothache, this usually means we will see you the same day you call the office. A deep cavity will usually cause the tooth to be sensitive to cold and sweets. A filling needs to be done ASAP before the cavity gets to the nerve of your tooth and causes an infection. If your toothache is caused by an infected tooth or gums, we will probably give you an antibiotic and pain relievers. The long-term solution may be a root canal, gum therapy or, in the worse case, tooth extraction.

Dark, Stained Teeth – As we get older, our teeth can soak up stains and become darker. This is especially true for our dental patients who smoke and/or drink coffee, tea or dark sodas. Our office offers take-home and in-office whitening systems that are very effective and safe to use. If you have used Crest Whitening Strips or other types of over-the-counter whitening systems and you were not pleased with the results, you should know that professional teeth whitening is much more effective.

Crowded Teeth – The treatment of choice is usually orthodontic therapy (braces). However, we have many adults who do not want to be in braces for a long period of time. The solution can be the use of bonded tooth-colored plastics or porcelain veneers. You may be surprised to learn that we can make over a crowded smile in two visits and that you can walk out of our office with a new smile after your first visit.

Worn Teeth – Generally, when we see a patient with worn teeth, the cause is either tooth grinding or accelerated wear as a result of missing teeth. If the wearing is caught early enough, a bite splint (mouth guard) can be made to protect your teeth from night grinding. If you have severely worn down your teeth, it may be necessary to crown or onlay them to rebuild your bite.

Broken Teeth – The cause is a weakened tooth that has a large filling or a heavy bite. The solution is to cover and protect the tooth with a crown or onlay. These are always tooth colored, unless you request gold.

Missing Teeth – We highly recommend that you replace missing teeth. The consequences of not replacing missing teeth may be further tooth loss as a result shifting teeth. You may also develop gum disease and lose bone around the remaining teeth. Also, the teeth you have left will wear down faster as they take on all the stress of chewing. Your choices to replace missing teeth are (in order of comfort) dental implants, fixed bridges, partial dentures or full dentures. Our practice has provided many Madison dental implant patients with outstanding long term results.

Problems and Solutions with Restorations

Loose dentures – If you have dentures that used to fit well but have become loose, your denture most likely needs to be refitted. After your teeth were extracted, the ridge of bone that held your teeth slowly dissolved away and your dentures became loose. If this is the case, your dentures can be relined with a new tight-fitting layer either in our office or by our dental lab. If you have a lot of staining around the teeth in your denture and your denture is loose, we can replace all of the pink plastic through a rebase, which will make your denture look brand new. Sometimes a denture is just plain worn out or never did fit quite right and needs to be replaced.

Denture sores – Sometimes a denture that is not too old settles in and starts to cause a sore. This can usually be adjusted easily in our office for a nominal fee. If you have a denture that never fit right and is sore all the time, there are many possible reasons for this. Sometimes it needs to be refitted with a reline. Often the cause of denture sores is a bad bite built into the denture. Generally speaking, the solution is often to redo the dentures with a new even bite.

Silver Fillings – Our office only offers tooth colored fillings. Many people are concerned about mercury in silver fillings, and while we feel the risks are minimal, we have chosen to eliminate silver fillings in our practice, ensuring a mercury free and safe experience for all our patients. In addition, you get a more natural looking and better-feeling filling that is not sensitive to cold like traditional metal fillings often are.

Discolored Fillings – Generally, these are old fillings and they need to be replaced. We have a special layering system of bonded tooth-colored plastic to exactly match the color of your teeth. The result is a nearly invisible filling, and we guarantee your satisfaction or we will replace it for free. If the fillings are large, sometimes a better option is an all-bonded porcelain crown or veneer.

Unsightly Metal Clasps – Our office does a lot of precision partials. We use special attachments to replace the clasps. The result is a partial with no metal showing. You also get the added benefit of a tighter fit than you normally get with metal clasps.

Dark Edges on Your Crowns – The reason you see a dark edge on your tooth-colored crown is that it is metal underneath with porcelain baked over the top. New technology allows us to make crowns completely out of porcelain or with no metal edges. The result is a crown with no dark blue edge, just white ! We take color matching seriously and will not put a crown into your mouth that doesn’t match your other teeth.

Problems and Solutions with Gums

Gummy Smile – Our Madison cosmetic dentistry patients often complain that they show too much gum tissue or that their gums look uneven when they smile. This problem is generally easy to fix with a minor surgical procedure to remove excess gum tissue with our state of the art electrosurgery unit.

Bleeding Gums – Usually bleeding gums indicate a potential problem with gum disease. If your gums bleed easily, you may have a gum infection and your body is sending blood to the site of the infection. The first step is to do a deep cleaning followed by, or in conjunction with, a special local antibiotic, mouthwash and gum cleaning aids. Occasionally, it is necessary to perform oral surgery to remove the infected tissue. Bleeding gums can also be a sign of more serious health problems and we can work with your family doctor to discover the cause and plan an effective treatment.

Other Oral Health Problems and Solutions

Facial or Joint Pain – The causes of facial or joint pain are varied and complex. Some people refer to facial pain as TMJ or MPD. Treatment can involve bite splint (guard) therapy, bite adjustment, orthodontics or bridge treatment. You should also be evaluated for other systemic health problems.

Bad Breath – Bad breath can be caused by bacteria on your tongue, sinus drainage, poor dental hygiene or gum disease. Tongue brushing, sinus rinses, improved hygiene (brushing and flossing) or gum therapy may be the answer.

Food Caught Between Your Teeth – This can be caused by spaces between fillings or crowns that are not tight enough. We work hard to develop nice smooth, tight contacts between our fillings and crowns. Usually your filling or crown needs to be replaced if food is getting caught there.

To find out how we can help you solve your dental problems, please contact us today to schedule an appointment.

Dr. Lotowski is an extremely experienced cosmetic dentist who performs a wide range of general and cosmetic dentistry procedures. His knowledge and experience, along with his own "A" team of dental professionals means better oral health and smiles all around the Madison and Sun Prairie area. We take great pride in helping our patients with all their dental needs, from teeth whitening, sedition dentistry and more.

Remember, we specialize in helping patients who suffer from dental phobia, or anxiety. Contact us if you have questions, or use our appointment request page .

Wisconsin Dental Solutions provides "Dental Solutions for Extraordinary Needs."

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Wisconsin Dental Solutions Hours

Holiday Break 12/21/22 - 01/02/23

Monday:

8:00 am-3:00 pm

Tuesday:

8:00 am-3:00 pm

Wednesday:

8:00 am-3:00 pm

Thursday:

8:00 am-3:00 pm

Friday:

Closed

Saturday:

Closed

Sunday:

Closed