:: MODERN DENTISTRY :: :: OLD FASHION SERVICE :: WAYNE L. FAULKNER, D.D.S., P.A. 6320 Venture Drive, ste. 102 Bradenton, Florida 34202 Phone:941-907-1199 Fax: 941-907-6611 Email: info@smilebyfaulkner.com Whitening - Teeth can be whitened by professionally supervised at-home treatments or through an accelerated process in the dentist's office. Veneers - A thin layer of porcelain can be applied to a tooth to improve its position, color and shape. These restorations can provide you with a permanent aesthetic solution to crowding, mal-positioned teeth, and discoloration. Learn more Bonding - Chipped, stained, and decayed teeth are repaired by the application of a composite resin bonding material. Crowns - Crowns provide full coverage for your tooth. These restorations are used when there is evidence of severe decay, misalignment, tooth fractures, discoloration, and full mouth reconstruction. Crowns are fabricated in a laboratory and many times right here in our office using CEREC CAD/CAM technology. Inlays & Onlays - Inlays and Onlays are restorations that are used when criteria for composite resin bonding is superseded, but when full coverage of a tooth provided by a crown is not needed. They are porcelain or gold restorations that conserve much of your natural tooth structure. Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Bridges - These restorations are used to replace missing teeth. It’s important that a tooth always has an opposing tooth or partner to work with. If not the surrounding and opposing teeth will begin to shift out of alignment. In dentistry, the term, bridge, is used for a device that spans the gap after a tooth has been lost due to trauma, decay, periodontal disease or extraction. Bridges are custom made in the dental laboratory to exacting specifications. A bridge usually involves at a minimum, three teeth. First, teeth on either side of the gap are prepared for crowns that act as anchors. An artificial tooth is crafted to fill the gap, and is attached to adjacent crown teeth for stability and completes the bridge. This new unified three tooth bridge is cemented to the prepared teeth and restores your natural bite. Bridges may be made of gold and other precious metals, a semi-precious metal alloy and tooth colored porcelain, or entirely of porcelain if esthetics are a consideration. Without a bridge to fill the gap, teeth will begin to tilt, shift, and drift, causing an unstable environment, and potential difficulties. The mouth is an intricate instrument of nature. You have upper and lower jaws designed to work in pairs, and you have upper and lower teeth. If a tooth is lost, its partner becomes non-functional for biting and chewing. A bridge restores a natural stable environment and helps all teeth to function properly. Implants - Dental implants are used to replace missing teeth or act as fixtures of support for partial dentures and complete dentures. Example Root Canal Therapy - This procedure is the removal of nerve tissue from teeth that that have been infected. Occasionally root canal therapy is done intentionally to accomplish certain cosmetic goals. Intentional root canal therapy would only be performed with patients’ thorough informed consent. Example Laser Treatment - Our Diode Laser is used for gum tissue contouring, treating gum tissue pocketing, homeostasis, and biopsies. Smiles by Faulkner - Cosmetic Dentistry at its BEST! © Smile By Faulkner 2006, All Rights Reserved.