General and Family Dental Procedures

Dental Hygiene
Recent research has concluded that a person's overall systemic health is linked to their oral health.  This means that your overall wellness is directly related to the health of your teeth and gums.  Therefore, Dr. Benson has created the "Oral Health Visit" so that he and his treatment team can ensure that your overall health is monitored at your regular dental check ups.  During your individualized "Oral Health Visit", you will receive services that are specific to your case, including:

• Routine records update including medical history, blood pressure, digital images, and photos
• Four hygiene exams including an oral cancer screening, gum exam, bite exam and tooth exam
• A personalized tooth and gum cleaning based on your oral health status and the types of restorations that you currently have on your teeth
  
• Additional services unique to your history that may include a High Performance Night guard adjustment, teeth whitening touch-up, fluoride treatment, root sensitivity treatment, and a cosmetic restoration polishing

Restorative Bonding
Services include placement of tooth colored fillings and foundation fillings for teeth that need new tooth tops such as crowns, veneers, or onlays.

Tooth Colored Fillings
Bonding, the use of the tooth colored composite resin material to restore teeth or improve their appearance, has been around for over 30 years. 

Cosmetic Bonding
We use tooth colored filling material to make teeth look younger, whiter, and more natural looking. We can also eliminate unsightly spaces between your teeth.

Dr. Benson has traveled to learn from some of the world's top experts in the field of tooth bonding, including most recently, Dr. Newton Fahl DDS in Curitiba, Brazil. http://www.fahl.com.br .  Dr. Benson trained with Dr. Fahl in Foster City, CA during a hands-on course in advanced bonding. Dr. Benson was then invited to Brazil to train for four days with Dr. Fahl on how to perform natural life-like composite tooth colored veneers, crowns and fillings.

Cosmetic Contouring
We can reshape teeth to make them look more appropriate for your age, gender, or personality.

Comprehensive Cosmetic and Bite Tests
These are a series of tests that are taken in one appointment to study the overall condition of your mouth and to develop a comprehensive treatment plan for you to either maintain or restore your teeth back to optimum health and appearance. The tests performed are selected based on your own specific case, thus the fee for the tests performed at the time of your appointment can vary. Following is a list of possible tests: 

Tests Performed During Your Appointment

• A complete Medical and Dental History
• An Oral Cancer Exam
• X-rays of your teeth, supporting bones, and jaw joint
• A specialized set of digital photos of your face, teeth, and gums
• Precision molds of your teeth for evaluation and study
• A record of how your teeth fit together
• Facial measurements to help determine appropriate treatment outcomes
• Measurements of the gums and bone around your teeth
• Tooth color analysis

Tests and Follow-up Work Performed By Dr. Benson After Your Appointment

• Study of your precision molds on a specialized bite machine to analyze your bite
• Analysis of your specially selected photos
• Analysis of all other tests

Once the tests are completed and analyzed, you return to see Dr. Benson and discuss his Report of Findings and then you decide on the course of treatment that best serves your treatment goals. If you are a patient who, for whatever reason, has only been able to receive “repair” or “patchwork” dentistry during your life and you desire a successful and long term comprehensive plan to make your teeth look great and last for a long time, then ask us how you can benefit from the Comprehensive Cosmetic and Bite Tests.

Clear Braces - Invisalign^®
Invisible braces that are actually plastic retainers that you are able to remove to eat and brush your teeth. Please visit the following link for more details www.invisalign.com and call us if you wish to find out more about Invisalign or if you wish to schedule an appointment to find out if you are candidate.    

High Performance Nightguards
If you have a history of clenching or teeth grinding (Bruxism), or you have evidence of a stressful bite such as short teeth, uneven edges of your teeth, gum recession, or chipped/broken teeth, then it is important to protect your teeth from further damage. High Performance Nightguards are long term removable appliances that are custom made with clear hard acrylic and serve to relax the muscles of your jaw and face, stop your teeth from shifting, and to protect your teeth from further damaging themselves. There are over twenty different kinds of Nightguards and it is important that you wear the Nightguard that is the right fit for you. 

Teeth Whitening
Whiter teeth can be achieved in as little as 2 hours with our in-office system or as little as 2 weeks with our take-home tray system. Results with teeth whitening are determined by a number of factors including genetics, habits (coffee, tea, smoking), and compliance when using any whitening system. Call us for an appointment so we can help you determine what system if best for you.

Crowns and Tooth Tops
We can restore your bite, damaged teeth, or worn teeth with new man-made tooth colored ceramic tooth tops such as crowns and onlays. 

Veneers
Whether made of tooth colored filling material (composite) or man-made ceramic material (porcelain), veneers are a conservative alternative to crowns as a replacement for the front or back surface of a tooth. The thickness of the veneer is determined on a tooth by tooth basis depending on the overall goal of your case. In some cases, no tooth structure needs to be removed ("no prep" veneers). Properly placed in a stabile and low stress environment veneers can remain beautiful and functional for many years.

Dental Implants
Dental implants are replacements for the roots and crowns of missing teeth and are becoming the treatment of choice by patients to replace one or more missing teeth. When properly placed with precision in a stable and low stress bite environment, they are an attractive and decay-immune solution for patients that are missing one or more teeth. Implants do not decay or breakdown, thus rarely do they ever need future treatment. Dental Implants can also be placed to hold in partial or full dentures (sets of “false” teeth) which allow for greater retention and better chewing capacity. Please call us to schedule an appointment to find out more about dental implants or to see if you are a possible candidate.

Removable Partial and Complete Dentures
Rapidly falling by the wayside as the treatment of choice for patients that are missing many or all of their teeth, removable partial (some teeth missing) or complete (all teeth missing) dentures can be made to serve as replacements for your teeth. Patients who wish to have teeth removed and dentures made for them to be ready the day that their teeth are removed will need to have two sets made. The first set is called the Immediate Set and is delivered on the day of the surgery to remove your teeth. The second, or Final Set, is fabricated after the Immediate Set has been worn for six months in order to allow all of the bone and tissue to heal properly from the surgery. The Immediate Set allows the patient to have acceptable teeth to eat and speak with during the time their bone and gums are healing. Patients will also use the healing period to make any suggestions regarding changes they would like to see between the Immediate and Final Set of Dentures. The fit and feel of the Final Set can only be properly achieved after the bone and tissue has had adequate time to heal.