Could a prosthodontist help you improve your smile? Your Yorktown Heights, NY, prosthodontist, Dr. Donata Valente offers treatments and restorations that improve the function and appearance of your smile.
What kind of dentist is a prosthodontist?
After graduating from dental school, dentists who want to be prosthodontists spend three years in a prosthodontic residency program. While in the program, they learn the complicated techniques and procedures used to correct jawbone damage and abnormalities, restore lost teeth and improve the appearance of teeth.
What treatments and restorations do prosthodontists offer?
Prosthodontists can:
- Help You Replace Missing Teeth: Lost teeth affect your appearance and may make it more difficult to chew or speak clearly. Depending on the number of teeth you've lost, your prosthodontist may recommend bridges, dentures, or dental implants during your visit to the Yorktown Heights, NY, prosthodontics office. Bridges replace one or two teeth, while full dentures restore all of your missing teeth. Dental implants, the newest restoration option, bond to your jawbone and can replace any number of lost teeth.
- Repair and Strengthen Damaged Teeth: Your prosthodontist also offers dental crowns, restorations that strengthen teeth, replace the lost structure and hide imperfections. Hollow dental crowns fit over teeth that have been reduced in size. A dental crown may be recommended if you have a broken, cracked, or fragile tooth. The restorations also hide discolorations and change the shape or length of teeth.
- Correct Abnormalities and Damage: Prosthodontists handle complicated issues that require specialized treatment, like congenital (present at birth) defects in your teeth or jawbone, injuries that require reconstruction or damage due to cancer treatment.
- Treat Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction (TMD): TMD affects the hinge joints in your jaw, causing jaw pain, stiffness, clicking sounds when you open or close your mouth, headaches, ear pain, and other symptoms. Your prosthodontist can fit you with a stabilization splint that helps protect your jaw joints and eases TMD symptoms.
- Snoring and Sleep Apnea: Loud snoring is a common sign of sleep apnea, a condition that causes breathing pauses while you sleep. If you don't receive treatment for the condition, you may be more likely to experience health issues, like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Sleep apnea and snoring can occur if your airway becomes blocked while you sleep. An oral appliance provided by your prosthodontist moves your jaw forward, which opens your airway and prevents your tongue from blocking it.
Do you have missing teeth or another smile issue? Call (914) 962-2828 to schedule an appointment with your prosthodontist in Yorktown Heights, NY, Dr. Valente.