Healthy Smiles Family Dental

Shining teeth can do wonders for your self-confidence. But if your teeth are discolored due to internal factors, getting them examined may also be crucial to your health. We provide a wide range of dental services at Healthy Smiles Family Dental in Salem, so no matter what is causing your tooth discoloration, we can help. Extrinsic stains are those caused by something such as smoke or dark liquid affecting the outer layer of your teeth. Intrinsic stains are those affecting the pulp or dentin. Some intrinsic stains are benign. Teeth may look brown if a person was exposed to large amounts of fluoride in their youth, or they may look black if they were exposed to certain antibiotics. But if an intrinsic stain develops later in life, it almost certainly means the patient has a pulp infection. Inflammation in the pulp chamber will cause a tooth to look black, purple, or red. It will often be accompanied by sensitivity and a bad taste. If a pulp infection is not treated, it may develop into ...

Endodontics and endodontic procedures are a dental specialty focused on the roots and nerves of the teeth. The most common procedure is root canal therapy. At Healthy Smiles Family Dental, located in Salem, OR, Drs. Na Xu and Mark Thomas perform root canals almost painlessly and always successfully. This procedure is needed when a tooth becomes infected, causing pain and discomfort in your mouth.   An infected tooth is a very serious matter. When left untreated, the infection can spread. In some cases, an extraction is necessary. A root canal prevents this. At the start of the procedure, Drs. Xu or Thomas apply a local anesthetic to the area. This prevents any unnecessary discomfort. Your Salem dentist drills into the tooth and exposes the root canal. All of the infected material becomes visible and easily removable. Afterward, the canal is thoroughly disinfected and cleaned. The dentist closes up the tooth with a sealant or filling, finishing up by placing a dental crown on top.   Tod...

Cracking a tooth is a dental emergency. If this happens to one of our patients, they should call us at Healthy Smiles Family Dental in Salem unless they also have series facial lacerations, in which case they should go to an emergency room. The good news is that we can usually save cracked teeth, but we thought our patients would be calmer if they knew ahead of time what usually happens. Our molars distribute bite force over their wide surfaces. Other teeth are likelier to crack or be pushed outward if used for chewing, while molars can withstand incredible force. But they are also the likeliest teeth to crack or chip a cuspid. A patient should swish salt water in their mouth if they have a dental emergency and should cover a broken tooth with orthodontic wax if they have any available. If not, sugar-free gum will do. The smallest cracks, called craze lines, can be fixed with bonding or covered with a veneer. When a larger part of a tooth chips off, it may be fixable with a partial cro...

Do you have a toothache? At Healthy Smiles Family Dental in Salem, we’ve removed a lot of dental pulp infections, allowing patients to feel better and retain the use of their natural teeth. But new research has shown that smokers have an especially difficult time with dental pulp infections, and we want our patients to understand this peril and how closely connected dental health is to the overall immune system. We refer to pulp inflammation as “pulpitis.” This is an immune response, and while it can be triggered by an injury, it is usually due to an infection. Anytime the dental pulp is exposed there is a high risk of infection, but pulpitis can also occur if decay of the enamel becomes severe enough for the acid produced by bacteria to irritate the inner portion of the tooth. Pulp infections are not only painful, they are dangerous. If left untreated, they can lead to blood poisoning and facial abscesses. Smokers have compromised immune systems and suffer from high rates of oral infe...

Root canals have a bad reputation, but they are necessary to save a tooth from becoming badly decayed or infected. A root canal procedure is performed when the nerve of the tooth becomes infected or the pulp becomes damaged. During a root canal procedure, the nerve and pulp are removed, and the inside of the tooth is cleaned and sealed. Here at the Healthy Smiles Family Dental, each of our dental professionals take great pride in their profession and will make your root canal treatment as painless as possible.  During the first visit, you will be given a local anesthetic to numb the area. A rubber sheet may be placed around the tooth to isolate it. Next, access is drilled from the crown into the pulp chamber, which, along with any infected root canal, is cleaned of all diseased pulp and reshaped. Medication may be inserted into the area to kill bacteria and prevent additional infection. Depending on your tooth’s condition, the crown may be inserted into the area to kill bacteria and pr...