General Dentistry in San Diego, CA - Complete Dental Health

Be Proactive,
Not Reactive

At Complete Dental Health, we know more than anyone that prevention is the best medicine. It’s easier to prevent an oil spill from happening in the first place than it is to try and clean up the mess afterward, right? The same concept applies to all aspects of life, but especially when it comes to healthcare and dentistry. If you take good care of your oral health today – eating a healthy diet, brushing and flossing regularly, and maintaining regular visits with your San Diego dentist – you can avoid painful and costly problems down the road and greatly improve your chance at having a healthy smile for life.

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Oral Hygiene

Without sounding too cliché, we want our patients to know that oral hygiene is one of, if not the most important factor when it comes to oral health. Here’s some advice straight from the oral health professionals at Complete Dental Health for keeping your smile in tip-top shape in between checkups:

Brush at least twice a day, ideally before eating or drinking. We recommend an electric toothbrush (Sonicare® is most recommended by dentists). Make sure to reach all the way to the back and brush the tongue.
Floss every day, before your nightly brushing to remove plaque between teeth. Floss first, then brush to remove particles left behind.
Rinse with mouthwash daily after you brush to kill more germs and bacteria, prevent gum disease, and promote fresh breath.
Rinse with water after eating and drinking (when brushing is not available) to reduce plaque and decay by minimizing the time sugar and acid have in contact with your teeth.
Eat a healthy balanced diet. A healthy diet for your teeth is similar to a healthy diet for your body. You should minimize sugar intake and highly acidic foods and drinks.

Gum Disease

Gum disease is one of America’s most common chronic diseases and affects over 70% of the adult population. You heard right – 70%! That means you may have some form of gum disease, and you may not even know it. Gum disease is largely caused by poor oral hygiene when plaque and tartar are left along the gum line.Tartar buildup irritates the gums to the point where they actually begin to recede or pull away from the teeth. Deep pockets form (periodontal pockets) giving bacteria a nice warm place to live and multiply. Eventually, enough gum tissue is lost that the gums are no longer able to support the teeth, causing tooth loss. Gum disease is the #1 cause of tooth loss in the United States.

Left untreated, gum disease can not only wreak havoc on your oral health but can increase your risk for serious systemic health problems like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. The bacteria associated with gum disease have a direct pathway to enter your body through the bloodstream and wreak havoc on your systemic health.

At Complete Dental Health, we care for your gums as if your teeth depended on them – because they do! If you’re suffering from gum disease at any stage – gingivitis to periodontitis – we would love to help you get your oral health back on track with more regular periodontal cleanings. We also provide advanced laser gum disease treatment without the need for scalpels and sutures. Laser technology allows for less invasive treatment, faster recovery, and a more comfortable experience with better results.

Tooth Colored Fillings

We all remember a darker time in the not-so-distant past when the only way we could fill cavities and stop tooth decay was with metal fillings. Metal amalgam fillings were the “gold standard” if you will, for the majority of the last two centuries, and often contained a combination of silver, tin, copper, zinc and mercury.

It was only in recent years that doctors began to realize the drawbacks of metal amalgam fillings:

Unsightly dark spots on the teeth are not attractive
Tendency to expand & contract with temperature changes causing them to crack, allowing bacteria to enter & decay to progress
Trace amounts of mercury found to be toxic to the human body

Thankfully, today, with advances in modern dentistry and materials science, we can fill cavities and stop decay with a tooth colored composite resin material. There are many benefits in filling cavities with tooth colored fillings, compared to metal, including:

Tooth colored resin blends in seamlessly with natural teeth
Stable with temperature changes making them effective, durable & long-lasting
Completely non-toxic & safe for the human body
Fill cavities & stop decay from progressing

Advanced digital technology allows us to detect and treat tooth decay earlier than ever before! If you brush and floss and visit your San Diego dentist regularly, but you still struggle with tooth decay, we have a wonderful line of CariFree® products to help balance your oral pH and get your tooth decay under control.

Oral Cancer Screenings

As your trusted oral health professionals, one of our most important jobs is to screen our patients for oral cancer. Oral cancer is unfortunately on the rise in the United States, but the good news is, you’ve found an excellent dentist to make sure that if we do find oral cancer, it will be detected early enough to ensure your best chance of survival and recovery. We are always on the lookout for changes or abnormalities in your mouth that may be potential signs of oral cancer, and you should be on the lookout for them at home, too.

Signs & Symptoms

Signs of oral cancer can be found on the lips, cheeks, tongue, gums, throat, or any surface of the mouth.

Swelling, thickening, lumps, rough spots, crusting, or erosion
Velvety white, red, or speckled patches
Unexplained bleeding
Numbness or loss of feeling
Pain or tenderness
Persistent sores
Difficulty chewing, swallowing, speaking, or moving the jaw or tongue
Hoarseness, chronic sore throat, change in voice
Ear pain

HPV & Oral Cancer

65% of oral cancers are linked to HPV
79 million US citizens are infected with HPV
Most sexually active adults will acquire HPV at some point in their life

Risk Factors

Smoking – Smokers are six times more likely to develop oral cancer than non-smokers
Chewing – Patients who dip, snuff, or chew are 50 times more likely to develop oral cancer
Alcohol – Oral cancer is six times more common in drinkers than non-drinkers
Family history of cancer
Excessive sun exposure
HPV

Facts & Statistics

25% of oral cancer patients have no risk factors
Men are 2x more likely to develop oral cancer than women
1 American dies every hour from oral cancer
8,000 people die from oral cancer every year
40% of oral cancer patients die within 5 years of diagnosis
Early diagnosis can double your chance of survival

If you’ve noticed any of the above signs and symptoms or fall into any of the high-risk categories, you should talk to your San Diego dentist about oral cancer screenings at your next appointment. It might just save your life.

Mouth Guards

Whether you’re on a women’s rugby team that’s headed to the championships, or you just clench and grind your teeth at night, we offer custom mouth guards to help our patients protect their assets.

Compared with stock mouth guards that you find at the sporting goods store, a custom mouth guard from Complete Dental Health provides:

Customized fit to your mouth
Ultimate comfort
Higher level of protection
Concussion prevention
Durable & long-lasting
Protection from sports injuries
Protection from teeth grinding & clenching (bruxism)
Prevent TMJ pain, headaches & migraines
Peace of mind

Your smile is one of your greatest assets. Give yours the protection it deserves with a custom mouth guard from Complete Dental Health.

Come smile with us!

If you have any questions about general dentistry or would like to schedule a consultation with your San Diego dentist, Dr. Timothy Collins at Complete Dental Health, give us a call today or schedule a visit online!

Protect Your Assets