Supportive Care

Most of the conditions that negatively affect your smile can be avoided with regular care. Dr. Bradley and her team are committed to answering your questions about proper hygiene and to providing you with the most advanced preventive dentistry available.

Charting: Health of Gums and Supporting Bone

Prior to talking with you, Dr. Bradley and her team will spend time gathering needed information about your dental care needs. It is important for us to have a good baseline of information so we can track your successes. If you are periodontally healthy, that is where we want you to stay. Once diagnosed with periodontal disease, dealing with its effects in your mouth and teeth will be a continual battle throughout your lifetime. Monitoring will be done with thorough documentation whether you are periodontally healthy or in need of periodontal treatment.

Regular Preventive Care or Professional Dental Cleaning Appointments

This appointment is performed by a registered dental hygienist. In our practice, you will see the same hygienist at each cleaning visit so that you can develop a relationship. The hygienist will remove plaque (soft deposits), tartar or calculus (hard deposits), and stain from your teeth. The evaluation of the gum tissue, probing pockets and recording their depths for future reference will also be accomplished. After the cleaning, the hygienist will polish your teeth to a beautiful shine.

Additionally, you will have all of your questions answered about your homecare procedures and products. If you have trouble choosing the right toothbrush or flossing effectively, your hygienist can help. Should you develop gum disease, which is extremely common; your hygienist will provide counsel and treatment to control the condition.

Fluoride Treatments

Fluoride is a mineral that is found naturally in many things we eat or drink. It is nature’s way of helping prevent cavities, and it plays an important role in helping you keep your teeth for a lifetime. Professional (in-office) fluoride treatments make teeth stronger and even reverse damage from decay in the outer layers of enamel on the smooth surfaces of the teeth. Additional home fluoride treatments assist in this process. In the lifelong fight against cavities, Dr. Bradley believes that both adults and children benefit from in-office treatment and from at-home fluorides.

The benefits of fluoride include:

● Strengthening teeth
● Remineralizing weakened areas on teeth
● Desensitizing teeth
● Expanding some antimicrobial effects
● Increasing salivary action
● Enhancing rate of natural remineralization

Home Care or Co-therapy

It will be important for you to work with the dental hygienist so that you can achieve the healthiest mouth possible. This will mean working together through homecare or co-therapy to keep your teeth for your lifetime. It is a commitment from you, the patient, to do your best at home and a commitment from your hygienist to provide the best treatment possible during your hygiene appointments.

Mouth and Body Connection: The Relationship between Heart Disease/Stroke and the Health of your Mouth

Did you know there is a link between your oral health and cardiovascular disease? New research shows that certain people may be predisposed to periodontal disease. The bacteria associated with periodontal disease is the same bacteria associated with heart disease. These bacteria cause plaque and tartar (soft and hard deposits) around teeth and in arteries. Take time at your next appointment to talk to Dr. Bradley’s team about the connection between your mouth’s health and your body’s health.

Do you have any of the following?

● Personal or family history of periodontal/gum disease
● Bleeding or irritated gums
● Heavy plaque (soft deposits) or tartar buildup (hard deposits)
● Inflammation (swelling and redness) of the gums surrounding your teeth
● Personal or family history of cardiovascular disease
● Diagnosis of periodontal disease

Periodontal Therapy

If you have been diagnosed with and treated for periodontal (gum) disease, regularly scheduled supportive therapy is vitally important to your success in managing the disease’s progression.

I am so glad we made the decision to try Dr. Bradley out. Her and her staff are top notch. My kids LOVED them and that’s what matters the most to me!

– Britni Rose Parish-Sonnier

We want to see your smile!