Dental care for the whole family.
Regatta Dental prides itself on providing comprehensive dental treatment for the whole family. We look forward to sharing in your child’s first dental experience all the way through into adulthood. Among the 4 dentists practicing at Regatta Dental, we are able to offer a variety of methods to ease the stress and anxiety of dental treatment. These methods involve everything from a kind, compassionate, listening approach to mild sedation and general anesthesia. We enjoy providing all aspects of dental care to all ages and are able to do so in a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. We also work closely with all of the local dental specialists to provide the most comprehensive dental care for our patients.
PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY
We, at Regatta Dental, encourage parents to bring their children in for their first dental visit by the age of 1 or within 6 months of the first tooth erupting. During the initial visit, our aim is to allow the child to become comfortable with the office setting prior to an experience of pain or trauma. We generally conduct the child’s exam while the child is laying down on the parent’s/caregiver’s lap to allow for a less invasive and less scary experience. We are then able to do an assessment of which teeth are present, the condition of the gums, and to survey for any abnormalities. As well, we welcome questions and we use this opportunity to educate parents and caregivers about good oral hygiene habits for little ones.
PREVENTATIVE SERVICES
Routine exams and debridements(”cleanings”) are an important aspect of maintaining a healthy mouth. The frequency of the recommended exams and cleanings varies depending on a patient’s needs. When cavity rates are low, a yearly exam may be sufficient. Most patients receive exams (“check ups”) every 6 months. For those patients experiencing periodontal disease (a loss of bone support for the teeth), cleanings are generally recommended to be conducted every 3 to 4 months to allow the bacteria causing the periodontal disease to be flushed away from the gums and base of the teeth. This is done to minimize the amount of bone loss from the disease. For patient comfort, local anesthetic (dental freezing) can be used when teeth or gums are sensitive during debridement.
We offer digital radiography (“x-rays”) which provide us with valuable information about the hard tissues (teeth, bone) and expose the patient to less radiation than the older-style x-rays.
RELAXATION TECHNIQUES
For nervous patients, we offer variety of relaxation techniques to ease your mind and reduce anxiety. Our compassionate team will address all of your concerns and, if necessary, offer mild sedation or general anesthesia to give you a calm, comfortable experience.
RESTORATIVE SERVICES
The dentists at Regatta Dental are able to offer a variety of services to fix/restore broken, damaged and missing teeth. These procedures can involve minimally invasive sealants to clean and close the surface grooves of the larger premolars and molars. When teeth are minimally to moderately damaged either from trauma or decay, restorations (”fillings”) are performed using a variety of materials depending on the needs of the patient and the tooth.
For those teeth that are extensively damaged, we offer the options of inlays, onlays, veneers, and crowns. We are able to provide crowns made outside of the office (made from metal, metal and porcelain, or porcelain) or in-office (Cerec) to replace the damaged tooth structure and restore the structural strength of the tooth.
COSMETIC SERVICES
Cosmetic dentistry is an area of the field which is becoming more important to our patients and is an important aspect of overall health. We recognize this and offer the full range of treatment options ranging from individual tooth treatments to full mouth reconstruction. Tooth whitening options are also available to optimize the final esthetic result.
PROTECTIVE SERVICES
Many patients clench or grind their teeth as a way to manage stress and focus their attention. We are able to offer biteplanes to assist in the management of the soft tissue (pain, headaches, muscle tiredness) and hard tissue (tooth sensitivity to cold and biting, fractures/cracks, wear) symptoms of temporomandibular joint disorder.
For those who play sports, both young and the young-at-heart, we are able to fabricate custom mouthguards/sports guards to provide protection for the jaw joints and teeth from impact injuries.
TOOTH REPLACEMENT TREATMENT OPTIONS
When teeth have to be removed or are missing, the dentists at Regatta Dental are able to offer tooth replacement options that vary in extensiveness and cost. Partial and complete dentures, bridges, and implant-supported crowns, bridges and dentures are all procedures that can be performed at our clinic.
DENTAL SURGERY/EXTRACTIONS
If a tooth has been deemed unrestorable (cannot be fixed), our clinic is able to provide the services to remove damaged teeth. This involves both straight-forward and more complicated extractions. An x-ray will be taken prior to the treatment in order to assess the degree of complication.
ENDODONTIC SERVICES
For those teeth that are extensively damaged or in which the pulp (“nerve”) has died from trauma, we are able to provide endodontic/root canal services. As long as the tooth is structurally sound, this service allows a patient to keep a tooth in their mouth, despite the fact that the “nerve” is no longer “alive”.
ORTHODONTIC SERVICES
Our dentists feel that orthodontic services (retainers, braces) are best provided by those dentists with additional training in the field of orthodontists. Therefore, although we do not directly provide orthodontic services at our clinic we do evaluate the position of the teeth to allow for early diagnosis of problems.
EMERGENCY SERVICES
With four dentists on staff at Regatta Dental, we try to accommodate emergency needs as quickly as possible. Emergency services are defined as when pain, infection or trauma has been experienced. We do our utmost to be available to our patients after hours to accommodate emergency treatment for our regular patients.
REFERRALS TO SPECIALISTS
Comprehensive dental treatment sometimes requires a second opinion or referral to a dental specialist with additional training in a specific area of dentistry. Our dentists at Regatta Dental work closely with all of our local dental specialists including Orthodontists, Oral Pathologists, Oral Maxillofacial radiologists, Pediatric dentists, Periodontists (“gum specialists”), Endodontists (“root canal specialists”), Oral surgeons, and our medical colleagues.
INSURANCE SERVICES
Our front desk staff do their best to assist patients in understanding their insurance policies, but the patient is ultimately responsible for knowing and understanding their own policy. Different companies offer different insurance services and we are not able to know the details of every policy. We are also unable to call a patient’s policy provider to ask questions on behalf of the patient as the insurance companies will not divulge this information to us for confidentiality reasons. Our staff will assist patients in filling out the appropriate paperwork to submit to a patient’s insurance company, and we will directly bill the company, when possible. Before performing involved dental services (“major work”), we try to acquire a pre-determination from the insurance company to allow the patient to understand how much they, personally, be will be required to pay upon completion of the treatment.
For those patients receiving income assistance from the government, our front desk staff will assist the patients in filling out the paperwork to be reimbursed for the services. The financial coverage for dental needs can vary under the government plans, so our staff will try to provide the latest information about these services and the coverage available.