Life is stressful enough without having to worry about your household's different dental needs. Fortunately, if you live in or around Mount Olive Township or Budd Lake, NJ, you can rest assure that you can rely on Dr. Steven Abrams to provide your whole family with quality dental care.

Why Regular Dental Checkups are Important

Regular dental visits are important for you and your family because they keep your teeth and gums in a healthy condition. In fact, dental professionals recommend that you have a checkup at least every six months, as these appointments help you and your family avoid tooth decay, gum disease, and tooth loss.

What Happens at a Dental Checkup?

A regular visit to your family dentist is comprised of two procedures:

• Examination: Your family dentist will examine your gum health using a specially designed tool that measures the depth of any spaces between your teeth and gums. If your gums are in good shape, the spaces will be shallow. Deeper spaces may indicate gum disease. Next, your dentist will examine your teeth for cavities and also check the level of tartar and plaque on your teeth.

• Cleaning: At each checkup, after your examination, your dentist will clean your teeth with special tools to remove tartar. This process is called scaling, and once your teeth are scaled, your family dentist will polish them with a special paste to remove any stains on their surface.

Between dental visits, you should brush your teeth at least twice a day with a toothpaste that contains fluoride. You should also floss regularly and use mouthwash.

Give Us a Call

You need a dentist that you can count on to help you maintain your dental health and hygiene. Call Dr. Abrams's Budd Lake office today on (973) 691-8200 to make appointments for your whole family.

Safeguard your child’s smile from decay with the help of dental sealants.

If you’ve ever wondered if there is a simple way to shield your child’s teeth from cavities, there is. Molars, or back teeth, are often the most challenging to clean, especially for kids. While nothing is as important as making sure that your child is brushing and flossing every day, our Budd Lake, NJ, family dentist Dr. Steven Abrams can also provide your child with dental sealants for additional protection against decay.

What is a dental sealant?

A dental sealant is a thin, transparent or tooth-colored plastic that is painted over the chewing surfaces of your child’s molars to protect the enamel from the harmful effects of plaque. The chewing surfaces have all these ridges and crevices, which make it much easier for food and bacteria to get trapped. Dental sealants can provide your child’s molars with a barrier to prevent decay.

How is a dental sealant placed?

As your family dentist, our goal is to provide your child with gentle, welcoming care every time you come into our dental practice in Budd Lake, NJ. You’ll be overjoyed to hear that placing dental sealants is a simple, non-invasive preventive treatment that can even be done at the same time as your child’s next routine cleaning.

Once teeth are cleaned, a solution is applied to the child’s back teeth to roughen the surface so the sealant sticks to the tooth. Then the solution is rinsed off and the tooth is dried. Then the sealant is painted on the chewing surfaces and hardened into the place with a dental light. The whole process takes a couple of minutes per tooth.

Should my child get dental sealants?

All children can benefit from dental sealants, especially because there are no drawbacks to getting sealants, only additional protection against cavities. Of course, there are some children that despite eating a healthy diet and brushing and flossing regularly are still prone to decay.

Children who are at high risk for decay should absolutely get dental sealants once their first set of molars erupts (usually around the ages of 7 or 8). You will also want to bring them back in for sealants once their second set of molars comes in (around 11 to 12 years old).

Our family dentist Dr. Abrams and his team are proud to provide compassionate dentistry to families living in and around Mount Olive Township and Budd Lake, NJ. If you want to discuss whether dental sealants are right for your child, call our office today at (973) 691-8200 to learn more.

Even the most common dental issues can also cause further complications for your smile. Learn how to protect your smile from cavities!

A cavity is the most common dental problem that affects children and adults of all ages. Whether your general dentist has told you that you have a cavity or you are just trying to learn more about them, turn to your Mount Olive, NJ dentist for the answers you need.

What is a cavity?

Often referred to as tooth decay, this problem causes holes to form in the enamel of your teeth. Cavities can range in sizes and can grow and become more severe if left untreated by your dentist.

What causes cavities?

A cavity forms when plaque forms on the teeth and isn’t properly removed through daily brushings. Sugar is the number-one culprit for causing cavities. Whenever you consume foods or drinks with sugar, the substance is converted into acid by the bacteria naturally growing in your mouth.

The acid is what eats away at healthy enamel. The more sugar you consume, the more acid attacks your beautiful smile undergoes. This will make you more susceptible to cavities.

What are the symptoms?

Unfortunately, not all cavities cause symptoms, so it can be difficult to know when there is a problem. That’s why it’s important to maintain those six-month visits to see your dentist, who can detect problems right away. Some signs that you may have a cavity include:

• Dental pain
• Tooth sensitivity
• A black stain on your tooth
• A hole in your tooth

If you don’t visit your dentist for cavity treatment, this can cause serious issues for your smile in the long run. Some complications that can occur as a result of ignoring or leaving your cavity untreated include:

• Chronic or severe dental pain
• An abscess (an infected pus-like pocket that grows around the tooth)
• Pain or problems chewing food
• An increased risk for a cracked or broken tooth

If you don’t seek treatment right away, the cavity could cause damage to the point that the problem might not be reversible and the tooth will need to be removed and replaced with a dental restoration like an implant or dental bridge.

Cavities don’t have to be a serious problem. By coming in for those six-month dental exams, you can protect your teeth from common, but potentially serious dental issues like decay and gum disease. If you are overdue for your next cleaning and exam, then it’s time to call your preventive dentist today.

Are you worried that you might need a root canal? Know the warning signs.

A root canal is a commonly performed procedure that is designed to remove dental pulp (i.e. the structure that lies inside a tooth) after it has become infected or inflamed. Deeply rooted decay, traumatic injury to the tooth, and pervasive infection can all burrow through a tooth’s enamel to infect the pulp and root canals. Of course, your family dentist in Budd Lake, NJ, Dr. Steven Abrams, wants you to be able to tell when it’s time to receive treatment. Here are some of the telltale signs that you might need a root canal:

Toothache

Dental pain is probably the most common and classic sign that a patient may require root canal treatment. If your dental pain is severe or worsens when biting down, then you could be dealing with infected dental pulp. A toothache, no matter how minor or severe, should always be treated right away by our Budd Lake, NJ, dentist in order to save the tooth.

Tooth Sensitivity

Some people have varying degrees of tooth sensitivity so it’s important to recognize that not all tooth sensitivity means that you need a root canal; however, if you notice a zinging or zapping whenever you enjoy a scoop of ice cream or drink a steaming cup of coffee and the sensation lasts for more than 30 seconds then you may require a root canal. This is another symptom not to ignore.

Discolored Tooth

Has one of your teeth suddenly turned grey or black? While it’s normal for teeth to dull and yellow a bit as we age, teeth certainly don't change color quickly unless something is going on. Is this case, this type of sudden discoloration is a sign that there is severe tooth decay and that the tissue inside the tooth has begun to deteriorate.

Swollen, Red Gums

While inflamed gums are usually a sign of gum disease, if you notice that the gums are only puffy and inflamed around a single problem tooth, then this could be a sign of a dental infection. Furthermore, if you notice a pimple-like growth developing on the gums, this is known as an abscess, which is a telltale sign of infection.

Concerned? Give Us a Call

Are you dealing with a toothache? Experiencing any of the other symptoms above? If so, then it’s important that you seek professional treatment right away to prevent the problem from getting worse. Call our Budd Lake, NJ, dental office today at (973) 691-8200 for an immediate appointment with your family dentist, Dr. Steven Abrams.

A family dentist treats patients of all ages, from babies whose first teeth have just erupted, to senior citizens. There are a number of advantages to having the entire family treated at the same dental practice. From saving time to preventive care and treatment for hereditary conditions, a good relationship with your dentist is the key to your family's long term oral health. Dr. Steven Abrams, a family dentist in Budd Lake, NJ, offers general and cosmetic dentistry services for patients of all ages.

Family Dentistry Services in Budd Lake, NJ

A family dentist offers the same services as a general dentist without age restrictions. For many families, getting everyone to the dentist for regular check ups and dental cleanings, which the American Dental Association (ADA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends should be done every six months, can be a challenge. Busy and conflicting schedules and needs can make it difficult if not impossible to shuttle family members around to different dentists.

There are several advantages to seeing a family dentist:

Lower or eliminate anxiety/fear of the dentist - establishing an ongoing relationship with a trusted dentist can help to mitigate fears and anxieties associated with dental care, especially for young children

Comprehensive treatment and services - whether you need a dental cleaning, a filling, or a cosmetic treatment like teeth whitening or veneers, a family dentist is your one stop shop for dedicated and effective dental treatment

They know your family history - like other health problems, oral health conditions like gum disease can be genetic and run in families, so working with a dentist that knows your personal risk and predisposition to certain diseases, as well as your families, can make all the difference in the care you receive

Your family's oral health care needs may be somewhat unpredictable, but you can save time and money by scheduling the family's routine and preventive care appointments at the same time.

Family Dentist Budd Lake, NJ

For more information about the benefits and advantages of seeing a family dentist, contact our office today by calling (973) 691-8200 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Abrams.