A crown covers and fortifies a compromised tooth. Your dentist will assess tooth placement and stressors to determine the right material for your restoration. Porcelain crowns look and feel completely natural and blend seamlessly with existing teeth.

To design your crown, Dr. Kerbs or Dr. Hansen will remove damaged tooth structure, take a dental impression, and fit you for a temporary. A skilled artisan at a trusted local lab will fabricate your crown to our exact specifications. Porcelain crowns are color-matched to blend with each patient's unique dental shading. Once your permanent restoration is complete, we'll permanently affix it to esthetically renew dental comfort and function.

Dental Implant Placement & Restoration
Now patients who are missing teeth have a strong, beautiful alternative to bridges, partials, or full dentures. Dental implants will improve your smile and your lifestyle. They look, feel, and function like natural teeth because of a titanium anchor attached to the jawbone. Implants can also anchor bridges, partials, or full dentures to eliminate slipping.

After a thorough evaluation, the dentist can tell you whether you're a candidate for dental implants. Good bone density and oral health are prerequisites. The first stage of the procedure involves oral surgery in which Dr. Kerbs or Dr. Hansen places an implant into the jawbone for each missing tooth or for the new teeth that will anchor a bridge or denture. Nature will take its course, allowing your bone tissue to fuse with the titanium post. This creates a solid foundation.

Once the implants are secured, you'll return to our office for the restoration. Our lab will fabricate a handcrafted, permanent crown or denture according to the dentist's design. We will secure the restoration in our office. Your new teeth will match the color and size of your natural teeth, so they'll blend seamlessly with your smile.

By imitating an entire natural tooth, from the root up, dental implants offer a prosthetic that closely mimics nature. The result? Dental implant patients enjoy restored function, which allows a healthy diet of hard-to-chew foods. Speech may also improve. Strong and secure, your new smile will boost your confidence, enhance your appearance, and improve your quality of life.

Dentures & Partials
Full and Partial Dentures
A smile just isn't a smile if it's incomplete. Missing teeth cause a host of problems, from difficulty speaking and eating to low self-confidence to jawbone deterioration. Don't give up on your smile. Advances in dental materials and technology have made full and partial dentures more lifelike and comfortable than ever.

What is a Partial?
A partial denture, commonly referred to as simply a partial, consists of multiple teeth on a gum colored base. The teeth are not in a row, but rather spread across the base to fit like a puzzle with your existing teeth. A partial is normally secured with clips or brackets, but unlike a bridge, a partial is removable. Your dentist may recommend a metal-free Valplast Flexible Partial to renew your smile.

What is a Denture?
A full denture is a complete top or bottom row of teeth mounted on a gum-colored base. Dentures can be closed or open palate, and they require denture adhesive to hold them in place.

Implant-Supported Dentures and Partials
Dental implants are small titanium posts anchored into the jawbone. If you prefer a secure full or partial denture and don't want clips or adhesive, then consider implant-supported dentures. In a brief surgery, your restorative dentist can secure a few dental implant posts to hold your dentures in place. With implant-supported dentures, you won't have to worry about slippage, and your prosthetic will feel safe and sound. We also offer mini dental implants to secure dentures. Ask about this non-invasive, one-step procedure at your complimentary consultation.

Fixed Bridges
A Stable Solution that Renews Your Smile
If you've lost teeth due to accident, injury, or gum disease, we can create a permanent bridge to restore your solid smile. A bridge not only fills the gap, but it also prevents repositioning of remaining teeth. It can also correct a misaligned bite, improve chewing function and speech articulation, and provide internal structure for the face to give you a more youthful appearance.

What is a Fixed Bridge?
First of all, a bridge is a prosthetic tooth (or teeth) that attaches on one or both sides to teeth prepared with dental crowns. A fixed bridge is permanently joined onto the neighboring abutment teeth (crowned teeth) and consists of three basic units: the false tooth or teeth (called a pontic) and two abutment crowns. The style of bridge we suggest will depend upon the strength and health of the abutment teeth, as well as the location of the gap in relation to the rest of your dentition. If healthy adjacent abutment teeth aren't available, a surgically-implanted metal post, known as a dental implant, may offer a solid alternative. For a bridge that replaces many teeth, we may recommend a removable partial denture or implant-supported prosthesis. With proper care, a fixed bridge may last at least 8 to 10 years.

Full-Mouth Reconstruction
When disease, decay, or damage wreck a smile, a patient may feel embarrassed about seeking professional help. Our office welcomes patients with broken-down smiles. We applaud you for taking a step toward reclaiming a strong and healthy smile for a healthier life! You'll feel better emotionally and physically when you have a comfortable, beautiful smile to share with the world.

Sometimes a few crowns, fillings, or replacement teeth aren't enough to completely restore dental health. When you visit, the dentist will evaluate your teeth, gums, and soft tissues, as well as your occlusion (how your teeth fit together when you shut your mouth). We will take X-rays, intra- and extra-oral images, and possibly a Panorex image to provide us with detailed information to create your full-mouth reconstruction plan.

We will also talk with you about your concerns. Do you have pain? Does dental work make you nervous? What do you want to achieve from your dental work? The dentist will address your concerns and present a plan to restore your optimal oral health. We will explain our suggestions, your options, and the time and financial commitment involved. With creative scheduling and financing, as well as options for anesthesia and sedation, you can enjoy the healthy, comfortable, beautiful smile you deserve.

We may recommend fillings, crowns, inlays, or onlays to restore teeth. Crown and bridgework, partials, dentures, and dental implants offer exciting, lifelike solutions to replace missing teeth. Orthodontics, oral appliances, and other treatments may help your unique situation, as well. We sometimes work with specialists in an interdisciplinary approach to ensure that patients receive the treatment they need. Our goal is to deliver the smile you want, then help you maintain it for life.

Inlays & Onlays
You have a big filling that needs replacement. Do you have to get a full crown? Not necessarily. A more conservative option, inlays and onlays fit into a tooth similar to a filling, yet they are milled restorations, much like a crown. The bumps on top of a tooth are called cusps. Inlays fit between cusps, while onlays fit over one or more cusps. Inlays and onlays allow a patient to retain more natural tooth structure, which is always best.

Not every situation is right for an inlay or onlay, but the dentist will assess your problem and determine the best solution for you. Because they are created in a lab like a crown, inlays and onlays require two appointments. At the first visit, we will prepare your tooth by removing your tooth decay or old filling and cleaning the area. We will take a dental impression and send it to our dental lab so that a technician can create a custom inlay or onlay for you. The dentist will determine the best material to use, but in most cases, teeth that show when you smile or speak can have a white restoration. Back teeth incur extreme pressure, so a metal inlay or onlay may be indicated. You'll wear a temporary until the lab delivers your final restoration.

At the second appointment, the dentist will remove your temporary and permanently cement your final inlay or onlay into position. After polishing and modifying the restoration as necessary to ensure proper bite alignment, you'll enjoy your stronger, healthier smile for years to come.

Root Canals
A root canal is a conservative therapy to save an internally damaged tooth from extraction. Although root canals have a reputation for being uncomfortable – that's not the case. Modern root canal therapy is a surprising comfortable procedure, and one that may preserve your smile.

Internal Tooth Structure
Each tooth contains pulp, commonly called the nerve, with canals that lead to the tooth root. These canals serve the important functions of transporting blood and nutrients to the root and removing toxins. Infection-causing bacteria can enter these canals when a tooth is damaged by a fracture, deep cavity, or other injury. Left untreated, acute pain and pressure can occur. Ultimately, you may lose gum tissue, bone, and even your tooth.

Root Canal Therapy
To treat early stage infection, Dr. Kerbs or Dr. Hansen will clean out the canals, fill them with a biocompatible substance, and mount a custom crown atop the tooth. The result: a strong, healthy, and protected tooth.

Tooth-Colored Fillings
Tooth or mouth pain may be a sign that you have a cavity. It's important to address decay right away. Left untreated, it only worsens. In fact, dental decay is one of the most common causes of tooth loss. Dr. Kerbs and Dr. Hansen esthetically renew smiles with composite resin, tooth-colored fillings.

At your checkup or exam, your dentist will use a non-invasive DIAGNOdent laser to gently scan your teeth for decay. If decay is present, your dentist may use air abrasion to prepare your tooth for restoration. Air abrasion is comfortable and gentle. It's great for kids and adults, and most patients don't require anesthesia. To restore your tooth, Dr. Kerbs or Dr. Hansen will tint a small amount of durable, long-lasting composite resin and bond it into the prepared cavity. Composite resin fillings look great, feel great, and resist decay. Your tooth will remain beautiful and protected well into the future.

We also replace old metal fillings will durable composite resin to give patients healthy, beautiful, all-white smiles.