Family Dentistry & Comprehensive Care

Whether it is your first visit or a regular check-up, Dr. Sellers provides a comprehensive examination of your oral health. These six-month visits are a major factor in preventing dental issues from taking shape. A typical exam at our office includes:

• Examination of your mouth with an intraoral camera
• Oral cancer screening
• Evaluation of your gum health
• Examination of your teeth including existing restorations
• Digital x-rays

Each exam is performed with the utmost care and we check to make sure you feel comfortable throughout. We involve you in the process with our intraoral camera, which shows you the inside of your mouth chair-side. On occasion, our dentist and dental hygienist may recommend a cleaning. After the exam, Dr. Sellers spends some time explaining her findings and discusses the next step.

Your at-home hygiene routine will determine the number of visits you need to our registered dental hygienist. However, even the most efficient and dedicated brushers and flossers occasionally need some help. Your hygiene visit begins with a brief dental exam to review the findings of Dr. Sellers and ensure nothing new has developed.

Next, we may discuss your oral hygiene routine and offer some advice to make it more effective. If there has been a buildup of plaque then a professional cleaning is recommended. A professional cleaning is a non-invasive procedure designed to remove plaque, tartar, and leave your smile looking fresh. Plaque and bacteria are removed around the gum line and on the tooth surface. To finish the cleaning, our hygienist polishes your teeth to remove stains and any leftover plaque. Plus, it makes your teeth shine and look great!

It is an unfortunate fact that oral cancer is affecting more and more Americans each year. But did you know your dentist could be the first line of defense against this disease? In fact, the early detection of oral cancer by your Bismarck dentist could save your life.

During your regular exam, Dr. Sellers provides a thorough oral cancer screening. This screening uses the latest technology to check your face, neck, lips, tongue, throat, tissues, and gums for any signs of the disease. These might include red or white patches, lesions, lumps, or more obvious symptoms such as pain and bleeding. If these symptoms exist then Dr. Sellers will develop a custom treatment plan and provide you with all the help you need.

Sealants provide a defense against decay that forms in the grooves and pits of your tooth’s surface. When teeth have deep grooves it can be very hard to clean them and remove debris trapped there. Children are at a greater risk as they can struggle to get into these areas when brushing. Dental sealants help protect these vulnerable teeth by covering over the grooves and pits with a special resin.

The process for each tooth only takes a few minutes and consists of Dr. Sellers firstly cleaning your teeth. Next, a special solution is applied to the teeth and then rinsed off; this helps the sealant to bond to each tooth. The sealant resin is then painted onto each tooth to cover over the grooves and pits. The resin is then hardened and your teeth are ready to go. Sealants can be cared for as you would your normal teeth and are checked during your routine visits.

This advanced dental treatment uses technology that combines focused light energy with a stream of water for a more precise and gentle dental visit. The iPlus Waterlase… opens in a new window to Biolase website… is used when placing fillings and treating gums or soft tissue in your mouth. It is a modern replacement for the traditional dentist drill, which is very reassuring for our more nervous patients. Waterlase can be used to remove excess gum tissue, oral growths, and treat periodontal disease.

This piece of technology is more comfortable, more convenient, and more precise so you can enjoy a faster and anxiety-free experience. In fact, the healing time after using Waterlase is shorter, and it is so accurate that it promotes the saving of your natural tooth. Plus, little or no anesthetic is needed due to its gentle nature. Dr. Sellers is very excited to offer this modern treatment to all patients in our practice.

In addition to this modern laser treatment, we use an Epic X diode laser that can speed up teeth whitening and improve your dental cleaning.

Dr. Sellers requires the most accurate and comprehensive x-rays as she cares for your oral health. She uses panoramic x-rays due to the versatility and comfort they offer to patients. These modern x-rays provide us with a precise view of your upper and lower jaw. They truly are an important diagnostic tool in our office. These x-rays are used to:

• Assess patients with an extreme gag reflex.
• Evaluate the progression of TMJ.
• Expose cysts and abnormalities.
• Expose impacted teeth.
• Expose jawbone fractures.
• Plan treatment (full and partial dentures, braces, and implants).
• Reveal gum disease and cavities.

The process of taking an x-ray is more comfortable as the machine slowly rotates around your head and takes the images. This provides less radiation and an overall more accurate and safer experience.

Periodontal or gum disease is one of the most common reasons for tooth loss in the U.S. today. The symptoms of this disease include red, inflamed, painful or bleeding gums. However, the early signs often go unnoticed (four out of five people have the disease without knowing) but can be prevented with a solid daily hygiene routine. Periodontal disease can take hold when plaque develops around the gum line. Plaque causes an infection that, if left untreated, can cause your jawbone to deteriorate and tooth loss to occur.

When gum disease is minor, it can be controlled with the help of a professional cleaning and advice on how to improve your hygiene routine. However, when gum disease becomes more severe, it can lead to gum recession and affect your jawbone too. When this happens, our dental hygienist may recommend scaling or root planing. These involve a deep cleaning of the teeth, tissue, and around the jawbone.

When your tooth is chipped, cracked, or broken due to decay or trauma, Dr. Sellers may recommend a dental filling. At Aesthetic Dental Center, we not only care about restoring the function of your smile but also the beauty of it too. Therefore, we only place composite or tooth-colored fillings to restore the portion of your tooth that is removed.

If you require a filling, our dentist in Bismarck carefully cleans and numbs the area. She prepares the tooth and removes any decay. The new filling is then placed and shaped to resemble your natural tooth. The procedure is finished with a polishing to make your smile look like new. Most tooth-colored fillings can be matched to your natural tooth’s shade and are placed in a single visit. During this procedure, Dr. Sellers uses the iPlus Waterlase, which can be used for dental fillings with little to no anesthetic.