It’s important to Family Dental Practice to offer solutions your family needs, keeping your care in-house for optimal convenience and peace of mind. We offer sedation, oral surgery, and other services that allow you to receive your care from the team you know and trust.
Family Dental Practice can help!
Removing a tooth is sometimes a necessary evil in the dental world, but our goal is to preserve your natural teeth and keep them in your mouth by any means necessary—as long as they’re healthy. Simple extraction—performed on a tooth that is visible above the gum—is sometimes recommended in cases of severe damage, decay, or crowding. Dr. Buchholtz and Dr. Garro perform surgical extraction as well, which is most common in impacted wisdom teeth. Whatever type of extraction you need, we can perform the procedure safely and comfortably in our office.
Dental implants are the preferred method and industry standard for missing tooth replacement among dentists and patients alike. Finished dental implants look and feel natural, and the titanium implant post has the capability to regenerate a new tooth root for a permanent smile solution. In other words, they’re the closest thing to a natural tooth that an artificial tooth could possibly be. Dr. Buchholtz and Dr. Garro perform both implant placement and restoration from start to finish, and it’s all done in-house. To learn more about our many dental implant options, please visit our dental implants page for more information.
Full-mouth reconstruction is a personalized treatment plan to get your smile right where you want it to be. Family Dental Practice completely examines and assesses your dental situation, lifestyle, budget, and health—as well as your smile goals—to draw up a blueprint that builds the smile of your dreams from the ground up. Whether you have some teeth, damaged teeth, or no teeth, we want you to know there is hope that you can love your smile again. There are no judgments here! Get in touch today to see what we can do for you.
Pre-prosthetic surgery is the preparation of your mouth before a dental prosthesis is placed in the mouth, usually a complete or partial denture. Since a denture sits on the bone ridge, it is essential that the bone be the proper shape and size to ensure a comfortable fit. If a tooth requires extraction, the bone underneath may require smoothing or reshaping, or excess bone or gum tissue may need to be removed. Dr. Buchholtz and Dr. Garro will review your case with you and explain the entire surgical process from beginning to end. Don’t be afraid to ask questions!
Gum grafting procedures are intended to supplement and build up lost gum tissue, protecting tooth roots in order to alleviate the need for extraction. Gum grafting is most often used to counteract the effects of recession from gum disease or facial trauma. Depending on your preferences, we can usually use a small sample of tissue from the roof of your mouth to perform your gum graft. Your Watertown dental team will be happy to go over your options.
Bone grafting procedures are used to supplement the jawbone following atrophy or facial trauma to restore and maintain the integrity of your jaw and facial structure, favorable tooth alignment, and your bite. Bone grafting can provide a solid foundation for a successful dental implant, allowing patients who would not otherwise be implant candidates to enjoy the security of our most popular method of tooth replacement. Your preferences also dictate where the tissue used for your bone graft originate—we usually use sample tissue from you, another human donor, or a bovine donor.
A sinus lift–sometimes called a sinus augmentation–is a surgical procedure that adds bone to your upper jaw in the region of your molars and premolars. Bone is added between your jaw and the maxillary sinuses on either side of your nose. In order to make room for the supplemental bone, the sinus membrane has to be “lifted” by being moved upward. This procedure is used to correct insufficient bone height in the upper jaw or to maximize the distance between sinuses and upper jaw to allow dental implants to be placed. As with a bone graft, the sample tissue may come from you, another human donor, or a bovine donor, depending on your preferences.
*Dr. Buchholtz and Dr. Garro are general dentists performing oral surgery services.
We’re here for you!
There are many misconceptions about sedation dentistry from those who have never experienced it. Let your Watertown dentists put some of those fears to rest! The most important thing to know about sedation dentistry is that all the methods offered by Family Dental Practice are conscious sedation—sedated patients are never completely asleep, remaining alert enough to respond to verbal cues from the dental team during their treatment. That said, you will be required to have a driver when choosing oral or IV sedation.
Nitrous Oxide, or laughing gas, is the mildest form of sedation we use, and it is offered as a complimentary option for our patients age 12 and under. It is breathed through a mask to relax you during treatment and tends to make people a little goofy and giggly, hence the name. When treatment is complete, you breathe pure oxygen through the mask for a few minutes to clear your head. For this form of sedation, you do not need a driver.
If you choose oral sedation, Dr. Buchholtz or Dr. Garro will prescribe medication to take before your appointment, usually in the benzodiazepine family. You take the pill about an hour before coming in and enjoy the relaxing effects during your treatment. IV sedation is the strongest in-office sedation available at Family Dental Practice, and just like it sounds, it is administered through an IV during your treatment. We recommend that your driver stay with you for an hour or two after you have safely returned home after treatment if at all possible.
Family Dental Practice has you covered!
Botox has more uses at the dentist than you might think. While it started as a method for cosmetic facial treatments, it has since become a common remedy for migraines, TMJ pain, and reduction of teeth grinding (bruxism). It can also be used to relax muscles associated with orthodontics or dentures. Since dentists have extensively studied facial anatomy and musculature, it makes sense that the expanded uses for Botox have become a common addition to the service mix of many practices. Dr. Buchholtz has been trained in the use of Botox for therapeutic and cosmetic purposes.
Are you tired of looking tired? Family Dental Practice of Watertown can help. We offer facial cosmetic treatment with Juvéderm® injectable dermal fillers that can correct moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds. Our skin loses elasticity during the natural process of aging, and fillers are a solution that corrects age-related volume loss. Juvéderm can smooth laugh and smile lines, contour cheeks and chin, soften dark circles and bags under the eyes, and make the lips look plumper and fuller.
Ask us how!
Temporomandibular joints, or TMJ, act like sliding hinges that connect the skull to the jaw on either side. TMJ/TMD dysfunction has a number of different causes, from teeth grinding and clenching (bruxism) to arthritis to trauma and other issues. Left untreated, TMJ disorders can disrupt sleep, lead to severe tooth wear, lead to headaches and jaw pain, and have other ill effects. Family Dental Practice may suggest a custom-fit nightguard for wear during sleep, recommend Botox, share stress reduction techniques, or all of the above. If you are living with TMJ problems, talk to our team and we’ll see what we can do to help you relax, alleviate the pain in your head, and in the long run, preserve your teeth.
Sleep apnea is another common health condition that many people don’t realize can be treated at the dentist. A disorder that persistently interrupts breathing during sleep, obstructive sleep apnea is estimated to affect 22 million Americans, with 60-80% of moderate to severe cases undiagnosed. Snoring is the most well-known symptom of sleep apnea, but the disorder deprives oxygen to the brain and can lead to daytime sleepiness, headaches, and ultimately more serious issues like stroke and heart disease. Most people are treated with CPAP machine therapy, but many cannot tolerate the apparatus—and that’s where Family Dental Practice comes in. We offer oral appliance therapy, a custom-fit mouthguard designed to keep the airway open during sleep. If the machine didn’t work for you, don’t give up! Ask about oral appliance therapy and get ready to drift off to Dreamland.
Contact us today for an appointment.
With extended office hours we can find an appointment time that works with your busy schedule. We are also available for emergency appointments on the weekends. We offer comprehensive dental care in the office to include orthodontics, dental implants, cosmetic dentistry, pediatric care and more. Don’t wait to take care of your oral health – contact us today for an appointment.
