FAQ's

We always strive to create a positive first experience for our youngest patients. Based on their age and previous experiences, we often start with a free happy visit to introduce the child to our dental office. We introduce them to our dental tools. Our goal is to show the child that the dental office is fun and that we are here to help them stay healthy. If the visit goes very well, we’ll attempt to examine and clean the teeth. If the child is very young or not yet comfortable sitting in the chair alone, we recommend a follow-up visit every 6 months until they are ready.

Parents play a big role in healthy development of their children’s overall oral health. One of the best ways to keep your child’s smile healthy for life is to start good oral health habits early. At Fresh Dental we recommend you bring your child in for their first dental visit around the age of two.

Prevention is the cornerstone of Fresh Dental. We want to help you achieve and maintain dental health for life. We at Fresh Dental prefer to see most patients every six months. This enables the dentist and hygienist to monitor your oral health and address any concerns before they become a problem. Dental disease is often chronic and silent until it is advanced. We recommend early, conservative treatment in 2 order to avoid more costly and invasive treatments. To maintain healthy gums and bones, the hygienist may wish to see you more often, and will customize a treatment to help you prevent oral disease.

Lots of us want to know how much it will cost to get a great smile, or to just fix a tooth. The best option is to have a diagnosis first, then your range of options and the prices for each will be provided. We give every patient an estimate at the time of checkup, then you can call your insurance provider and see how much coverage you would have, or we can send out a pre-determination to your insurance company on behalf of you, then your insurance will send you the response.

First and foremost, Team Fresh will welcome you to our office and ask you what your specific concerns and goals are. We will also be gathering the information necessary to provide you with a comprehensive look at your oral health. This may include digital x-rays and photographs, official examination, oral cancer screening, and in some cases a professional cleaning by one of our hygienists customized to your specific needs. Once this information is collected, Dr. Aaron Bazylak or Dr. Brian Kilduff will formulate a unique custom treatment plan which you will co-author, to help you achieve dental health and the smile of your dreams.

Yes, we do, as a courtesy to our patients. Fresh Dental will accept assignment of benefits from your dental plan provided that your patient portion is paid at the time of service, and that you accept responsibility for those fees not reimbursed by your plan. If there should be 2 dental plans in your family, we will be happy to submit the paperwork necessary to coordinate those benefits for you. Since dental benefit plans are so varied, we ask that you become familiar with the basic guidelines of your plan. Our administration team will be pleased to assist you with your benefits.

Yes, we are. Dr.Aaron Bazylak and Dr. Brian Kilduff along with the whole team warmly welcome new members to our family of patients and are looking forward to establishing long-lasting relationships with all of you. We are always willing to welcome other family members and friends of our current patients as well. If you ’d like to schedule an appointment with us, please contact our office today. We would be glad to see you and your family.

Fluoride, derived from fluorine, is found everywhere in nature in water, soil, air, and food. It is absorbed easily into tooth enamel, especially in growing teeth. Once teeth are developed, fluoride makes the entire tooth structure more resistant to decay and promotes remineralization, which helps to repair early decay before the damage is even visible.

The best way to prevent cavities and gum disease is to practice good oral hygiene at home and schedule regular checkups with your dentist. Preventive dentistry habits such as proper brushing and flossing, and regular cleanings and checkups with your dentist help you avoid dental problems and save you money in the long run.

Absolutely, porcelain veneers are the best solution to cover gaps, chips and misshapen teeth. The thin porcelain veneers can give you the beautiful smile you desire.

We offer different teeth whitening options and will be happy to assess your needs and discuss options with you. In fact, teeth whitening, or teeth bleaching is not the best option for everyone. If you have dark stained or grey teeth you may see limited results. Some people may experience sensitivity to the bleaching product. In many cases we can help you by desensitizing your teeth first. If you have had bonded or tooth-colored fillings placed in your front teeth, then other options like crowns or veneers might be a better option for you.

Root canals are commonly believed to be painful, but the aesthetics and technologies we use today make this a relatively easy and pain-free process for patients. When the anesthetics wear off, some people can experience some temporary soreness or tissue inflammation, but these are easily controlled with non-prescription medications.

A crown is used when a single tooth is damaged. A bridge is used when more than one tooth is missing. Crowns and bridges add stability to the surrounding teeth and give your smile a more beautiful look.

Through x-rays, we can detect cavities while they are still small and before they begin to cause pain. By placing the filling in your tooth while the cavity is still small, we can retain more of the healthy tooth structure.

Teeth that have root canals can fracture more easily than other teeth because they are weaker and somewhat dehydrated. They can sometimes be as brittle as glass. In the past the best available treatment was to remove the tooth and file down the adjacent teeth and make a bridge – caps on the adjacent teeth with an attached “dummy” tooth in between. Sometimes this still is the only way. However, in many cases an implant can replace the fractured tooth and no teeth need to be ground down at all.

Probably. Upper dentures cover the roof of the mouth and go back to the soft palate to get support and “seal” so they will stay in place. Unfortunately, this results in covering up the palate and many taste buds. By using implants to anchor or support an upper prosthesis (either removable or nor-removable replacement teeth), the roof of the mouth can be left uncovered, so one won’t gag, and can feel the texture, temperature, and taste of foods and beverages much better.

It is not necessary to have an implant for every tooth that is being replaced. The number of implants necessary to provide support depends on the type of implants used and the type of teeth (removable vs. non- removable) that will be attached to the implants. For example, in this case if you’re a good candidate for endosseous (in-the-bone) implants, you may require between 2-8 implants, depending on the technique used to support a full complement of lower teeth. A thorough oral exam and panoramic x-ray is all that is necessary in most cases, to determine which implant can be used and how many must be used. Sometimes additional x-rays or CT scans are used in more complicated cases.

Absolutely. Your situation is a common one. The full lower denture is the most unstable prosthesis fabricated in dental practice. During chewing, the average lower denture moves five times more than an upper denture. The person with advanced bone loss has additional problems of poor muscle coordination, speech difficulties, and inability to keep the denture in place, all of which adversely influence a normal lifestyle. Dental implants can be the solution to all these problems. Even in cases where a lot of bone loss has occurred there still is a good chance something can be done. In most cases, a thorough oral exam and a panoramic x-ray is all that is needed to determine if you are a good candidate for implants.

A common complaint is having to constantly add adhesives to secure dentures, especially after drinking a cup of coffee or eating a meal. This can really be a nuisance when eating out at a restaurant and having to excuse yourself from the table to go to the restroom because your dentures won’t stay in. Laughing, sneezing and coughing can also cause trouble for people who depend on adhesives to hold their teeth in place. It may be funny to see another person having a denture fall out, but it is not funny to the person who must deal with these embarrassing situations daily.

In most cases, with the new options available today in the field of dental implants, some form of treatment can be done. We encourage people to get help as soon as possible if they are already having some problems with their current situation. These problems include; excessive use of denture adhesives, chewing only soft food, unable to taste some foods, constant mouth sores, unhappy with the appearance of one’s teeth and bite position (in some cases the nose and chin getting closer together). The sooner the problems are corrected with dental implants the more choices one has available for treatment. If you have any or all the above symptoms, implants could very well be the answer for you.

Tradition seems to say that someday we will lose our teeth and then succumb to the inevitable denture. Today the reality is that we can essentially keep all our teeth throughout our lives… But what about those, such as yourself, who have either already lost some or all of their teeth or are about to? Dental implants could be the answer. We can replace single teeth, several teeth in a section of the jaw, or entire arches of teeth. Some people are more prone to tooth decay or periodontal disease and more apt to lose teeth than others are. If you have a family history of denture use, you should make every effort to save your teeth and you may never need dentures. If you do lose one or more teeth, implants may be a good option to prevent the need for dentures.

A phenomena that occurs in a large majority of people who have had their upper back teeth missing for a long period of time is the increasing downward growth of the maxillary sinus. At birth it is the size of a pea, and progressively grows as the skull matures. This growth is at the expense of the surrounding bone. If you are considering replacing those upper back teeth with fixed teeth that stay in all the time, it may be necessary to perform a sinus elevation procedure to allow room for placement of dental implants into this area to support those teeth. This involves placement of bone and/or bone substitutes into an area which was previously occupied by the lower part of the maxillary sinus. These bone graft materials act as a matrix or scaffold which is replaced by the patient’s own new bone. This raises the floor of the sinus, reduces sinus volume and may allow the sinus to drain easier. Most importantly, this procedure increases the available bone use to place implants and restore the missing back teeth.

First, we will do everything possible to help you keep your remaining natural teeth if their supporting structures are within the acceptable range. Supporting structures means the gum and bone tissues immediately surrounding the tooth. A thorough evaluation must be made to determine if a tooth is healthy enough to keep or not. We do not want remaining unhealthy teeth to compromise the success of any new treatment performed whether it be dental implants or other treatment. We must then decide what is best for your specific needs to restore your missing back teeth. If you have had problems with removable partials, then dental implants used to anchor new replacement teeth may be the best answer for you.

Generally, this is not a good idea-over the years we have learned that it is generally much better not to attach implants to teeth. We frequently attach implants to each other, which can improve strength and works well. So, in a case like this, although it may be more expensive in the short term to place two implants instead of one, the long-term success is likely to be much better with the two implants.