Family Dentistry in Portsmouth, NH
Comprehensive Exams
Comprehensive Exams
Regular dental check-ups are vital to maintaining not only the health of your smile but also your overall well-being. During your regular six-month visits, we’ll perform a complete comprehensive exam to check your smile’s health and to address any ongoing issues.
Your exam includes:
- X-rays
- Oral cancer screening
- Periodontal (gum) evaluation
- Tooth decay examination
- Restorations check-up
This complete assessment allows Dr. Santana-Paine to understand your current oral health situation and helps her create a preventative treatment plan for your needs.
By catching issues early, we make sure they don’t become more significant problems, and we’re able to help you continue your journey to complete wellness.
Oral Hygiene
Oral Hygiene
When it comes to your dental care, our fabulous family dentistry hygiene appointments are the ideal comprehensive solution.
During this appointment, we focus on the removal of:
- Plaque
- Calculus (tartar)
- Stains
Periodontal Therapy
Periodontal Therapy
Your gums are the foundation for your healthy smile and can have a big impact on your overall wellness too. When you don’t look after your gums with a solid oral hygiene routine or regular hygiene visits, problems can arise.
Periodontal (gum) disease appears when plaque and calculus build up between your teeth. These begin to damage your surrounding gums and supporting bone. If left untreated, it can become a serious condition linked to other health concerns, such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and more.
Common symptoms of gum disease include:
- Red, irritated, bleeding, or swollen gums
- Chronic bad breath
- Loose teeth
- Extreme tooth sensitivity
- Receding gum line
- Abscessed teeth
Dr. Santana-Paine can help you maintain or restore your gum’s health through periodontal therapy. This treatment area ranges from regular cleanings (for prevention) to scaling and root planing (for more severe cases).
Your treatment plan will be created according to your specific needs and the severity of your case. Schedule your appointment today, and let us help you safeguard your overall health.
Oral Cancer Screenings
The VELscope® system emits a blue fluorescent light that can distinguish healthy tissue (lights up) from tissue that has undergone abnormal changes (remains dark). This allows Dr. Santana-Paine to catch oral cancer at its earliest stages, increasing your chance for effective treatment.
If some abnormalities are noted, Dr. Santana-Paine will take a biopsy to determine the course to follow. You can trust her to work alongside your physician to make a full diagnosis and guide you through your treatment plan.
The VELscope® system emits a blue fluorescent light that can distinguish healthy tissue (lights up) from tissue that has undergone abnormal changes (remains dark). This allows Dr. Santana-Paine to catch oral cancer at its earliest stages, increasing your chance for effective treatment.
If some abnormalities are noted, Dr. Santana-Paine will take a biopsy to determine the course to follow. You can trust her to work alongside your physician to make a full diagnosis and guide you through your treatment plan.
“The hygienists at Bay Breeze Dentistry are always caring, thorough, and educational. The staff has never left me waiting for any reason. Dr. Santana is also super skilled and knowledgeable about what your dental needs are. She makes time to see you and do what’s truly best for you.”
Zoe D. (Actual Patient)
“The hygienists at Bay Breeze Dentistry are always caring, thorough, and educational. The staff has never left me waiting for any reason. Dr. Santana is also super skilled and knowledgeable about what your dental needs are. She makes time to see you and do what’s truly best for you.”
Zoe D. (Actual Patient)
Mouthguards
Mouthguards
Our mouthguards provide a friendly and straightforward treatment. If you are suffering from temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain caused by unbalanced forces from your jaw muscles, a mouthguard can help ease your pain.
Using occlusal splint therapy (aka a specialized mouthguard), our Portsmouth dentist can lower the pressure on your jaw joint and help relieve your discomfort.
This treatment involves using a plastic appliance (mouthguard) custom-made to fit comfortably in your mouth. Your mouthguard protects your teeth and brings support to your TMJ joint and the surrounding muscles.
Dr. Santana-Paine uses splint therapy as a diagnostic tool to evaluate your symptoms and then creates the ideal treatment plan to relieve your pain while restoring your optimal health.
Metal-Free Fillings
Dr. Santana-Paine can restore your smile with the use of tooth-colored fillings. She does this by using composite fillings to treat cavities and create a functional and beautiful smile.
Your Portsmouth dentist will numb the area before removing all the decay and cleaning the affected area. Then, she’ll place a filling material that matches your tooth’s shade and shape it accordingly.
The result is a seamless restoration that mimics your natural tooth discreetly and beautifully.
Crowns & Bridges
Crowns & Bridges
When you need quality dental restoration, look no further than Bay Breeze Dentistry! All our solutions are convenient and comfortable, and blend in seamlessly with your smile.
Two of our most common restorative services are crowns and bridges. Discover how these restorations could protect and enhance your smile. You can visit us for dental crowns in Portsmouth.
If your tooth is severely cracked, fractured, or decayed, a dental crown could be your ideal solution. A dental crown is placed on top of the damaged tooth to restore its shape, function, and appearance.
Before getting a crown, your natural tooth must first undergo a preparation process to enable the crown to fit. We’ll then take impressions of your tooth to create a crown that blends into your smile.
After the crown is created, we’ll place it and bond it with a special adhesive.
In the past, getting a crown meant multiple appointments and a lot of waiting, but not anymore! Thanks to our PLANMECA CAD/CAM technology, we can custom craft your new crown right here in our office and complete your treatment in as little as one visit!
Dental bridges are used to replace a missing tooth when the surrounding teeth are still healthy.
This custom-made restoration consists of two crowns bonded to each side of an artificial tooth. Our Portsmouth restorative dentist uses CAD/CAM technology to take digital impressions and formulate the bridge in-house.
Once the bridge is created, the crowns will be placed over the adjacent teeth (to the gap) to anchor and hold the artificial tooth in place.
This restoration gives you a natural-looking and fully functional smile.
Sealants
Prevention is vital for a long-lasting happy and healthy smile. With this in mind, Dr. Santana-Paine offers dental sealants to all our patients, both young and old. As a preventative measure, these sealants help protect your smile from cavities and decay. How?
Well, a sealant is a thin plastic coating that acts as a barrier against plaque and bacteria. It fills in pits and grooves on your tooth’s surface, preventing food or debris from becoming stuck.
This family dentistry treatment requires your tooth (or teeth) to be thoroughly cleaned before starting. Then, a special solution is applied to your tooth’s surface to help the sealant bond. After rinsing and drying your tooth, your sealant will be carefully painted onto its surface. Depending on the type of sealant, it will either harden automatically or will need a special light to do so.
Sealants are easy to apply, with the process only taking a couple of minutes per tooth. Plus, it’s pain-free!
Dentures
Dentures
Dentures are custom-made, removable restorations for when multiple teeth or all the teeth are missing. These restorations are made to look and feel just like your natural teeth while providing a beautiful, comfortable, and functional smile.
Dentures come in two main forms:
Partial dentures replace only a few missing teeth and help keep other teeth from shifting out of place.
Complete dentures replace an entire upper or lower set of teeth.
Both of our denture options are custom-made for you using digital impressions and are removable for your comfort.
The benefits of having dentures should not be underestimated. They include:
- Being able to eat your favorite foods and snacks
- Allowing you to speak more clearly
- Maintaining good gum health
- Having a full smile again
Dental Implants
Are you missing a tooth due to poor oral hygiene or a traumatic incident? Dental implants could be an ideal and permanent solution for you!
A dental implant is an artificial post made from titanium that’s surgically inserted into your jawbone. The post mimics a natural tooth root and acts as an anchor for common dental restorations such as crowns, bridges, or dentures.
If you are a candidate for dental implants, Dr. Santana-Paine may refer you to a local oral surgeon who can perform the implantation. Once an implant is placed, Dr. Santana-Paine can focus on creating the ideal implant restoration for your individual needs.
Restore your ability to speak, eat, laugh, and smile with this state-of-the-art restorative dentistry solution!
Full Mouth Reconstruction
Full Mouth Reconstruction
Dr. Santana-Paine uses her knowledge and expertise in BioRejuvenation Dentistry to offer a solution to more comprehensive dental problems. If you require multiple dental services, she can provide a unique treatment plan using full mouth reconstruction.
This approach phases out treatment and involves the use of common dental procedures, such as:
- Dental Implants
- Crowns & Bridges
- Partial and Complete Dentures
- Porcelain Veneers
- Teeth Whitening
- Mouthguards
- And so much more…
You can feel excited and relaxed about our comprehensive approach that produces positive outcomes.
Inlays & Onlays
Inlays and onlays are used to repair teeth that are cracked, fractured, or damaged by severe decay or trauma. Both of these restorations are custom-made using our CAD/CAM technology to benefit from same-day care.
To start, Dr. Santana-Paine takes impressions of your damaged teeth. She’ll then assess if an inlay or onlay is the best option for you.
An inlay is placed between the little points (cusps) of your premolar or molar teeth. An onlay covers one or more of these cusps and expands onto the chewing surface of your tooth.
Both restorations use a tooth-colored composite material and are created in-house before being bonded to the remaining part of your tooth. Our Portsmouth dentist then finishes the procedure by polishing the restoration to produce a beautiful and discreet result!
When it comes to your dental care, our fabulous family dentistry hygiene appointments are the ideal comprehensive solution.
During this appointment, we focus on the removal of:
- Plaque
- Calculus (tartar)
- Stains
Laser Dentistry
Laser Dentistry
Dental lasers provide conservative, non-invasive, and gentle treatments.
At Bay Breeze Dentistry, we use the Fontona LightWalker® Laser. It’s versatile and performs a variety of dental and cosmetic treatments. Highlights include:
- Diminishing snoring and opening your airway to increase your quality of sleep
- Eliminating the need for anesthetic and drilling for cavity preparation
- Having procedures like crown lengthening performed in office, no referral needed
- Giving you fuller, smoother lips with no downtime or injectables
- Stimulating new collagen production
- Naturally tightening and toning your skin to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines with no pain, downtime, fillers, BOTOX, or toxins
