Tag Archives: virginia

Replacing broken amalgam fillings with dental crowns in Arlington, VA

October 16, 2016crownsarlington, cracked tooth, crown, dentist, Dr. Philip Gentry, northern virginia, Philip Gentry, porcelain crowns, virginiaDoctorGentry

This first patient came to see me for this broken lower molar. He said he had 4 silver amalgam fillings placed in his lower molar over the last 10 years by various dentists and the tooth or filling and kept breaking. I told him he needs a crown. Here’s the pre-treatment x-ray, and photo of the broken tooth before and after removal of the old filling and decay, composite build-up and placement of the porcelain crown.

This next patient broke her molar biting into an almond. I removed the broken part and old amalgam filling and restored this tooth with a crown. Here’s the before and after photos.

This next patient broke her last molar and old amalgam filling biting on hard seed. Here’s this before and after.

t is incredibly common for older silver amalgam fillings to weaken a tooth over time, leading to structural fractures when biting down on something hard. This patient fractured her last molar and old metal filling on a seed, requiring comprehensive restoration. I used a custom-crafted, tooth-colored dental crown to completely rebuild the tooth’s structure, sealing out decay and restoring maximum biting strength. As you can see from the before-and-after photos, the final crown looks completely natural and preserves the tooth beautifully.

If you are living with old silver fillings that are cracked, worn, or painful and want to learn more about our metal-free restoration options, my team and I are here to help. Call my office, Caring Dentists, directly at 703-522-7733 or visit our home page to schedule your consultation with me today!

Cavities of the day

October 15, 2016cavities-before/afterarlington, caries, cavities, cavity, composite restorations, decay, dentist, dentistry, Dr Gentry, Dr. Philip Gentry, northern virginia, Philip Gentry, virginiaDoctorGentry

This first patient had a large deep cavity on the inside (lingual surface) of her upper lateral incisor. The decay extended under the gum-line and the pulp was necrotic. We discussed treatment options and could have extracted the tooth and placed an implant, but I felt we could save this tooth with a root canal and composite build-up.

The next patient had a cavity on his upper molar. I quickly and easily removed the decay and placed a composite restoration.

Attending the Virginia Dental Association Meeting in Norfolk

September 20, 2016Virginia Dental Association Meetingarlington, dentist, dentistry, Dr Gentry, Dr. Philip Gentry, northern virginia, Philip Gentry, virginiaDoctorGentry

We attended the Virginia Dental Association Meeting September 15-18th in Norfolk, Virginia and learned about the latest advances in dentistry. I also was able to talk about the future of dentistry with the President of the American Dental Association, Dr. Gary Roberts, and Virginia Dental Association President, and friend, Dr. Vince Dougherty. As Virginia Dental Association Delegates we voted on issues that effect dentists and dental care in the state of Virginia.

vdameeting3 — House of Delegates Meeting

vdameeting — taking a break from the meetings

vdameeting2 — learning the latest advances in dentistry

usswisconsin — Battleship USS Wisconsin in Norfolk

What happens when you don’t brush

September 18, 2016cavities-before/after, dental bonding-before/afterarlington, caries, cavities, cavity, dental bonding, dentist, dentistry, Dr Gentry, Dr. Philip Gentry, northern virginia, Philip Gentry, virginiaDoctorGentry

This is what happens when you don’t brush your teeth and do not see a dentist for 10 years. Most of this 64 year old patient’s teeth looked like these two that I uploaded here. Some are just too decayed and will need to be extracted, these two teeth I was able to restore with bonded ceramic composite restorations. Here’s are his before and after photos.

decaybefore — before-decayed upper central incisor

decayafter — after-restored with composite

Immediate partial dentures I did this week

September 18, 2016immediate partial denturearlington, dentist, Dr Gentry, Dr. Philip Gentry, immediate partial denture, northern virginia, Philip Gentry, virginiaDoctorGentry

This 68 year old patient broke his 3 front teeth. Unfortunately the teeth were broken below the gumline and non-restorable, and we had to extract them. We placed dental implants at the time of extraction and I made him a temporary partial denture to use for 4 months while he is healing. After healing and the dental implants have osseointegrated, I will place fixed crowns on top of the implants, and cement them in place.

This 65 year old patient broke his front tooth off biting into corn on the cob at his office picnic party. I was able to glue the tooth back in temporarily while I made him a temporary partial denture. We then extracted the remaining root and placed an implant. In a few months after the implant has fully osseointegrated I will make the permanent fixed cemented implant tooth crown.

Chipped front teeth today

September 3, 2016chipped teeth-before/after, dental bonding-before/afterarlington, chipped tooth, composite restorations, dental bonding, dentist, dentistry, Dr Gentry, Dr. Philip Gentry, northern virginia, smile, virginiaDoctorGentry

This patient was playing hockey and his left front tooth was fractured by a hockey stick. I restored the tooth in 20 minutes with a ceramic composite bonded restoration. Looks great and he’s happy to get his great smile back.

chippedtoothafter — after cosmetic bonding

This next patient fractured the her front tooth biting into a hard piece of bread. I quickly repaired this tooth too.

This patient chipped his lower tooth when he bit down hard and the tooth fractured against the upper incisor. This was a quick and easy repair.

Implant case of the day

September 2, 2016dental implantsarlington, dental implant, dental implants, dentist, Dr Gentry, Dr. Philip Gentry, northern virginia, Philip Gentry, porcelain crowns, virginiaDoctorGentry

This patient was missing 2 lower right back teeth, and the tooth in between was broken, I restored him with 2 implants and a porcelain crown on the tooth between.

dental implant parts — crowns, custom abutments and gold screws

implant x-ray — x-ray to check seating of custom abutments

Cavities of the day

September 2, 2016cavities-before/after, cracked teetharlington, cavities, cavity, composite restorations, decay, dentist, Dr Gentry, Dr. Philip Gentry, northern virginia, Philip Gentry, virginiaDoctorGentry

This 30 year old patient drinks lemon water all day long. She also grinds her teeth. The grinding causes her teeth to crack and the acid from the lemon juice erodes the tooth causing demineralization of enamel allowing tooth decay.

fillingsafter — after-cleaning out the decay and restoring the teeth with ceramic composite restorations

happypatient2 — happy (and still numb) patient after

Next, his 23 year old patient had a crack in his back upper molar. The tooth had a 10 year old amalgam restoration in it. The crack allowed decay to spread deep under the old amalgam filling. The tooth was not sensitive and the patient was unaware that he had a cavity. I removed the old filling and cleaned up the decay, placed a fluoride base to protect the pulp and restored the tooth with a beautiful ceramic composite.

Restoration of a fractured upper central incisor tooth

August 21, 2016chipped teeth-before/after, dental bonding-before/afterarlington, chipped tooth, composite restorations, dental bonding, dentist, Dr Gentry, Dr. Philip Gentry, northern virginia, Philip Gentry, smile, tooth bonding, virginiaDoctorGentry

This 14 year old patient chipped his front tooth on the metal restraint bar on a ride at Disney World. Today I repaired the tooth with a ceramic composite bonded restoration in 30 minutes.