The Downey Dentist

The Downey Dentist qualifies as both a general dentist and, in many areas, a specialist dental office. As to general dentistry, we provide the full range of services you are likely to ordinarily need.

General dentistry services include such things as:

• Exams, tooth cleanings, X-rays, and good advice on improving your oral health.
• Curing cavities and putting in white or metal fillings. We typically use enamel-colored white resin for fillings but can accommodate you if you'd like a different filling material.
• Root canals can be performed to save a tooth that is badly decayed on the inside. We know how to cleanse the infected tooth cavity and properly fill it with gutta percha, then crown it so your tooth is strong, fully functional, and looks great!
• Tooth extractions, both simple and complex (where a tooth must be split or is lodged up against another tooth). We always try to save your natural tooth first, but we are skilled at extractions when they're necessary.
• Crown placements. We can place a crown on your root canal tooth, on a dental implant, or on a cracked or badly chipped or worn tooth. We offer you porcelain, metal, metal-fused-to-porcelain, ceramic, and composite resin as crown material options.
• Bridges and dentures (fixed or removable,) are also within our sphere of expertise.

We can be the regular dentist for you and your whole family. We understand the dental needs of patients of every age group, including children, and we have many families that choose us as their permanent family dentist.

We work with you on scheduling, keeping ourselves as flexible as possible to cater to your busy schedule. We even do same-day appointments when necessary and possible.

Also, we understand how expensive it can be to raise and care for a family. Therefore, we keep ourselves affordable via competitive pricing, accepting most dental insurance plans, accepting credit cards and most payment methods, allowing for affordable payment plans, and giving low or no interest financing to our clients.

It may be ideal to plan a dental appointment months, or at least weeks, in advance - but that's not always feasible. Sometimes, dental emergencies come up quite suddenly and you can't afford to wait for days on end.

We therefore provide 24/7 emergency care and allow for short notice, or immediate, dental appointments for emergencies.

What exactly is a dental emergency? In general, a cracked or broken off tooth, an excruciatingly painful tooth ache, or a crown, bridge, or other dental appliance that's come loose would qualify. And for anything you feel to be a dental emergency, don't hesitate to call us for immediate help! 

Dental implants are the most advanced way of correcting tooth loss in modern dentistry. They have many advantages over dentures and bridges, although those methods of course still have their usefulness in certain situations.

A dental implant is formed from an implant "root," which is a titanium metal rod that fuses safely to the jawbone as your mouth heals post-op. An abutment used to give the rod extra support, and a dental crown caps the implant rod.

The end result is an artificial tooth that looks, feels, and function just like a natural tooth. You also care for the implant just like a natural tooth - no need to worry about food particles getting trapped under a dental appliance or about removing dentures and cleaning them each day. 

Also, dental implants won't make your gums sore or wear down your alveolar ridge like dentures can. And, unlike dentures, the regular pressure implants put on your gums/jawbone prevent them from deteriorating over time.

Professional teeth whitening removes deep-seated stains from your teeth that at-home methods simply cannot compete with. At The Downey Dentist, we use Zoom Teeth Whitening, which is widely regarded by dentists as the premier tooth "bleaching" method.

Zoom can brighten your teeth to several shades whiter. And the procedure only takes one relatively brief office visit to complete.

Another cosmetic dental procedure, aside from Zoom Teeth Whitening, that we provide at The Downey Dentist is the application of dental bonds and veneers.

Bonding can be used to seal small fissures, chips, and imperfections in your tooth surface. But it also can hide discolorations. We use enamel colored bonding agents that are safe, durable, and affordable.

Porcelain veneers can also cover over dental discolorations. These are paper-thin coverings that bond to your tooth. Veneers are normally used to cover larger areas of a tooth (maybe the whole front) and/or to shrink inter-dental gaps.

We offer a variety of different types of dental crown, including: porcelain, metal, metal-fused-to-porcelain, ceramic, zirconia, and composite resin.

Crowns may be needed to cap a root canal tooth or dental implant root, or to strengthen a tooth that is cracked, chipped, worn down, or otherwise badly damaged.

We can help you understand the differences among different crown materials and choose the one that's right for you.

Although dental implants are usually the best option for restoring a lost tooth, dental bridge and dentures still have their place.

A bridge may be a good option if only one or two teeth are missing and if the missing teeth or far back in the mouth. Dentures can be partial or full, removable or fixed, and may suit the situation if your mouth isn't ready for implants or if you don't want implants.

Bridges and dentures have long helped overcome tooth migration, bone/gum loss, difficulty chewing or speaking, and other problems caused by tooth loss.

A filling is the answer when it's just a cavity, and extraction followed by a dental implant may be the solution when a tooth is too badly damaged to save. But a root canal is best for those "in between" situations where the tooth's pulp is infected but the tooth structure itself is intact.

A root canal operation will remove infected pulp, clean the tooth canal, fill in the tooth cavity with gutta percha, and then cap the tooth with a crown to keep it strong and fully functional.

At The Downey Dentist, we handle orthodontics as well. We are experts in recommending, installing, and monitoring all types of traditional braces to help correct tooth misalignments.

However, we also offer Invisalign, a kind of ”invisible braces" that consist of series of acrylic trays that gradually nudge teeth into their proper position. Invisalign trays are translucent, and people may not even know you're wearing them unless they see your teeth up-close.

While metal braces are required for certain tooth alignment problems, many prefer Invisalign whenever they're an option.