Diagnostic

• Dental Examination
  A periodontal examination is a fundamental part of all dental examinations and is the first step in ensuring healthy gums. We will fully examine your mouth for signs of the disease.
• X-rays
• Oral Cancer Screening
  A comprehensive mouth-body approach that includes oral cancer screenings and thorough annual exams to detect signs of gum disease that might be indicative of other health issues including diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and premature and low birth-weight babies.

Preventive

• Teeth Cleaning
  Prophylaxis (teeth cleaning) – In its early stages, many cases of gum disease can be reversed using a simple cleaning procedure with a dental hygienist.
• Fluoride Treatment
  Professional teeth whitening can boost your confidence by giving you a brighter smile that can revitalize your entire face. It removes any stains that are on your teeth, even the deep ones that are difficult to remove at home with an over-the-counter teeth whitener. Some of these solutions can be applied at home, while other treatments are completed in the office. The level of whitening can be adjusted to meet your own special needs. If you have sensitive teeth or are concerned about sensitivity when whitening, you may want to consider a fluoride treatment. Discover how great it feels to smile more confidently at any occasion and call for your teeth whitening consultation today!
• Dental Sealants
  Sealants are a clear or white material applied to the chewing surfaces of the teeth. They keep out plaque and food to prevent cavities.
• Space Maintainers
  Space maintainers hold the place of a tooth that has prematurely fallen out of a child’s mouth due to decay or injury. A space maintainer can be a band or crown attached to another tooth. The dentist will remove the space maintainer once the permanent tooth starts to grow in. If a space maintainer is not put in the vacant space, the surrounding teeth can crowd and take over that space. This makes the permanent tooth come in crooked or crowded which can lead to difficulties in chewing and talking.

Restorative

• Fillings
  Amalgam fillings are traditional silver fillings. They offer similar benefits as composite fillings, but are generally used on back teeth where they will be less visible. Silver fillings have strength and durability which is critical on back teeth where chewing forces are greatest.
• Veneers
  Veneers are thin, tooth-colored coverings that are custom designed and permanently bonded to your tooth. The purpose is to protect the surface of damaged teeth. Veneers have other benefits including durability, an improved smile, and little to no removal of existing tooth structure. Veneers protect the surface of damaged teeth and may eliminate the need for more extensive treatment. Made out of state of the art porcelain, veneers mimic the properties of enamel, creating a beautiful, natural-looking smile.
• Crowns
  A dental filling is the repair of the crown of a natural tooth. It replaces the portion of the tooth that is missing or unstable due to tooth decay or fracture. Amalgam and composite fillings both have advantages and disadvantages. The type of filling your dentist may recommend typically depends on the situation and your priorities.
• Bridges
  A single prosthesis (crown) is used to replace one missing tooth—each prosthetic tooth attaches to its own implant. A partial prosthesis (fixed bridge) can replace two or more teeth and may require only two or three implants. A complete dental prosthesis (fixed bridge) replaces all the teeth on your upper and lower jaw. The number of implants varies depending upon which type of complete prosthesis (removable or fixed) is recommended. A removable prosthesis (over denture) attaches to a bar or ball-in-socket attachments, whereas a fixed prosthesis is permanent and removable only by the dentist.
• Dental Bonding
• Restorative Dentistry
  At University Dental Associates, our highly-trained team of dental professionals provides a wide range of restorative dental services. We repair functional structures of the mouth affecting chewing, speaking and maintaining a relaxed and aligned bite.

Endodontics

• Root Canal Treatment
  In past years, if a tooth had a diseased nerve, the patient would have lost that tooth. Today, with a special dental procedure called root canal therapy, the tooth can often be saved.

Periodontics

• Deep Cleaning

Prosthodontics

• Dentures
  Full or partial dentures give people who have lost all or some of their teeth the ability to eat, speak and smile. The full denture replaces all of the patient’s natural teeth and provides support for the cheeks and lips. Without the support of teeth, facial muscles may begin to sag. The partial denture simply replaces missing teeth so the remaining teeth do not move or become crooked. Crooked teeth are difficult to clean which results in decay and other dental problems.

Implants

• Dental Implants
  Oral surgeons care for patients who experience conditions such as problems with wisdom teeth, facial pain and misaligned jaws. They treat accident victims suffering from facial injuries, perform reconstructive and dental implant surgery, and care for patients with tumors or cysts of the jaws and functional and aesthetic conditions of the maxillofacial areas.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

• Oral Surgery
  If your child’s dentist determines that it is gum disease, the dentist will remove the root cause of the problem first—the plaque on your child’s teeth. The dentist will clean all around the affected areas and go down to the bottom of the pockets of the tooth to remove the most harmful bacteria. The dentist will also look to see if there are any loose fillings or crowns that may need to be repaired and take X-rays to check for bone loss. If the disease is severe, or doesn’t get better with time, your child may need oral surgery.
• Jaw Surgery
  Oral surgeons care for patients with more serious problems, such as wisdom teeth, facial pain and misaligned jaws. They specialize in procedures involving TMJ disorders, orthognathic surgery and wisdom teeth removal. Learn More
• Gum Surgery
  Gum surgery – In more advanced cases of gum disease, we may recommend gum surgery in conjunction with regenerative procedures in order to eliminate the disease and help restore lost tissues.
• Maxillofacial Surgery
  Oral and maxillofacial surgery refers to procedures performed by dental specialists who treat conditions, defects, injuries and aesthetic aspects of the mouth, teeth, jaws and face. Their training involves the completion of a minimum four-year hospital surgical residency program after dental school.
• Tooth Extractions
• Ridge Augmentation
  Reconstructive procedures restore the hard and soft tissues of the head and neck. Among the more common of these services are bone grafts to restore defects caused by tumors, soft tissue grafts to replace areas of the oral soft tissue that have been injured or diseased, and ridge augmentation procedures to restore the dental ridges in preparation for dentures.
• Bone Grafting
  Bone grafting – In the most advanced cases of gum disease, bone is lost around the teeth, leading to mobility and eventual tooth loss. We may recommend a bone grafting procedure in addition to one or more of the gum treatments above to regenerate the level of bone and stabilize health.

Orthodontics

• Orthodontics
  If you are wondering when to have your child’s smile evaluated by an orthodontist, the American Association of Orthodontics recommends every child be evaluated by an orthodontist by age seven, unless a specific problem is identified earlier. This is because this is the time when kids are starting to get their first adult molars which establish the back bite. However, it’s never too late to correct a smile as a growing number of our North Carolina orthodontics patients are adults who are now taking the time to give themselves the smiles they‘ve always wanted.
• Invisalign Orthodontics
  Invisalign is a new way of straightening teeth without calling attention to them. The procedure involves wearing a series of nearly undetectable aligners instead of the traditional brackets and wires. They are made specifically to fit your lifestyle allowing you to eat, drink, brush, and floss easily. Our patients love their Invisalign aligners because they are clear and virtually undetectable on teeth. And since Invisalign is removable, you can easily take the clear aligners out for special events. For all these reasons, Invisalign treatment is also a great option for adult patients.
• Braces
  Braces have one aim: to use consistent, gentle pressure to move teeth to proper alignment. Braces do their work over time, but it’s important to realize each case is different and gets treated based on a personalized diagnosis. Each case starts the same, involving x-rays, dental impressions, and photographs. From that information we create a treatment plan. The timing varies depending on age, condition, and patient follow through, but most cases take about 2 years.

General

• Teeth Whitening
  Take-home whitening: Our University Dental Associates professionals will take an impression of your teeth to design custom-fit trays that fit securely around each tooth. A whitening gel is added to the trays and the trays are placed in your mouth. The gel is available as a take home day or night solution. About two weeks after the procedure, you should notice a visibly, whiter smile.
• Cosmetic Dentistry
  If you are considering cosmetic dentistry, here are some questions you should ask yourself. The answers to these questions will help you and your dentist identify the elements of your smile that you do not like. They will also help clarify what you would like to see at the completion of your treatment.
• General Dentistry
  We offer all the services and specialties you need to maintain a healthy smile including preventive care, hygiene/cleanings, general dentistry, orthodontics/braces and Invisalign, oral surgery, endodontics/root canals, cosmetic dentistry/veneers, implants, crowns, bridges, partial dentures, complete dentures, teeth whitening/bleaching, pediatric/children's dentistry.