Preventive Dental Care in Longmont

Digital Technology


The use of new technology has changed the face of dentistry.  Each new product gives you the best in comfort, health, and prevention.  We are now able to produce images right away in real-time.  This is not only beneficial to you, but also aids the environment because we are no longer using harsh chemicals to produce your images.

Digital X-Rays

Our offices uses digital sensors to take pictures of the inside anatomy of your teeth and bone.  We are able to immediately view your x-rays right in your own private suite as we move throughout your mouth.  Digital x-rays are great because you are exposed to considerably less radiation than with traditional x-rays.  It is imperative to maintain up-to-date x-rays so that our dental team is able to view decay or infection before it gets to the point of irreversible damage.  Oftentimes, these problem areas cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Digital Panorex

A panorex is a digital image of all of your teeth at once. This allows us to view your nasal passage, throat and jaw.  This image is helpful in planning the removal of wisdom teeth, referrals to specialists, and orthodontic treatment options.

Intra-Oral Camera


Intra-oral cameras capture detailed images of the inside of your mouth.  This allows you to see what we see, giving you a better understanding of your teeth and tissue. The intra-oral camera handpiece is approximately the size of a dental mirror and has a built in light source. It serves as a tiny video camera, allowing us to zoom in on problem areas and give you a real-time tour of your entire mouth. With a clear understanding of your dental condition, you can make treatment decisions with confidence.

Preventive Dental Services

We utilize state of the art diagnostic and preventive care tools in order to prevent disease and decay helping you to avoid costly treatments in the future to remove decay, restore teeth and treat gum disease.

Adult Cleaning

Keeping your tissue healthy is not just a goal but a priority in our office.  Healthy tissue helps to maintain your existing teeth, promotes pleasant breath, and acts as the foundation for all of your future restorations.  During regular adult cleanings, we use an ultrasonic scaler to remove calculus buildup on your teeth and along your gum line.  Our hygienist will then floss and polish your teeth.  Generally, guests that are able to utilize this type of cleaning have healthy tissue.

Gross Debridement

Often we find that there is a need for a “medium” level cleaning.  This cleaning involves removing calculus buildup with an ultrasonic scaler on your teeth and slightly below the gum line.  This type of cleaning is usually for those guests who have not had their teeth cleaned in over a year.  There are signs of bone and tissue attachment loss which is the beginning of periodontal (gum) disease.  Common signs that you are in this category are bleeding after brushing and flossing as well as bad breath on a regular basis.  After four to six weeks, we re-evaluate your tissue health, monitor your progress, polish your teeth, possibly treat infected tissue with an antibiotic gel, and formulate a timeline for your future hygiene appointments.

Periodontal Cleaning

Periodontal maintenance is performed after you have successfully complete scaling and root planing, sometimes known as “deep cleanings”.  Scaling and root planing is a careful cleaning of the root surfaces to remove plaque and calculus [tartar] from deep periodontal pockets and to smooth the tooth root to remove bacterial toxins.  This may be followed by additional therapies such as local delivery antimicrobials and laser therapy as needed on a case-by-case basis.

In order to maintain current bone levels and increase healthy tissue attachment, a guest will be placed on a three to four month periodontal maintenance cleaning schedule determined by Dr. Farmer or her hygienist.

OralDNA Testing

We are proud to offer the OralDNA testing and have added this to our Periodontal cleaning standard of care. Great strides have been made in the research and development of products and treatments to treat periodontal disease and periodontal infection. OralDNA testing provides us with more information about a guest’s specific bacteria and risk factors. This non invasive test allows us to tailor the treatment that will provide superior results.

Child Cleaning

Once your child’s first tooth begins to come in, it is important to visit with a dentist.  In the beginning, it is to educate yourself, the parent, as well as familiarize your child with the process of regular dental visits.  Up to the age of three of four, we do “happy visits”.  These visits involve letting your children play with the suction, sit in the dental chair, and possibly count their teeth.  Eventually they will become comfortable enough to let us perform a complete exam, including digital x-rays and cleaning.  Children’s cleanings continue until the all of their permanent teeth come in, are in active orthodontic treatment, or if  calculus builds up more rapidly than normal.

Laser Therapy

Our office utilizes a high performance soft tissue laser.  It can be used in surgeries to lessen post-operative complications, infections, and guest discomfort which are problems often associated with scalpel incisions or electrosurge during dental surgeries.  It can also be used to reduce bacteria and encourage faster healing in deep gingival pockets caused by periodontal disease.  Our diode laser can stop an apthous ulcer or herpetic lesion from forming, or if formed, can decrease the healing time and stop the pain immediately.  Laser therapy can also be used to make your teeth less sensitive.

Atridox

Atridox or doxicline hyclate, is a locally applied antibiotic that is used in our office as an adjunctive therapy in the treatment of chronic adult periodontitis.  It is a major advancement in the treatment of gum disease.  It is an antibiotic gel that is placed gently below the gumline into the periodontal pocket where the bacteria thrive and cause infection and bone loss.  It has a controlled slow release, is bio-absorbable (does not need to be removed), and is a precise targeted therapy.  It increases clinical attachment and lowers probing depths and bleeding.

Oral Cancer Screening

Oral cancer is on the rise due to the increase of HPV.  New research shows that twenty five percent of people that have oral cancer have no contributing risk factors.  They do not smoke, do not have a family history of cancer, and are not regular alcohol drinkers.

Early detection can significantly minimize the amount of treatment needed once you have been diagnosed with oral cancer.

Utilizing the Vizilite Oral Cancer Screening, we are able to see abnormal tissue cells that we would otherwise be unable to see with the naked eye during routine examinations, potentially saving a guest’s life. We also offers an OralRisk HPV test that can determine increased risk of HPV related oral and throat cancers.

Root Canal Therapy

When infection damages the pulp of the tooth your dentist or an endodontist may have to perform root canal therapy to save your tooth.

This treatment involves opening the tooth; removing the damaged pulp from the inside; and then disinfecting, shaping, filling and sealing the tooth. Depending on how much infection is present, you may be put on a medicine regimen prior to the procedure.