Want to know more about our staff?

🌟Office Spotlight🌟

Meet Jessie!

Jessie is one of our great dental assistants. She enjoys meeting patients and making them feel comfortable. If you are nervous, she is the one to help you feel confident and assured before you leave. She likes to see you smile and laugh. She love spending time with her 4 boys. She enjoys sushi🍣, going to lunch, watching movies, hiking⛰, playing sports and cooking🍱. Cooking is her passion. She also speaks 3 languages! Thanks for all you do Jessie. We love you! ❤️

🌟Office Spotlight🌟

Meet Angela!

She is one of our Dental Hygienist. She loves dentistry and has been in the field for over 11 years. 👩🏻‍⚕️ Angela enjoys building relationships with each individual patient, along with helping you feel amazing about your teeth. A healthy clean mouth is where it all starts. She has 2 adorable children, is a real salt lake soccer fan, an aspiring runner, and Ice Cream Fanatic! Thanks for all your hard work Angela!💞

🌟Office Spotlight🌟

Meet Lisa!

She is our Marketing coordinator! Lisa's roll in the office is to come up with new and innovative ways of helping our staff deliver the best dental care we have to offer.👨🏻‍⚕️ She truly enjoys hearing about our patients having outstanding experiences and it gives her great job satisfaction.🏆 When she is not at work She enjoys being being a mom with 4 wild kids! Going running or taking pictures. She love to travel, and you might even find her in Hawaii a few times a year. 🌸🌺

Happy Easter

 We Hope you had a great Easter weekend! We are so grateful to have such "Eggcellent" patients like you!

Dental Mouth Guards

Dental Mouth Guard

 

Mouth guards are coverings worn over teeth, and often used to protect teeth from injury from teeth grinding and during sports.

There are three types of mouth guards:

1. Stock mouth protectors are preformed and come ready to wear. They are inexpensive and can be bought at most sporting good stores and department stores. However, little can be done to adjust their fit, they are bulky, make breathing and talking difficult, and they provide little or no protection. Dentists do not recommend their use.
2. Boil and bite mouth protectors also can be bought at many sporting goods stores and may offer a better fit than stock mouth protectors. The "boil and bite" mouth guard is made from thermoplastic material. It is placed in hot water to soften, then placed in the mouth and shaped around the teeth using finger and tongue pressure.
3. Custom-fitted mouth protectors are individually designed and made in a dental office or a professional laboratory based on your dentist's instructions. First, your dentist will make an impression of your teeth and a mouth guard is then molded over the model using a special material. Due to the use of the special material and because of the extra time and work involved, this custom-made mouth guard is more expensive than the other types, but it provides the most comfort and protection.

Generally, mouth guards cover your upper teeth only, but in some instances (such as if you wear braces or another fixed dental appliance on your lower jaw), your dentist will make a mouth guard for the lower teeth as well. Your dentist can suggest the best mouth guard for you. An effective mouth guard should be comfortable, resist tears, be durable and easy to clean, and should not restrict your breathing or speech.

If you grind your teeth at night, a special mouth guard-type of dental appliance -- called a nocturnal bite plate or bite splint -- may be created to prevent tooth damage.

Who Needs a Mouth Guard?

Mouth guards should be used by anyone -- both children and adults -- who play contact sports such as football, boxing, soccer, ice hockey, basketball, lacrosse, and field hockey. However, even those participating in non-contact sports (for example, gymnastics) and any recreational activity (for example, skateboarding, mountain biking) that might pose a risk of injury to the mouth would benefit from wearing a protective mouth guard.
Adults and children who grind their teeth at night should have a nocturnal bite plate or bite splint made to prevent tooth damage.

Why Use a Mouth Guard When Playing Sports?

Because accidents can happen during any physical activity, the advantage of using a mouth guard during sports is that it can help limit the risk of mouth-related injuries to your lips, tongue, and soft tissues of your mouth. Mouth guards also help you avoid chipped or broken teeth, nerve damage to a tooth, or even tooth loss.

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All services are provided by our Dentist and/or staff in Murray, Utah.
Randy Downing

Whitening and Coffee

Whitening and Coffee 

           A big question we get asked is "If I whiten my teeth will I have to give up my coffee?" Not a chance! Lets go over some tips and tricks on how to maintain your pearly whites after and during your whitening treatment.

Why does Coffee, tea or other high pigmented drinks stain our teeth?

          Our tooth enamel contains microscopic pits and ridges that can hold particles of food and drink. Pigments from dark-colored drinks such as coffee, tea, and soda can become embedded in those cracks and ridges and, if the proper steps are not taken, can cause permanent, yellowing stains on your teeth.

#1 Brush and floss your teeth twice a day.
The healthier and cleaner your teeth are the less chance you have of building stain because there really isn't anything for the stain to stick too.

#2 Rinse with water after you drink.
We don't want you running to the bathroom to brush right after your coffee or soda. This can actually damage your teeth because of the acidic levels your mouth has from your drinks. Just give your mouth a quick rinse with water and that will do the trick.

#3 Drink your coffee through a straw.
I know it seems kinda weird but trust me, instead of bathing your teeth in that brown colored delicious coffee, just drink it through a straw. This makes it so your teeth aren't being constantly bathed (especially your front teeth that everyone sees) in that high colored pigment. When you drink it through a straw it skips your teeth and goes right into your stomach. (This goes for any colored drink coffee, tea, soda, even wine.)

#4 Avoid eating or drinking items that could stain your teeth RIGHT after you bleach.

Right after you bleach you want to avoid all those colored drinks just while your teeth are soaking in all that beautiful white color. It doesn't have to be forever just an hour.

We hope this helps you with some of the questions you have been thinking of. These apply to the in office bleaching or as simply as your at home trays. 

Cottonwood Family Dental 8012624662

Hartley RDH 

Anxiety, Phobia and a Fear of the Dentist

What is your reason for not coming to the dentist this year? 

Most People can live with having some anxiety about going to the dentist. For those with dental phobia, however, the thought of a dental visit is terrifying. 

 Don't let this be you, missing the dentist can cause not only pain if you have active decay that doesn't get diagnosed but sometimes a costly amount of money to fix it.

Depending on the severity of fear and anxiety, nitrous oxide (laughing gas) can be combined with oral medication which is taken before your treatment to help you relax even further. It is a great choice for people who fear needles. You will be awake and aware of your surroundings but relaxed and free of anxiety. It also helps create short term partial memory loss, so most patients do remember discomfort, smells or noises associated with the dental procedures performed.

Nitrous oxide is administered through the nose by simple inhalation while your dentist works on your teeth. The amount of gas is regulated by the dentist so he has full control over the amount of anxiety control which is needed for each individual patient.

Fear of needles?

Inhalation sedation is very safe and there is almost no side effect of it. The effects of the laughing gas wear off quickly as so that you can drive yourself home after finishing your procedure without the need of an escort.

The ADA recommends going to the dentist every 6 months for the proper preventive care. If this is fearful ask your dentist for nitrous oxide during your check up appointments. This will help you prevent future decay and prevent unwanted time in the dental chair. 

Schedule your appointment today 8012624662
Monday-Saturday with evenings and early morning available.

Hartley RDH 

Cottonwood Family Dental