Healthy Gums Mean A Healthy Smile

Believe it or not, gum disease, also known as periodontal disease, can become a serious matter if it’s not taken care of at the right time. With over 80% of the population living with some form of gum disease, odds are you may be suffering from it and not even be aware. If left untreated, gum disease can affect different areas of your body, perhaps resulting in bone loss, heart disease, stroke, dementia, and much more. Thankfully, Dr Gilbert Lopez is able to tackle your gum disease with gum disease therapy.

Gum disease is the number one reason for tooth loss, so everyone at New Smile Dental takes it very seriously. A couple of the ways we treat gum disease non-surgically is scaling. Scaling removes the tartar, also known as calculus, from below the gum line. This way, we can remove the bacteria affecting your teeth. Root planing is another way of helping prevent gum disease; it lessens the rough areas on your teeth’s roots. Another thing we do is tissue regeneration, meaning we place healthy gum tissue is placed on infected gum tissue, promoting healthy gum growth and reattachment to the tooth.

There are things you can do at home to prevent gum disease. Flossing and brushing your teeth twice daily, preferably after every meal, is a great and easy way to eliminate the bacteria from sitting in your mouth. Be sure to devote yourself to using antibacterial mouthwash; it’s is a great way to erase the bacteria your tooth brush may have missed. Don’t worry if you’re unable to brush your teeth after every meal, chewing gum is a great option, as it catches food particles, preventing them to make your gums their new home.

If your gums are swollen, sensitive, or bleed when you brush them, call our office immediate to make an appointment with Dr. Lopez, and we all will be glad to help!

At New Smile Dental, we focus on enhancing and restoring the beauty of your smile with help from the latest dental technology. Dr. Gilbert Lopez treats patients from Fort Smith and Van Buren, AR and surrounding areas. Call us today to schedule your next appointment.

Welcome the New Year with Porcelain Veneers!

There are a lot of disadvantages associated with being insecure about your smile. You may not want to meet new people, or may be hesitant to laugh in public. The good news is that you are not alone and there is a solution to your dental woes. Dr. Gilbert Lopez may recommend porcelain veneers - a wonderful, easy way to revolutionize your smile in little to no time!

The process of getting porcelain veneers starts with a consultation with Dr. Lopez. During the consultation, he will be able to evaluate the current state of your teeth, ask you about your long term goals regarding your smile, and answer any questions or concerns you may have. If you are a candidate, Dr. Lopez will make impressions of your teeth, and send those impressions to a dental lab to have your custom porcelain veneers made. When it’s time to apply your 0.5mm thick porcelain veneers, your natural tooth is prepared, removing a little bit of the enamel to make room. Your veneer surrounds your natural tooth, and is made permanent with resin cement. In the end, you’re left with an effortlessly beautiful smile!

One of the big plusses to porcelain veneers is the fact they look like your natural tooth! Like many people, you may not want it to be obvious you had any cosmetic work done, and porcelain veneers is a great way to look as natural as possible. They are also stain resistant, so you’re sure to smile-ready at any given time! You will be able to make a great first impression, laugh, smile, and anything else you may do in complete confidence!

If you feel as though Dr. Lopez may be able to help you achieve the smile of your dreams, make an appointment today! Welcome the New Year with a new smile!

At New Smile Dental, we focus on enhancing and restoring the beauty of your smile with help from the latest dental technology. Dr. Gilbert Lopez treats patients from Fort Smith and Van Buren, AR and surrounding areas. Call us today to schedule your next appointment.

Take Advantage of Your Dental Insurance Before 2014

A lot of people don’t know that you actually save money in the long run when you take advantage of your dental insurance before the year ends. Though some insurance companies operate by a fiscal year, most of them abide the calendar year, meaning as soon as it strikes midnight on December 30, your benefits are long gone.

Unlike your cell phone minutes, your dental benefits do not roll over to the next year. You work hard to earn the benefits you have, accumulating possibly hundreds of dollars only to have it wasted. When you use your benefits before the year is up, you will be able to take advantage of your deductible before it resets. Also, it gives you the ability to use up your annual maximums. One of the more important reasons to take advantage of your dental benefits before the year ends is to take care of dental issues before it gets worse. What may appear to be a simple cavity or discomfort now could turn into something a lot more serious and expensive down the road.

If you are unsure about what your dental benefits may be or when they expire, ask your employer, or use the company handbook as a reference. Either way, being able to use your dental benefits before the year ends is beneficial for your money, and, more importantly, your teeth.

At New Smile Dental, we focus on enhancing and restoring the beauty of your smile with help from the latest dental technology. Dr. Gilbert Lopez treats patients from Fort Smith and Van Buren, AR and surrounding areas. Call us today to schedule your next appointment.

Root Canal Therapy in Fort Smith and Van Buren, AR

If you have a tooth that has become infected, it is important to treat the infection to keep you from losing the tooth as well as restore health to your smile. At New Smile Dental, we can use root canal therapy to treat your infected tooth and improve your oral health.

Root canal therapy is an important treatment because it addresses an infection inside of your tooth. When decay is allowed to breach the enamel of the tooth, it allows the pulp inside of the tooth to become infected. This is often a painful infection that can lead to tooth loss if left untreated for too long. Other symptoms include increased sensitivity to hot and cold food and drinks, gum swelling and abscesses of the gums. If we determine that your root canal is indeed infected, we can restore your tooth with root canal therapy.

For your treatment we’ll start by numbing the affected area to keep your comfortable. We’ll use a drill and additional tools to remove the infected inner pulp of your tooth. It will be replaced with a special material that will protect the sensitive root canal. We will top your tooth with a crown to complete your restoration.

If you’re suffering from a root canal infection, we can help restore the health of your smile with root canal therapy. This treatment will help to restore strength and function to your tooth, as well as help protect against further infection. The health of your smile is important so give us a call today to see how we can help.

At New Smile Dental, we focus on enhancing and restoring the beauty of your smile with help from the latest dental technology. Dr. Gilbert Lopez treats patients from Fort Smith and Van Buren, AR and surrounding areas. Call us today to schedule your next appointment.

Join Us for Smile Fest this Saturday, October 19th

Are you or someone you know looking for a new dentist? Are you already our patient and would be interested in some deals on dental services?  New Smile Dental would like to invite everyone to attend our Smile Fest on Saturday, October 19^th. This is a great way to either get an introduction to our practice or have a chance to take advantage of some great deals and special offers.

We will have snacks and tours of our office available at our Smile Fest. This is also a great opportunity to meet our caring staff. There will be a raffle where over $3,000 in various dental services will be given away. Come by our office at 1021 S. 21^st St. in Fort Smith, Arkansas from 11am-4pm. We’re located around the corner from the Kum-N-Go gas station on Dodson and across the street from Wingfoot Tire. 

We offer a wide variety of dental services at our office and would like to help even more people make it with a smile. Come to our Smile Fest this weekend to learn more about how we can help improve your smile and your life. We will be offering education on insurance coverage, payment plans, preventative dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, and oral surgery. Click here for a flyer with more information on the event.

At New Smile Dental, we focus on enhancing and restoring the beauty of your smile with help from the latest dental technology. Dr. Gilbert Lopez treats patients from Fort Smith and Van Buren, AR and surrounding areas. Call us today to schedule your next appointment.

Brighten Your Smile with Teeth Whitening from Dr. Lopez

Is your smile less than impressive? Are you unhappy with your stained and yellowed teeth? At New Smile Dental we can help improve the appearance of your smile with teeth whitening, a great cosmetic dentistry smile solution.

Your teeth can become stained or discolored for a variety of reasons, including smoking, wine and other alcohols, aging, excessive fluoridation and certain medications. We can treat these stains and restore the beauty of your smile with teeth whitening. Our professional teeth whitening solutions are stronger and more effective than any of the over the counter solutions you may have tried before.

We’ll take molds of your teeth and use those to create your custom whitening trays. You’ll fill the trays with professional bleaching gel and wear them as directed. After about two weeks you’ll achieve full results and have a dazzling smile. If you experience some sensitivity during your treatment don’t worry. This is normal and should go away once you finish treatment.

If you’re interested in brightening your smile, please give us a call to learn more. We would love to see if teeth whitening is the right solution for your smile. If you have stains that cannot be removed with teeth whitening, we also offer porcelain veneers and Lumineers to help improve the appearance of your smile.

At New Smile Dental, we focus on enhancing and restoring the beauty of your smile with help from the latest dental technology. Dr. Gilbert Lopez treats patients from Fort Smith and Van Buren, AR and surrounding areas. Call us today to schedule your next appointment.

Cosmetic Dentistry Solutions in Fort Smith, AR

Once you have a healthy smile, you can then work on improving the appearance and enhancing the beauty of your smile. At New Smile Dental we offer a variety of cosmetic dentistry services to help improve and transform the appearance of your smile.

Your smile is often the first thing that other people notice about you so it’s important to keep it looking healthy and attractive. Cosmetic dentistry is a term used to describe any dental treatments that enhance and focus on the appearance of your teeth. If you have any flaws, imperfections, stains, chips or gaps in your smile then these types of procedures may be right for you.

We offer a variety of cosmetic dentistry services, including the following:

• Porcelain crowns
• Porcelain veneers
• Lumineers
• Teeth whitening

These treatments can be combined as necessary and used to transform your smile. If you’re interested in improving the appearance of your smile, we’re here to help. Dr. Lopez would love to perform a consultation and see how he can use cosmetic dentistry to enhance the appearance of your smile. Give us a call today to learn more or to schedule your consultation.

At New Smile Dental, we focus on enhancing and restoring the beauty of your smile with help from the latest dental technology. Dr. Gilbert Lopez treats patients from Fort Smith and Van Buren, AR and surrounding areas. Call us today to schedule your next appointment.