For optimal oral health, it's important to visit your Glendale dentist every six months.

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Preventative Dentistry in Glendale, CA

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Quick Summary: What Is Included in Preventative Dental Care?

When you visit our office every six months, here’s what you can expect:

Comprehensive Exam: A detailed visual evaluation of your teeth, existing dental restorations, jaw alignment (TMJ), and signs of teeth grinding.
Professional Teeth Cleaning: Specialized scaling to remove hardened tartar (calculus) and sticky plaque biofilm from beneath the gumline.
Digital Diagnostic X-rays: Low-radiation imaging used to detect hidden decay between teeth, bone loss, and deep structural infections.
Oral Cancer Screening: A routine, non-invasive cellular inspection of the soft tissues to catch abnormalities in their earliest stages.
Periodontal Risk Assessment: Measuring gum pockets to intercept gingivitis and advanced gum disease before it causes bone loss.

Why Preventative Dentistry in Glendale Matters

Preventative dental care is important for things like avoiding cavities. But when you prioritize these appointments, you get benefits that do more, including:

Stopping Disease Before it Starts

Regular cleanings and exams let your dentist detect tooth decay, gum disease, and oral cancer in their earliest stages when treatment is less expensive and more effective.

Making Use of Your Insurance

Most dental insurance plans cover preventative visits fully, which means you can likely get professional care without spending money out of your own pocket.

Investing in Your Overall Health

Your oral health influences your heart, brain, and immune system, so keeping your mouth healthy helps protect you from serious conditions like heart disease.

Frequently Asked Questions

For patients who have had oral health issues or noticed that their gums have started receding, this is a valid and important question.

Receding gums happen when the gums around your teeth visibly pull away, possibly even exposing the tooth root. Any pockets or looseness in the gums create the perfect environment for unhealthy and toxic bacteria to set up residence.

Plaque, for example, happens daily after we have a meal or drink something with sugar. The plaque forms a sticky film that covers the surfaces of your teeth. This film allows bacteria to start eating away at your precious enamel, which can keep your gums receding.

Left untreated, this can develop into a severe dental situation that can erode your tooth enamel and lead to bone and tooth loss.

Multiple factors can result in receding gums, especially poor oral hygiene.

Will Your Gums Grow Back?

While some of our tissue does grow back, our gum tissue does not.

Through preventive dentistry, Glendale dentist Dr. Kim can help avoid receding gums. During your regular dental cleaning and exam, we will be able to measure your gums and determine if additional dental procedures like scaling and root planing are necessary.

Antibiotic mouthwash can eliminate bacteria and help stop plaque from growing out of control.

Together, we can keep your dental hygiene in top shape.

Call Us Today to Continue Your Preventive Treatments

Call the dental office of Lucio H. Kim DDS so we can keep your smile beautiful, healthy, and vibrant.

In our Glendale, CA dental office, we commonly treat tooth and jaw pain.

Teeth grinding and clenching while asleep, commonly called bruxism, are among the top reasons people wake with jaw and tooth pain. Left untreated, bruxism can lead to enamel erosion, wear on teeth, cavities, breakage, and tooth loss, and is even associated with temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD) or (TMJ).

TMJ means the hinge-like joint that connects your jaw to your skull is not functioning properly. This can cause headaches, jaw pain, neck pain, locked jaw, and clicking sounds in the joint when speaking or chewing.

We offer successful treatments for teeth grinding in Glendale, CA.

Our top Glendale dentist creates custom nightguards, which have saved a lot of smiles. These comfortable nighttime appliances gently thrust your lower jaw forward to prevent grinding and clenching during sleep.

Our custom nightguards in Glendale, CA are known for ease of wear and provide a gentle remedy to help you get the sleep you need without the pain.

The first step is scheduling a consultation with our Glendale, CA dentist!

Get in Touch with Our Glendale Dental Office

If you are suffering the symptoms of bruxism and would like to be evaluated for teeth grinding and clenching in Glendale, CA, give us a call today.

At the dental offices of Dr. Lucio H Kim, we are doing everything in our power to be available for patients in the Glendale, CA area during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Kim is keeping the office open to treat emergency dental issues during this time. We are also providing virtual consults for anyone who has dental related questions in the Glendale area. Please reach out to our Glendale office if you are experiencing a toothache, a chipped or cracked tooth, or any other urgent issue.

Here is a video update from Dr. Kim describing emergency dental services and virtual consults:

Preventive cleaning and checkups every six months are essential for maintaining your dental health and also your general health. Why? Because emerging information has shown that there is a direct correlation between gum disease and other health concerns in the body that are not dentally related such as low birth weight in babies, diabetes, and even heart disease.

Your Dental Cleaning in 91207

During your cleaning, your hygienist spends time removing the plaque buildup that contributes to many concerns like gum disease, tooth decay, and cavities. Your hygienist can demonstrate proper brushing techniques and also recommend products that can help you to improve your oral health like an antibacterial mouth rinse.

Next, Dr. Kim will perform a thorough examination and screen for concerns like gum disease, tooth decay, cavities, and oral cancer. Detecting these issues early on will ensure that you can treat them with easier procedures. For example, a cavity caught early on can be treated with a dental filling instead of a more invasive procedure such as root canal therapy that is needed once decay has progressed into your nerve and caused an infection.

Call Your Glendale Dentist

Visiting your dentist in Glendale, CA consistently every six months will help you maintain excellent dental health and prevent more significant problems in the future.

The answer to this question really comes down to preference. Many people find that they like an electric toothbrush better than a manual toothbrush because it takes a lot of guesswork out of brushing.

High-end electric toothbrushes have features like a timer to ensure you're brushing for two minutes, alerts to move quadrants so you spend equal time brushing each area of your mouth, pressure sensors to alert you if you're brushing too hard or vigorously, which protects your gum tissues, and Bluetooth connectivity to your phone to provide feedback on your brushing routine.

The truth is, you can also achieve great results using a manual toothbrush as long as you're using proper brushing techniques.

Toothbrushing 101

If you're using a manual toothbrush, hold it at a 45-degree angle against your gums. Brush gently using circular motions, being careful not to irritate your gum tissues. Brush for 30 seconds in each quadrant, reaching the front, back, and chewing surfaces of your teeth.

Whether you choose a manual or electric toothbrush, you must change the brush or brush head every three to four months.

Contact Our Glendale Dental Office

If you have any more questions about whether to choose an electric or manual toothbrush, please feel free to contact us at (818) 242-3739.

Why Routine Dental Care Controls Your Whole-Body Health

Did you know that regular preventative visits prevent harmful bacteria from entering your bloodstream and contributing to serious health issues? It’s true; your mouth is the gateway to the rest of your body, and routine trips to our dental office can help you avoid the following concerns:

Heart disease
Stroke
Diabetes
Alzheimer’s disease
Respiratory issues
Pregnancy complications

What to Expect During Your First Visit with Dr. Kim

The first step is to schedule an appointment for your first visit. Before we start your dental exam, Glendale dentist, Dr. Kim, will talk to you about your dental habits and history. He'll begin by asking some basic questions to learn about you and your attitude toward your dental treatment.

What are your expectations for your dental treatment?
Do you have specific goals you'd like to accomplish, or are you mainly interested in keeping your oral health on track?
What have been your past experiences with dental care?
Do you feel nervous or apprehensive about dentistry?

Next, Dr. Kim will perform an examination, noting any dental work and potential problem areas, including signs of teeth grinding and TMJ. We will take photos and a series of x-rays to see what's going on inside your teeth and establish a baseline for future treatment.

Because your wellness matters to us, we provide regular oral cancer screenings.

It may or may not be possible to do a dental cleaning depending on your timeframe. However, we know you're busy, so we'll do our best to get your cleaning done during the first visit.

During your professional teeth cleaning, we look for signs of periodontal disease. If you have gum disease, you may need a more involved dental cleaning and treatment schedule.

Meet Our Doctor:

Dr. Lucio H Kim, Top Dentist in Glendale

Lucio H. Kim DDS

Dr. Kim obtained his Bachelors of Science degree at UC San Diego in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Dr. Kim attended dental school at the University of Southern California.

After obtaining his DDS at USC, Dr. Kim went on to complete a residency at the highly competitive UCLA Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) postgraduate program, where he focused on reconstructive, restorative, and implant dentistry.

He has also received advanced training for dental implants at the Misch International Implant Institute and at the Global ...

Your Partner in Judgment-Free Dental Wellness

No matter what condition your teeth are in now, we're ready to help get you on your way to a healthier, more beautiful smile. If you need to catch up with your dental care, we won't judge you or lecture you about the current state of your oral health. Our only concern is to help you move forward from this point to improve your overall health and wellness.

After your exam is complete, we'll review the results with you and work together to develop a treatment plan customized for your needs. We'll go over every detail, what a particular treatment will involve, and the fees. You will know exactly what to expect during every phase of treatment.

Book a Teeth Cleaning in Glendale, CA

We would love to help you achieve a healthier, more attractive smile. If you are interested in finding high-quality dental treatments with fantastic patient care, Dr. Kim is always available for any dental appointment.

Please contact our Glendale dental office, and we'll be happy to arrange an appointment for your first visit.

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