When she was just 17 – before seat belts and airbags – Sally was in a car accident that shattered her teeth. After her teeth were repaired and it seemed life had returned to normal, she was struck in the jaw with a tennis ball. The trauma caused scar tissue to form and she was forced to have jaw surgery. It helped, but Sally continued to have pain. Her inflammation was increasing and she began to experience limited opening of her mouth. When her dentist prescribed a new bite guard and it made Sally’s symptoms worse, he realized he needed to refer Sally to a dentist who had more experience in treating advanced TMD cases and he referred her to Dr. Todd Davis’ dental office in Buckhead for evaluation.

The First Step Toward Relief

Dr. Davis began by creating a new bite guard to help relieve Sally’s pain. Then Dr. Davis developed a treatment plan to more permanently correct the problem. Because Sally’s teeth were worn down from grinding and clenching, and from the corrections that had been attempted to adjust her bite by her former dentists, Dr. Davis suggested crowns to get bite working properly.  When the bite is not balanced, the jaw muscles have to work much harder, causing constant pain and strain.

Creating a Beautiful, Balanced Smile

Sally decided to also have some cosmetic work completed while she was undergoing her TMD treatment. She had her front crowns and some bonding replaced as well as a teeth whitening. The entire correction process took three years. It is important to note that correcting TMD is not a quick-fix or a once and done procedure. Delicate and continuous adjustments must be made as the muscles adapt and change. Fortunately, even our temporary crowns are beautiful and natural-looking so there is no reason to hide one’s smile during treatment.

Once treatment was completed and Sally received her final crowns, she was ecstatic, exclaiming, “My front teeth look better than my original ones…. And my pain – well there just isn’t any! Dr. Davis obviously understands how the jaw works and the importance of keeping the integrity of your teeth. Putting my trust in him was a wise decision and some of the best money I ever spent; I no longer grimace when I see my smiling face in photographs!”

If you are suffering from jaw pain, headaches or TMD, please call our Buckhead dental office. We’d like to help you find freedom from pain and begin smiling again!

While many people suffer from TMD, or Temporomandibular Joint Disorder, not many people actually understand it. The trouble is that the TMD, or even the misnomer TMJ, is a blanket term for a wide variety of disorders. Often, if headaches, jaw pain and facial pain are present in a disorder, it is labeled TMD. In fact, about 70% of the US population suffers from one form of TMD or another! Facial pain is very complex and not everything is related to occlusion, or your bite, the TMD most frequently diagnosed by dentists.

Common Misconceptions About TMD

• TMD refers to symptoms. The term for your facial and jaw     pain is TMD, not TMJ. You have TWO TMJs – the joints in your     jaw. TMD is a disorder of or pain in or near those joints.

• True migraines are usually not caused by TMD. If you do not have an aura, you are probably not suffering from a migraine, no     matter how severe or disabling your pain might be.

• Not all oral appliances are created equal. The usual “nightguard” that is fabricated in most dental     offices will not be completely effective to release muscle pain. Appliances must also be adjusted as treatment progresses and the muscles adapt and change.

• TMD is not the only cause of jaw pain. Jaw pain may be caused     by tooth or gum problems, as well as a wide variety of other     problems. To really know why your jaw hurts, an individualized diagnosis is critical.

Disorders Associated with TMD

• Cervical Disk Damage

• Certain Cancers

• Temporal arteritis

• Bell’s Palsy

• Fibromyalgia

• Malocclusion

Malocclusion is the most typical cause of TMD and the most easily corrected. Dr. Todd Davis has special training to help discover and diagnose your occlusal TMD and help you find much-needed relief.

The Necessity of Individual Diagnosis

There is quite a bit of disagreement in the dental field about what form of TMD can and cannot be helped by dentistry. Because so many diseases are categorized as TMD, individual diagnosis by a trained dentist is absolutely crucial. If you are suffering from headaches or jaw pain and wonder if your problem might be TMD, please call Dr. Todd Davis at his Buckhead Dental office. Your pain may be a result of malocclusion, and easily treated. Don’t live another day with preventable pain – call today!

You may have heard people talking about TMJ and the pain it causes. They are right about the pain… but not quite right about the name. TMJ is actually the name of the joint itself – the temporomandibular joint – and TMD (Temporomandibular Disorder) is the more correct term for the disorder that causes most of the pain.

Your TMJ in Buckhead and its system is an amazing arrangement of complex equipment. Most people never think of it or notice the tremendous job it’s doing until it starts to malfunction. But TMJ malfunction can happen for many reasons – and it happens a lot!  First, both joints have to work in synchronicity with coordinated movements.  The jaw also needs to move smoothly forward and laterally for proper mouth opening. When the top jaw and the bottom jaw aren’t in balance (called malocclusion), the TMJ can be affected, causing a variety of symptoms, from tooth grinding to migraines

What is TMD?

For your TMJ system to function correctly, everything has to work together in harmony – your joints, your muscles, and your teeth. If it’s off, you will very likely suffer from chronic headaches and the other painful or irritation problems of TMD disorder.

The symptoms of TMD are pretty varied, but a lot of them have one thing in common – pain or discomfort. In fact, TMD is a major contributor to chronic headaches and even migraines. Below is a list of some of the most common symptoms. You may find that you only have a few or many symptoms from the list.

●       Headaches or migraines

●     Ÿ  Neck, shoulder, back or upper body pain

●     Ÿ  Facial pain

●     Ÿ  Popping, clicking or grating noises in the jaw joints

●     Ÿ  Jaw that locks open when yawning or eating

●     Ÿ  Limited jaw movement

●     Ÿ  Teeth that are chipped, worn, cracked or coming loose

●     Ÿ  Dental restorations that don’t last or break

●     Ÿ  Pain in or around the jaw joints

●     Ÿ  Toothaches that don’t stay in just one tooth or area

●     Ÿ  Congestion or stuffiness

●     Ÿ  Earaches

Why Worry About TMD?

TMD can be so painful that it disrupts every aspect of a person’s life. But even when pain is minimal, it can contribute to joint or tooth damage and lead to possible overuse of medications.

How Your Buckhead TMJ Disorder Dentist Can Help

We usually treat TMD with splint therapy. Every splint is custom designed to fit your mouth and teeth securely and comfortably.  These splints work so well to relieve and correct TMD because they allow your muscles to relax and gently reposition the jaw joints so they work together without any strain or pain. Once relief and stability are accomplished through splint therapy, we may reshape or restore your teeth so your upper and lower jaw can meet in a comfortable position. This will enable your jaw joints, muscles, and teeth to function in harmony, and prevent future pain or tooth breakdown.

To find out if your headaches are caused by TMD or to schedule a consultation with Dr. Todd Davis, call our Buckhead dental office today!

October… it’s the month your diet seems to take a nosedive. It starts when the kids carry in their Halloween sack of loot (All those tasty little candy bars!) that you can’t quite stay out of. Then comes Thanksgiving and all the preparation and cooking (your guests just love your pies and cakes!) and the sweets keep rolling in until the zenith that are the winter holidays. (Christmas cakes and taffies, Hanukkah cookies, Kwanzaa sweet potato candies  – oh my!)

Sweets Affect More Than Your Middle

Sugar can have devastating effects on your diet, but it isn’t good for your oral health either. Here are a few tips to get your smile safely through the holiday season sugar-fest.

1. Eat only at meal times. Why? For about 20 minutes after you drink or eat anything, especially sugary foods and candies, your mouth is under attack. If you tend to eat and snack throughout the day, your teeth will be exposed to harm for much longer than they should be! Try to do all your eating at once and try to choose treats that aren’t sticky or chewy.

2. Brush your teeth after you eat. If you can’t brush after eating something sweet, swish some water in your mouth. Even drinking a glass of water can help rinse sugars off your teeth.

3. If you are eating acidic foods, disregard the above advice. Brushing after highly acidic foods or drinks can actually cause more damage to the enamel. Rinse your mouth with water and wait an hour before brushing.

4. If you are going to drink a lot of red wine and coffee over the holiday season, keep in mind that these are very staining.  Consider scheduling a post holiday whitening and cleaning to get your teeth back in shape after all the indulgence.

Whatever your plans are this holiday, remember to celebrate your smile by taking good care of it! For more information about keeping your smile healthy and bright, or to schedule a post sugar-fest cleaning, call Dr. Todd Davis, your Buckhead Dentist.

In our last blog we talked about how a full mouth restoration from Buckhead dentist Dr.
Todd Davis can help any smile look and feel better using a range of services from porcelain crowns to dental implants. It really can be life changing! Just ask Dixie!

Dixie’s Full Mouth Restoration Story

Dixie was referred to Dr. Davis by the general dentist he had been seeing for years. This dentist told Dixie that he had a “complicated set of teeth,” and it was true. For instance, one of his bridges kept breaking, and he was tired of needing to have it repaired.

The Plan

The first step in getting Dixie’s mouth into perfect health was to formulate a treatment plan and explain the options available. Dixie was really pleased to be involved in deciding the final outcome and said, “I liked the way Dr. Davis involved me in deciding upon what would be done and when. I was always at ease during procedures because of his technique and because he explained what he was doing.”

The Provisionals

Of course the plan included provisionals so that Dixie could feel and see exactly how his restored mouth would look and function. Once everything was perfect, Dr. Davis created the final restorations and then placed them to complete Dixie’s full mouth restoration.

The Beautiful Full Mouth Restoration Outcome

Now Dixie has a smile that feels good, looks good – and will last! “I am extremely pleased with my teeth now that Dr. Davis has corrected my dental problems,” says Dixie. “For the first time in my adult life, I show my teeth when posing for pictures! I would refer anyone to Dr. Davis without hesitation.”

If you have a “complicated set of teeth,” if your dental restorations keep failing or your teeth are broken, worn down or uncomfortable, call your Buckhead dentist, Dr. Todd Davis, and find a comfortable, long lasting smile today!

Do you have a troubled smile? Have you been avoiding social situations for fear of being judged by the condition of your teeth? Do you find yourself visiting the dentist over and over and you still feel that you are fated to watch your smile crumble?

So many people have severe dental issues because the foundational problems that are the CAUSE of their troubles have never been addressed. Because only the symptoms of their discomfort have been dealt with, their mouths are never truly fixed for the long run. You can’t imagine their relief when I tell them about what a full mouth restoration can do for them.

What a Full Mouth Restoration Dentist Can do for Your Smile

Just as the name implies, in a full mouth restoration, I look at your mouth as a whole and address all its needs. We can make astonishing repairs, balancing and restoring the mouth back to proper health, function and beauty.

What Is Involved in a Full Mouth Restoration Procedure?

Every smile is unique and has different needs for balance and appearance. Because of this, there is no specific full mouth restoration procedure. Instead, it is a combination of treatments designed to work together and help you find total health.

Full Mouth Restorations Can Include:

●        Ÿ  Porcelain Crowns

●        Ÿ  Dental Implants

●        Ÿ  Bridges

●        Ÿ  Porcelain veneers

●        Ÿ  Bonding

●        Ÿ  Oral surgery

●        Ÿ  Endodontics

●        Ÿ  Periodontal treatments

●        Ÿ  Tooth colored fillings, onlays or inlays

●        Ÿ  Smile whitening

●          Esthetic recontouring of teeth

I always take the time to make sure the causes of your problems are addressed first, looking for TMJ issues or other bite concerns and ensuring that your periodontal health is where it ought to be. We want to be sure that there is a healthy foundation for your restorative work to be built on so that it lasts as long as you deserve it to.

If you are tired of hiding your smile, suffering with chronic dental problems, or just want to feel more healthy and confident, give me a call my Buckhead dental office. We can discuss your full mouth restoration options and come up with a treatment plan you can live with and a smile you and your loved ones can enjoy!

Have you been wishing you could change something about your smile? Your Buckhead cosmetic dentist, Dr. Todd Davis, would like to help. Whether your teeth  are worn down, broken or  decayed, or you simply want to whiten your teeth for a quick pick-me-up, Dr. Davis offers  the cosmetic services you might want – and they are all based on a foundation of getting your mouth as healthy and attractive as possible.

Our Buckhead Cosmetic Dental Services

Dr. Davis performs a full range of dental services to meet your cosmetic dentistry needs. He offers:

●        Porcelain Veneers

●        Cosmetic Dental Bonding

●        Teeth Whitening

●        Porcelain Crowns

●        Tooth Colored, Metal-Free Fillings

●        Full Mouth Restorations

●        Dental Implants

Why Choose Cosmetic Dentistry from Dr. Todd Davis

Not only will cosmetic dentistry from Dr. Davis look absolutely beautiful, it will also look natural and function just the way nature intended. Even better, Dr. Davis believes your investment should stand the test of time so he makes sure all cosmetic improvements are designed to last.

One of the ways this is accomplished is by the use of provisionals. Provisionals are basically a try-on restoration allowing us to tweak and correct the models until they look and feel exactly the way you want them to.  Wearing provisionals is easy and comfortable and they look great – patients are surprised at how nice they look . Once everything is perfect and we know that your bite will not cause them to wear out, we replace these provisionals with your final porcelain restorations.

The outcome? A smile that looks and feels great and is so natural in appearance that no one will know that you have seen a  cosmetic dentist.

For more information about our cosmetic dentistry options, please call our Buckhead dental office at 404-255-7500.

Are you tired of the hassles that come with wearing dentures or partials? Don’t want to put up with the eating problems, the uncomfortable fit, and the tedious cleaning? I have a marvelous solution: dental implants!

The Benefit of Dental Implants

There is no tooth replacement option that compares to dental implants. Dental implants are secure, comfortable and, when properly designed, look and function exactly like your own teeth.

The reason is simple – a dental implant replaces your tooth’s root to keep the bone stable and supported and to keep the replacement tooth firmly anchored in place. The Titanium implant screws we use actually fuse with the bone, a process called osseointegration. This process has become routine and predictable. Once healed in place, these Titanium screws can either hold a single replacement implant crown or, if you are missing several or all of your teeth, they can act as anchors for extremely comfortable and secure implant supported bridges or dentures. Either way, your mouth will remain healthier because the bone is supported and you will look younger and have much better dental function.

To make the experience even better,  dental implants work so much like natural teeth that you can eat anything you want and smile and talk without fear of having one of those dreadful denture disasters you may have experienced or seen on the Internet now and then.

Am I a Candidate for Dental Implants?

If you are missing a tooth or teeth and have enough strong bone structure, you could be the perfect candidate for dental implants. But even if we do discover that you are lacking bone, we can perform bone grafts to build up and replace lost bone.

For more information about how dental implants could help you get back to a fuller, freer life, call Dr. Davis’ Buckhead dental office at 404-255-7500.

Dr. Davis has been busy – not only with patient smiles but also with teaching. He has spent time all over the country lecturing and guiding other dentists on clinical, behavioral, philosophical and business tools that can help them achieve excellent results for their patients and for their practices. He also teaches right here in our Buckhead office.

Clinical Dental Training

Dr. Davis is continually asked to teach on function and aesthetics. His lectures and hands-on exercises are designed to help dentists learn how to balance appearance, function, and comfort. Once these principles are understood and mastered, dentists can return to their own offices ready to create beautiful, long-lasting smiles that reflect natural beauty.

Behavioral and Philosophical Training

Dr. Davis knows that engaging and educating patients is critical for patient involvement and comfort. Through his teaching, he is able to extend this understanding to his fellow dentists so that they too can engage their patients, creating outstanding experiences for them, allowing them to own their present conditions and then having them make informed decisions about what is best for their smiles.

Included in all of Dr. Davis’ training is the reinforcement of excellence in patient care and the importance of serving others.

Business Training for the Dental Practice

Training in how to run a profitable practice may sound like something that only benefits dentists. In truth, a profitable practice leads to big benefits for dental patients too. In his training Dr. Davis introduces dentists to the knowledge and systems that will help them be profitable which will in turn enable them to more practically achieve the excellent care they strive for their patients. A profitable practice is able to:

• employ and train an exceptionable team,

• take the appropriate time,

• and use the quality of materials and lab support needed to achieve the level of natural beauty and excellence their patients deserve.

Throughout the year, Dr. Davis will continue helping other dentists discover new heights of dental quality. He is scheduled to do one-on-one consulting in several offices, and to facilitate several study groups, both in his own office and as a visitor to other offices. He is also scheduled to teach at the two institutions in which he is a visiting faculty member – the Pankey Institute in Key Biscayne, Florida and Spear Education in Scottsdale, Arizona.

This dedication to excellence both in teaching and in practice can only mean one thing for Dr. Davis own patients – assurance that they are receiving the outstanding dental care they want and deserve.

Everywhere you look these days it seems someone is flashing a super-white smile. If you’re envious of that white, bright smile, you should know your options. On occasion what you are noticing is a smile perfected with porcelain veneers but sometimes all you need to get a celebrity-worthy smile is the simple process of teeth whitening. Whitening your smile is a perfect way to refresh your look and take years off your appearance!

Whitening to Complement a Restoration

If you need restorative work on your smile – perhaps crowns or veneers on your front teeth – it’s important that the restorations match the rest of your teeth. While some doctors will darken the new restorations to match a dingy, discolored smile, we find that patients prefer that we use white restorations and smile whitening on the remaining teeth for an overall brilliant, white smile.

Helen’s Story

Our patient, Helen is great example of how combining new restorations with whitening can create an exceptionally beautiful smile. Helen had an old crown that looked unnatural and discolored, and her teeth were wearing and

chipping as well. Using teeth bleaching, bonding, and a new crown, we restored Helen’s beautiful smile.

Our Teeth Whitening System

We use the Day White system for extra effective, extra gentle whitening. Simply apply the bleaching gel to your custom made whitening trays and wear them for 30-60 minutes, once or twice a day. Within a week or two, your teeth will have reached your desired shade of whiteness.

For more information about our how teeth whitening can help your smile look whiter and more youthful, please call Dr. Davis’ Buckhead dental office at 404-255-7500.