General Dentistry
A healthy smile is foundational when it comes to your overall wellness. Your teeth and gums require regular monitoring and maintenance to ensure that they stay comfortable and disease free.
We offer comprehensive general dentistry to help our patients enjoy optimum oral health and a comfortable smile.
Preventive Dentistry
We strive to prevent dental conditions, whenever possible. With regular dental exams, cleanings, and x-rays, we can often detect dental conditions in their earliest stages before they pose a severe risk to your smile.
- A comprehensive dental exam evaluates the health of each tooth and looks for signs of periodontal (gum) disease. If we find anything that requires treatment, we will let you know right away.
- Our dental cleanings are designed to keep your teeth clean and your gums healthy, as well as give you a smooth, fresh smile. Our hygienist will remove all plaque and tartar from the surfaces of your teeth. We will finish up with a polish so that your teeth are completely clean.
- Dental x-rays assist us in the diagnosis of conditions that are not visible through a visual exam alone. This can include dental decay, infection, bone levels, and certain types of cysts and tumors.
We typically recommend a dental exam and cleaning every six months unless you have a dental condition like gum disease that may require more frequent visits.
Restorative Dentistry
Whether you require a dental filling, crown, or dental bonding, we are here to repair your teeth, which protects them and can extend comfortable function.
- Fillings – Fillings are used to repair a tooth after removing decay.
- Crowns – Crowns protect and stabilize a cracked or deeply decayed tooth.
- Bonding – Bonding can fill in small chips and narrow gaps in teeth for cosmetic purposes or to prevent stains or decay.
When providing restorative dentistry, we make sure that the results are both comfortable and long-lasting.
Tooth-Replacement Options
Saving your natural teeth is a priority for us, but sometimes removing a tooth is necessary to relieve your symptoms and protect your health or because restoration is not possible. Having a gap in your smile, however, is not ideal either for your appearance or for chewing and speaking comfortably.
We offer the following tooth replacement options:
- Fixed dental bridges– replace a missing tooth by anchoring an artificial tooth in place using two healthy teeth
- Dental implants – replace a missing tooth by surgically implanting a replacement root and placing a dental crown
- Dentures – replace all teeth on the upper or lower arch with a removable prosthetic
- Partial dentures – replace one or more missing teeth by anchoring a prosthetic to your remaining natural teeth
A comprehensive dental exam will give us the information we need to make a recommendation to restore both your smile and your ability to eat and speak comfortably by replacing your missing teeth.
Contact Us to Schedule a Dental Appointment
Give us a call to schedule your next dental appointment. We look forward to welcoming you!
Frequently Asked Questions
Examinations are an important opportunity for us to check in with you, see how you are doing, and make sure that your teeth are healthy. We want to catch problems when they are small and can be treated easily. This allows for more comfortable and less costly dentistry for you. Unfortunately, by the time you are in pain, simple measures are no longer effective. Regular examinations allow us to nip this situation in the bud and keep your teeth healthy and beautiful.
Yes. Today's digital x-rays are far safer than traditional radiographs. They emit less radiation, equivalent to taking a short walk in the sun. They also produce crisp and resizable images for your dentist, and this contributes to improved diagnostics and better treatment planning. Digital x-rays are also environmentally friendly compared to radiographs of the past.
Many people are more health conscious than ever and realize the value of maintaining good health instead of just waiting to treat problems as they arise. General dentistry provides most of the services that patients of all ages require to keep their teeth and gums free from disease.
For optimum oral health, we recommend the following steps:
Brush Your Teeth at Least Twice Daily
Using a soft-bristled toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste, brush your teeth for two full minutes using a small circular motion with the bristles gently angled toward your gumline. Using excessive force to brush will not clean your teeth more effectively and may damage delicate gum tissue.
Floss at Least Once Daily
Using two to three feet of floss, floss up and down each side of each of your teeth. Do not force the floss any further than it will comfortably go. Think of your floss as a squeegee that removes plaque. Don’t miss flossing behind your back teeth.
Dental Exams, Cleanings, and X-Rays
Every patient is different. Follow your dentist’s recommended recall schedule to maintain healthy teeth and gums. For most patients, this will require a visit every six months. For patients who suffer from gum disease, have some catching up to do, or who have reduced dexterity that makes home care difficult, we may recommend more frequent visits to maintain your oral health.
Meet Our Doctor:
Dr. Tim Choy
Kind, caring, and ever the perfectionist, Dr. Tim Choy, DMD has been happily helping Bay Area patients reach their dental goals since 2001. A proud native of Austin, Texas, he now calls the Peninsula his home.
Dr. Choy received his B.A. in Human Biodynamics from UC-Berkeley in 1996 and went on to attend Temple University, where he received his Doctorate of Dental Medicine in 2001. He first realized his passion for dentistry while working as a volunteer at the Berkeley Free Clinic. This clinic was built on donations to allow disadvantaged ...
General Dentistry Technology
Digital X-Rays
Modern digital dental x-rays benefit patients in a number of ways:
- Digital x-rays expose patients to considerably less radiation than conventional film x-rays
- Digital x-rays require almost no time for development, reducing time spent waiting in the dental chair
- Digital x-rays allow for incredibly precise and accurate images for timely diagnoses
- Digital x-rays are securely stored in your digital file and can be securely sent to your insurance company or specialists, when necessary
Because no chemicals are needed for developing and no space is needed for film storage, digital x-rays are better for the environment
Laser Dentistry
Dental lasers allow us to provide incredibly precise treatment with greater comfort, faster healing times, and less risk of bleeding than conventional surgical procedures. Lasers are particularly effective in the treatment of gum disease because they are able to target the damaged and diseased tissue while preserving healthy gum tissue. Lasers also effectively target bacteria, helping to eliminate the infection.
Intraoral Camera
What if you could see exactly what your dentist sees? You'd probably find it simpler to make informed decisions about your oral health!
Intraoral cameras allow you to do precisely that. Using a small digital camera embedded in a wand, the dentist can move it around your mouth and transmit the images instantly to a chairside monitor. This allows you to clearly see everything the dentist describes, including damage to the teeth and signs that might indicate periodontal disease.