How can I improve my dental health?

In addition to participating in a regular oral hygiene routine, which includes brushing twice daily, flossing every day, and rinsing between meals, you’ll also want to schedule biannual appointments with our office for professional cleanings and checkups. Here are a few detailed tips on how to improve your at-home oral hygiene regimen: Position your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle near the gum line Clean your tongue Protect your teeth with mouthguards if you grind or play sports Brush your teeth with a toothpaste containing fluoride Keep your gums strong with Vitamin D and calcium Avoid foods high in sugar or starch Remember the importance of preventative care. Some people wait to visit the dentist until something goes wrong, but it’s a much better plan to visit the dentist before that happens. With regular professional cleanings and checkups, we can help prevent tooth decay and catch any issues before they become problematic.

General Dentistry with Dr. Heffelfinger

Explore Our Dental Services for the Entire Family

A bright, healthy smile is something we all deserve, and keeping your teeth in good condition is a team effort. At Smiles for Life, our dedicated team wants to make sure you keep your smile healthy and beautiful for a lifetime. That’s why we offer regular checkups and oral hygiene treatments at our Auburn practice so that your dentist can prevent a host of dental problems in the future, from thorough checkups and pediatric care to personalized gum disease treatment.

No matter what issues may arise, we have you covered. We’re proud to help Indiana families in Waterloo, Garrett, Butler, and the surrounding areas seeking an experienced dentist to take care of all their dental needs with our general dentistry services.

What is General Dentistry?

General dentistry is all about preserving your natural smile. Whether that means providing cleanings to keep plaque at bay, repairing teeth that have suffered from tooth decay, or protecting your gums, these treatments are designed to keep your smile healthy and whole.

Explore our general dentistry guide and discover the full range of services we offer for every member of the family.

Preventive Dentistry

Restorative Dentistry

Smiles for Life

1210 East 7th Street
Auburn, IN 46706

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Office Hours

Mon

8am – 1pm | 2pm – 5pm

Tue

8am – 1pm | 2pm – 5pm

Wed

8am – 1pm | 2pm – 5pm

Thur

8am – 1pm | 2pm – 5pm

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Preventive Dentistry

We encourage all of our patients to visit us twice a year for a thorough cleaning and checkup to ensure the ongoing health of their teeth, gums, and jaws. During these appointments, we check for any potential dental problems such as gum disease or cavities. Detecting dental problems early allows us to treat these conditions quickly and prevent them from developing into more severe issues. You’ll also receive a professional cleaning to help prevent dental issues from arising in the first place.

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Pediatric Dental Care

With two children of his own, Dr. Heffelfinger knows how important it is for children to start receiving excellent dental care early in their lives in order to keep their smiles healthy. We’ll make your child’s visit a positive and enjoyable experience, so they grow up feeling excited about caring for their teeth. We understand the life of a parent is often busy and hectic, so whether your child needs a checkup, cleaning, or more extensive work, we complete each pediatric visit as efficiently as possible, so you’re out in no time!

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Our Solutions for Damaged Teeth

When a tooth is damaged by physical trauma or decay, Dr. Heffelfinger will do everything he can to save and restore it so that it looks and feels like new. We feature three types of tooth-colored restorations to repair a damaged tooth: fillings, onlays, and crowns. Depending on the extent of the damage, Dr. Heffelfinger will recommend the solution that’s best for you. If you suffer from tooth loss, we may recommend one of our restorative dental solutions instead. Thanks to our advanced technology, all of these solutions are color-matched to your natural tooth and installation can be completed in just one office visit.

Tooth decay is a bacterial infection that eats away at the enamel in your teeth, leaving a hollow space called a cavity. If Dr. Heffelfinger discovers your cavity before it gets too large, he can remove any decayed tissue and restore the tooth by filling the space using a tooth-colored filling. By filling in the hollow space, your tooth now has full protection once again.

If cavities are left untreated, they will continue to eat away at your teeth. If this damage has extended to the raised parts of your teeth (the cusps) Dr. Heffelfinger may elect to restore it using an onlay. The cusps of your teeth assist with breaking down food. By restoring the cusps, you not only have protection against tooth decay but also your ability to break down food efficiently will be restored.

A dental crown (or tooth cap) is a porcelain cap that’s placed over the entire surface of the affected tooth. They can be used to protect and reinforce the strength of teeth when fillings and onlays aren’t enough. Dental crowns can help make your smile more uniform and also be used in tandem with other dental restorations and procedures such as dental bridges, dental implants, and root canals, to provide additional stability and support.

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Personalized Periodontal Care

Periodontal (gum) disease is a serious dental condition that, if left untreated, can lead to additional dental issues and even tooth loss. We offer thorough gum disease treatments customized to each patient’s individual needs using innovative oral DNA saliva testing. In the early stages, we may recommend scaling and root planing to help get your health back on track. If you have gum disease, we’ll create a treatment plan to clean up the infection and ensure it doesn’t come back.

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Oral-DNA Salivary Testing

You may be familiar with oral DNA testing as a way to find out your ancestry, but we use this type of technology in our dental practice to test the type and quantity of the bacteria present in your mouth. That way, it can allow Dr. Heffelfinger to create a customized treatment plan for you.

It also helps us know if you’re susceptible to developing periodontal disease again so we can formulate a personalized prevention plan. In addition to these advantages, Oral DNA testing also helps us screen for oral cancer and other diseases.

OraVerse: Numbness Reversal Treatment

Have you ever bitten your lip or felt uncomfortable speaking with others because of lingering numbness well after a dental procedure? With OraVerse, we can now prevent these pesky problems. This product allows us to reverse the numbness quickly so you can return to work or school worry-free. Most patients who are given OraVerse after a procedure that requires a local anesthetic regain normal sensation twice as fast as normal.

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Frequently Asked Questions

In addition to participating in a regular oral hygiene routine, which includes brushing twice daily, flossing every day, and rinsing between meals, you’ll also want to schedule biannual appointments with our office for professional cleanings and checkups.

Here are a few detailed tips on how to improve your at-home oral hygiene regimen:

Position your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle near the gum line
Clean your tongue
Protect your teeth with mouthguards if you grind or play sports
Brush your teeth with a toothpaste containing fluoride
Keep your gums strong with Vitamin D and calcium
Avoid foods high in sugar or starch

Remember the importance of preventative care. Some people wait to visit the dentist until something goes wrong, but it’s a much better plan to visit the dentist before that happens. With regular professional cleanings and checkups, we can help prevent tooth decay and catch any issues before they become problematic.

Your back teeth (called premolars and molars) are the most susceptible to getting cavities. This is because they have grooves and depressions otherwise known as pits and fissures in them, which help you grind down your food during eating. The problem is that they can also be the perfect place for bacteria to accumulate and cause damage. Daily brushing and rinsing after meals can prevent food and sugar from staying in those fissures too long.

General Dentistry in Auburn, IN

Explore Our Dental Services for the Entire Family

What is General Dentistry?

Related

Smiles for Life

Office Hours

Preventive Dentistry

Pediatric Dental Care

Our Solutions for Damaged Teeth

Personalized Periodontal Care

Oral-DNA Salivary Testing

OraVerse: Numbness Reversal Treatment

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I improve my dental health?

Where do cavities usually occur?

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