ClearCorrect Straightens Your Teeth Without the Mouth Full of Metal

Thanks to new orthodontic technology, achieving a straight smile has become easier than ever. With ClearCorrect, Dr. Kathleen Hoye helps her patients of varying lifestyles straighten their teeth without needing to commit to a mouth full of metal.

ClearCorrect is a great smile improvement solution for patients that feel uncomfortable committing to traditional braces to fix mild and moderate bite or alignment issues. As a series of removable aligners made from clear, specialized plastic, ClearCorrect remains virtually invisible on your teeth during smiling, speaking and laughing. The aligners fit directly over the top and bottom rows of your teeth, modifying them with each aligner, and because they are not noticeable, they are a convenient way for the vast majority of orthodontic patients to straighten their smiles.

Because ClearCorrect aligners can be removed for easy eating, drinking and cleaning, you do not have to adjust your eating and oral care habits to meet the standards of orthodontic treatment. Unlike traditional braces, ClearCorrect only requires regular brushing and flossing habits to keep your teeth healthy during straightening.

Every six weeks, Dr. Hoye will check on your progress and provide you with your next two sets of aligners. Unlike other clear aligner companies, the aligners are manufactured in phases, so changes to your plan can be made at any time. Treatment usually takes between 6 to 18 months.

To schedule an appointment with our office in Taunton, MA, call 508-823-1600. For our Needham, MA office, call 781-444-4647. For more information, visit www.HoyeDental.com.

When You Need Your Wisdom Teeth Removed

Your wisdom teeth are your last set of molars to emerge, and they usually come in when you are between 17 and 21 years old. Because these teeth often become impacted, which means they come at an angle rather than straight through the gums, it is often necessary for them to be removed before they cause pain or crowd your other teeth. At our offices in Taunton and Needham, Dr. Kathleen Hoye can determine if your wisdom teeth need to be removed and extract them if they do.

If a wisdom tooth is impacted and can only emerge partially, it is possible for an operculum to form over the tooth. This flap of skin makes the molar extremely hard to clean, which means you are susceptible to an infection called periocoronitis.

When a wisdom tooth is in danger of causing such problems, Dr. Hoye extracts the tooth. Many times all four are removed at once. This is done either by using a local anesthetic to numb the area or a general anesthetic to sedate the patient. It depends on the preference of the doctor and patient, as well as how far the wisdom tooth has emerged. After an anesthetic is applied, the gum tissue over the wisdom tooth is cut and the tooth is loosened and pulled out. If necessary, the gums will be sutured.

After surgery, rest is required. You will also need to change the gauze applied to the incision every couple hours.

To see if your wisdom teeth may need to be removed, schedule an appointment with Hoye Dental by calling 508-823-1600 for the Taunton office or 781-444-4647 for the Needham office. For more information, visitwww.HoyeDental.com.

Healthy Gums, Healthy Mouth

We all know that caring for your teeth is essential for maintaining good oral health, but your gums also play an important role and shouldn’t be neglected. Gum disease can be a serious detriment to both your oral health and your overall wellness, and Dr. Kathleen Hoye provides the type of dental care you need to maintain peak periodontic health and prevent gum disease.

With periodontal disease responsible for 75 percent of all adult tooth loss cases in the United States, it is critical to check for and treat periodontal issues when the first arise. Periodontal disease is an infection of the gums that starts when a build-up of plaque on your teeth hardens into tartar. As tartar accumulates, bacteria collects and attacks the tissue around the gums. In its early stages, this gum disease is gingivitis, but if it is left untreated, it becomes periodontis. Periodontis can destroy your gums tissue and lead to tooth loss. Periodontis can even result in a loss of bone mass in your jawbone, and heart disease, diabetes and stroke have also been linked to poor periodontal health.

The state of your gums affects the health of your entire body, so come to Hoye Dental for dental checkups and cleaning. We will make sure your gums are well cared for. Call 508-823-1600 to schedule an appointment with our office in Taunton, MA and 781-444-4647 to schedule an appointment with our office in Needham, MA. For more information, visit www.HoyeDental.com.

Enhanced Smiles with Bonding

Of all cosmetic and restorative procedures in dentistry, bonding is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to enhance your smile. Called bonding because tooth-colored resin is bonded to your teeth, the procedure is used to repair teeth that are discolored, unevenly shaped or chipped. At our office, we can even use bonding as an alternative to amalgam fillings if only a small filling is required.

Bonding is achieved by applying incredibly strong resin to the tooth in need of restoration. The procedure can usually be accomplished in one visit and allows you to keep most of your tooth’s original enamel, which makes bonding preferable to veneers in many cases. Once the right color resin has been chosen for your smile, Dr. Kathleen Hoye will slightly abrade your teeth to roughen the surface. Then a conditioning liquid is applied to help the resin adhere. The putty-like resin is then applied to your tooth and molded and smoothed until it is in the proper shape and then hardened with an LED light. After the bonding material has hardened, Dr. Hoye will trim and shape it even more and then polish it until it shines like a tooth. Altogether, the procedure usually takes between 30 minutes to an hour for one tooth.

If you’re unhappy with your teeth but unwilling to go as far as veneers, bonding can be used to improve your smile quickly and effectively. To schedule an appointment with Hoye Dental, call us at 508-823-1600 to reach our Taunton office and 781-444-4647 for our Needham office. For more information, visit www.HoyeDental.com.  

Intraoral Camera

Dental technology has greatly improved the diagnosis of dental issues over the years, making early treatment of decay, infection and disease possible. With advancements, such as intraoral cameras, dentists can view patients’ teeth easier and more accurately, which helps them diagnose dental issues earlier and treat them with less invasive methods. At Hoye Dental, our patients’ oral health is important to us, so we use intraoral cameras and other top-of-the-line technology to keep them smiling.

The intraoral camera is an effective tool for viewing patients’ teeth and mouths from different angles. This allows us to see the mouth from angles that were not available even a couple years ago. The camera connects to a monitor that lets us see the structures of the teeth more closely and with better accuracy than traditional methods. These digital images allow the patient and insurance companies to see what the doctor has seen, which lets you understand your oral health better and gain procedure acceptance from your insurance company more easily. In addition, by using digital intraoral cameras and digital X-rays, instead of traditional dental X-rays, your dentist can limit your exposure to radiation.

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Kathleen Hoye and Hoye Dental, call 508-823-1600 for our Taunton office and 781-444-4647 for our Needham office. For more information about our services and technology, visitwww.HoyeDental.com.

Cold Sore Treatment with a Diode Laser

Cold sores can be painful, uncomfortable and embarrassing, but at Hoye Dental, we can help you get rid of the herpetic lesion with a diode laser. Treatment with a diode laser is quick and does not require an anesthetic, allowing you to easily treat cold sore symptoms.

If you are treated with a diode laser during the tingling stage that occurs before a breakout, you can reduce or even eliminate cold sore symptoms before they start. If you are already experiencing a breakout, the diode laser can still effectively treat your cold sore, offering pain relief and accelerated healing.

The diode laser treats cold sores by killing the viral particles of a cold sore, which not only helps heal a cold sore but can also decrease the frequency at which a cold sore reoccurs in that area. Several treatments can decrease the frequency of cold sores and lessen symptoms during the breakouts that do occur. We have had great results with the diode laser, with many patients and non-patients in Taunton and Needham, MA experiencing great relief.

If you would like to receive treatment, you can schedule an appointment with our Taunton office by calling 508-823-1600 or with our Needham office by calling 781-444-4647. For more information about the procedure or our practice, visit www.HoyeDental.com.

Why Do You Need a Root Canal Procedure?

While the thought of having a root canal procedure usually fills patients with dread, it is a necessary procedure for those who teeth become infected in the nerves. Besides causing pain, infections, if left untreated, can become abscesses, which are much more serious and result in a loss of bone mass in the jawbone. Here at Hoye Dental, Dr. Kathleen Hoye can relieve your pain with a root canal procedure.

Although root canals may not sound pleasant to you, they are well worth it to stop your pain and improve your oral health. While there is soreness after the procedure, it is only temporary and usually nothing that over-the-counter painkillers cannot take care of.

During a root canal, Dr. Hoye removes the infection by applying a local anesthetic to the area and drilling into the tooth to create an opening in the canal. Then she is able to remove the infected tissue and clean the area. Once the infection has been removed, your tooth will be filled with a sealant and then fitted with a crown to protect it from infection in the future. The crown also helps improve the appearance and strength of the tooth.

Once the procedure is complete, you will be able to eat without experiencing pain and sensitivity to heat, cold and pressure. If you’re in pain, you don’t need to suffer. Schedule an appointment us by calling 508-823-1600 for our Taunton office and 781-444-4647 for our Needham office. For more information, visit www.HoyeDental.com.