San Ramon Cosmetic Dentistry Blog | Sean Michael Anderson, D.D.S.

Your child should visit the dentist at the first sign of incoming teeth. It is important to take your child to visit San Ramon Family Dentist, Dr. Sean Anderson at an early age to help your child feel comfortable with Dr. Anderson and with visiting the dental office. Starting your child with an oral hygiene routine as early as possible will help prevent many diseases like gingivitis and help prevent the need for dental treatments for cavities.

Dr. Anderson's family dentistry office is warm and inviting. Your child will feel comfortable visiting his dental office and will learn that the dentist's office is not a scary place. Our caring dental staff will show your child around our dental office and explain what happens during a routine checkup.

Your child's first visit is the building block to great oral hygiene and a great relationship with Dr. Anderson. Your child will sit in one of our comfy dental chairs as Dr. Anderson carefully examines your child's gums and teeth. Your child's teeth will be gently cleaned and flossed to get your child familiar with the process of visiting the dentist.

Please contact our family dentistry office serving the San Ramon area to schedule a dental visit for your child.

A family dentist is an experienced and friendly dentist who treats the entire family. Walnut Creek Family Dentist Dr. Anderson provides cosmetic dentistry and general dentistry to patients of all ages. You can take everyone in your family from your baby to your grandmother to see Dr. Anderson for all of your family's dental needs.

A family dentist is your best choice for dental care. You do not have to find a dentist for yourself and your spouse, another dentist for your teenager, and another dentist for your toddler. Everyone in your family can be treated in Dr. Anderson's family friendly dental office.

Another advantage to visiting a family dentist is that you only have to speak with one dentist. Dr. Anderson takes time with his patients to get to know them and their dental needs. He will be able to discuss with you any dental issues that your family has or may have because he has treated and gotten to know your entire family.

Dr. Anderson is experienced in treating patients of all ages. He can help guide you through the dental care needs of your family from birth to adulthood. If you are a new parent, Dr. Anderson will help you with a dental care plan for your baby to start your baby on the path of great oral hygiene.

Services Provided by a Family Dentist

• Routine dental checkups
• Advice on an at-home oral hygiene plan
• Techniques to keeping your teeth clean
• Dental cleanings
• Treatments for teeth and gums
• Dental implants
• Tooth-colored fillings
• Oral cancer screenings

To schedule appointments for your family to visit our family dentist, please contact Sean Anderson, D.D.S. serving the Walnut Creek, California area.

Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMD) has many painful symptoms that can make daily activities difficult. Some of the symptoms of TMD are:

• Migraine-like headaches
• Depression
• Popping or clicking jaws
• Grinding teeth
• Ringing in the ears
• Shoulder, neck, and facial pain

• Constantly dealing with extreme pain is tiring
• Symptoms go undiagnosed or are improperly treated
• Many doctors claim the pain experienced by the patient is imagined

The pain from TMD can emotionally, physically, and psychologically wear down a patient. This can start and enhance feelings of depression. Neuromuscular dentistry is the field of dentistry that focuses on treating TMD. Once the causes of TMD are treated and the pain is removed, the feelings of depression are eliminated.

Headaches and Neuromuscular Dentistry

Doctors often misdiagnose migraine-like headaches. Only a neuromuscular dentist like Dr. Anderson can properly diagnose tension headaches that are caused by TMD. Neuromuscular dentistry treatment will relieve the tension and muscle fatigue that are at the root of the cause of the headaches.

The most important part of treatment with neuromuscular dentistry is properly aligning the jaw and Temporomandibular Joints to keep the facial muscles from building up tension.

Please contact Dr. Anderson for a TMD consultation to help you find relief from depression and headaches in Walnut Creek.

Many people suffer from headaches. Most headaches can be extremely painful and prevent the person from being able to engage in daily activities because the headaches are debilitating. When suffering migraine-like headaches, patients usually visit their primary care physician for relief. Primary care physicians will treat migraine-like headaches with pain medications. If you live in the Danville area and are suffering debilitating headaches, you will want to visit neuromuscular dentist Dr. Sean Anderson for a consultation.

Primary care physicians are limited in how they diagnose headaches. They may not know that the headache is actually a tension headache and can be cured with neuromuscular dentistry. A tension headache can be caused by the misalignment of the Temporomandibular Joint that attaches the lower jaw to the skull. When this joint is misaligned, the muscles in the face overcompensate and cause tension. This tension causes many symptoms that include TMD headaches.

Neuromuscular Dentistry and Headaches

A neuromuscular dentist like Dr. Anderson can help relieve and eliminate your TMD symptoms. Your painful, debilitating headaches can be cured with neuromuscular dentistry. Dr. Anderson will evaluate your jaw alignment and how your jaws move in a personal TMD consultation.

After your evaluation, Dr. Anderson will speak to you about your options for properly aligning your jaws to reduce the muscle tension and to train your muscles to work correctly and keep your jaws in their proper positions. Once your muscles start working properly and your jaws are properly aligned, the tension in your facial muscles will disappear and your TMD headaches will vanish.

For more information about neuromuscular dentistry and how it can cure your headaches in Danville, please contact Dr. Anderson for a consultation.

Migraine-like headaches are one symptom of Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMD). These headaches can be very intense and debilitating. Many doctors misdiagnose these headaches to be migraines and prescribe pain medications to help manage the discomfort. If you are suffering from migraine-like headaches and have other symptoms of TMD, you will want to visit neuromuscular dentist, Dr. Sean Anderson for a consultation in the Danville area.

Other symptoms of TMD include:

• Face, neck, and shoulder pain
• Clicking or popping of the jaw
• Grinding teeth
• Teeth sensitivity
• Limited movement of the mouth
• Ringing in the ears

TMD Headaches

TMD headaches are different than migraines. A migraine is usually vascular and the swelling of blood vessels in the head causes the pain. A TMD headache is a tension headache and is not caused by the swelling of blood vessels.

TMD is caused by the misalignment of your jaws and the Temporomandibular Joints. The misalignment causes the muscles on one side of your face to work harder than the other side creating tension and muscle exhaustion. This tension and muscle exhaustion causes very severe, painful, and debilitating headaches.

Pain medication can help you manage the pain, but will not cure your symptoms to stop the headaches from returning. Dr. Anderson will examine and properly align your jaws to eliminate the tension and TMD symptoms. It is best to have the cause of the headaches treated instead of only treating the pain. Treating the cause will help ensure that you will not be debilitated by painful TMD headaches.

Please contact Dr. Anderson for a TMD consultation if you are suffering migraine-like headaches in the Danville, California area.

Fillings are a fact of life. No matter how thorough your daily oral hygiene routine, food and bacteria can find their way in between your teeth, hiding in crevices and along the gum line, and cause cavities.

When a tooth has a cavity, dental fillings become a necessary fix to stop the spread of the decay and save the remainder of the tooth. Preventing the spread of decay helps eliminate the need for more invasive dental procedures like dental implants and crowns.

Dental Bonding vs. Metal Filling

Dental fillings have come a long way over the years. Metal fillings are effective, but require a large portion of healthy tooth to be removed to accommodate their being packed into the cavity. In addition, they can be unsightly, they contain mercury, and they are susceptible to temperature changes that can cause them to expand and contract, resulting in a cracked tooth; they may then need further dental work.

In comparison, tooth colored fillings are not affected by temperature changes. They are comprised of resin and silicon dioxide, are very strong, and do not appear out of place in your mouth.

Before there was a choice in fillings, dentists used what resources were available to them to prevent the further spread of decay. Now, with dental advancements, you are able to choose what best suits your needs and meets your expectations.

If you live in San Ramon, Danville, or Livermore, California, and are in need of a filling, but have been dissatisfied with your options, please contact experienced cosmetic dentist Dr. Sean Anderson for an initial consultation.