Dental fillings do a great job of restoring, repairing, and protecting teeth that have been damaged by tooth decay. Unfortunately, we don’t yet have fillings that will last forever. From time to time, you will need to replace your fillings so they will continue to protect against new cavities. To learn more, contact any Sunrise Dental location.

It can raise your risk of being in a traffic accident.

It can increase your risk of a heart attack.

It can create problems for you at work and at home.

And it can leave you feeling fatigued.

What is it? It’s sleep apnea. It’s a serious condition, and it’s one that the dentists — yes, dentists — of Sunrise Dental can help you treat.

We have offices in Durham, Raleigh, Cary, and Chapel Hill. If you live in or near the Research Triangle, it may time to make an appointment.

Don’t Deprive Yourself Of Sleep

The name sleep apnea is somewhat misleading. It is a sleep disorder that prevents you from getting deep, healthy sleep.

Health experts consider deep sleep to be essential for recovery. People with untreated sleep apnea are not getting enough of this deep sleep — if they are getting any at all!

Sleep professionals have described sleep as a cyclical process. Throughout the night, people who get healthy sleep go through four stages.

The first stage is when you are just starting to fall asleep. The second stage is light sleep. At this time, your body is starting to prepare for deep sleep, but you can still be woken up fairly easily.

The third stage is the start of deep sleep. At this point, your heart rate and your breathing have slowed. It’s more difficult to wake up someone while they are in deep sleep. The final stage is REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. This also is part of deep sleep, and it’s the time when people are most likely to dream.

Without deep sleep, you may feel sleep deprived. Here are some signs of sleep deprivation:

◼︎ Having trouble concentrating

◼︎ Being accident prone

◼︎ Becoming irritated easily

◼︎ Feeling sleepy throughout the day

How Sleep Apnea Causes Sleep Deprivation

A person with sleep apnea stops breathing when he or she falls asleep.

It’s not good for anyone’s health to stop breathing anytime. So what keeps people with sleep apnea alive? They wake themselves up.

Their brains recognize that something is wrong, and in response, they wake up just long enough to take a few breaths.

For someone with mild sleep apnea, this may happen four times every hour. Someone with severe sleep apnea may wake up 30 or more times every hour.

Even if you are only waking yourself up every 15 minutes, you rarely get to the stages of deep sleep. If you are waking up every two minutes, you are barely getting any kind of sleep.

Other Symptoms Of Sleep Apnea

You may have realized that sleep apnea is not the only thing that can cause sleep deprivation.

Too much caffeine before you go to bed can make it hard to fall asleep, and sleep apnea is just one of many sleep disorders.

What are the other symptoms that could indicate that your sleep deprivation is linked to sleep apnea?

The most recognizable symptom is snoring. Now, everyone snores from time to time. However, people with sleep apnea snoring almost constantly and usually very loudly. (Just ask their spouses.)

This is a particular problem for individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which happens to be the most common form of this disorder.

The reason people with OSA have trouble sleeping is because their airways become blocked when they fall asleep. This can amplify the sound of their snoring … until their airways become completely blocked and they stop breathing, wake up, and start the cycle all over again.

People with sleep apnea often wake up feeling out of breath or with a dry mouth. In the morning, you may have frequent headaches, too.

High blood pressure also is common among people with sleep apnea. One hypothesis is a result of your body’s fight to keep you breathing throughout the night. It also helps to explain why people with sleep apnea also have an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular disease.

Why You Should Make An Appointment At Sunrise Dental

If you suspect that you may have sleep apnea, our dentists can refer you to a sleep lab to determine if you have this or another sleep disorder. If you are diagnosed with sleep apnea, then we can assist with your treatment.

The key to treating OSA is keeping your airways open so you breathe throughout the night. We can help by creating a special mouthpiece that you can wear while you sleep. This will adjust the position of your jaw to keep your airways open.

We have dentist offices in four locations in and near the Research Triangle. Call us today or fill out our online form to make an appointment.

Veneers are like good friends. They will do whatever they can to help you smile.

And veneers can help with many issues that we are often asked to fix with cosmetic dentistry.

We will get into the specifics in a moment, but you will find that veneers are incredibly versatile. You also may see them as a simple way to make multiple changes at the same time.

And how can you get veneers? By calling the nearest Sunrise Dental to schedule a consultation. Our dentists will work with you whether veneers or another service will get the results you want to see.

Just contact any of our offices in Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill, or Durham to get started on your new smile.

➤ Would You Like A Whiter Smile?

Considering how popular teeth whitening products have become, we are confident that many (maybe most) people would like to have whiter teeth. Veneers can help.

Your teeth will naturally become yellower as you get older. That’s just part of life. Your teeth will gradually get a little darker unless the only thing you plan to consume is water.

We plan on eating, and if we are being honest, we aren’t doing to drink water exclusively either. Many of us look forward to our morning coffee to help us get going. Many of us enjoy a glass of iced tea on warm afternoons. We like eating pasta with rich, delicious sauces, too.

We also know that, in general, if something can stain a shirt, then it can stain our teeth, too. It takes longer for those stains to become visible on our teeth, but they are definitely there.

Then again, stains are just one possible explanation for why your teeth change colors. You may have had an injury. You may have been ill. You may have had a reaction to medication.

Veneers can address all those issues. Where teeth whitening products can remove stains (some more than others), veneers cover your teeth with a thin shell. This shell is made to look like teeth and it can be made as white as you would like it to be.

And as an added bonus, veneers are more stain resistant than teeth, so your new white smile will stay that way for a long time.

➤ Would You Like A Straighter Smile?

Again, all we have to do is look at the facts. Millions of Americans go through orthodontic treatments every year, including millions of adults.

Depending on the severity of someone’s misalignment and the kind of orthodontic care he or she receives, it may take several months or a few years before his or her teeth are straight.

For people with crooked teeth, crowded teeth, or gaps between their teeth, veneers can change the appearance of their teeth in a matter of weeks.

Veneers aren’t going to move your teeth. However, they can transform your smile.

Whether you get porcelain veneers or Lumineers, they will be custom-fitted for your teeth. When they are in place, they can make your teeth look perfectly straight and evenly spaced — no crowding and no gaps.

➤ Would You Like Your Teeth To Look Whole Again?

As a group, people are hard on their teeth. We eat foods that are hard and crunchy. We use our teeth to open things (no matter how often people remind us not to do that).

We hold things in our mouths. We chew on pencils and pens. We bite our fingernails.

All of these things can cause chips in our teeth or cause our teeth to become worn down.

If it’s just one or two teeth, you could get a dental crown or maybe have some dental bonding done. If it’s several teeth, then the most efficient way to fix it would be to get veneers.

Just as they can make teeth look whiter and straighter, veneers can build your teeth up to their original shape, too.

Hollywood Here You Come (Maybe)

If you are interested in a Hollywood smile, then veneers can give it to you. You’ve seen the celebrity smiles in the magazines. You too can have a smile that is sparklingly white, perfectly straight, and free from chips or signs of wear.

Find out what veneers can do for you. Fill out our online form today or call the office closest to you to schedule a consultation. We have dentist offices in Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill, and Durham.

Whether you aspire to be on the big screen or you just want to enjoy the confidence that comes from having a beautiful smile, Sunrise Dental and veneers could help make that happen.

Losing teeth can leave you feeling discouraged, disappointed, and disconcerted. You can get your smile back and start feeling like yourself again with a dental bridge. Make an appointment at the nearest Sunrise Dental location. Our dentists in Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh can help you get teeth replacement with a dental bridge. We offer traditional bridge as well as dental implants to hold your bridge securely in place. Call the closet office or use our online form to make your appointment today!

When you were younger, did you ever try to fit one too many people into the back seat of a car? Maybe three of you could fit comfortably. It’s possible a fourth person could squeeze in, too.

But when that fifth friend crowded into the space, you knew you were in for an uncomfortable ride. There simply was not enough room. If there was any good news, this was probably a short ride.

Your wisdom teeth are like that fifth person. They often won’t fit but force their way into your mouth. This makes you uncomfortable, and it can lead to a variety of problems.

It’s also why Sunrise Dental offers wisdom teeth removal. We don’t want you to suffer, and we don’t want your wisdom teeth ruining your smile or your oral health.

You can contact any of our dentist offices in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, or Cary to learn more about wisdom teeth and if yours should be removed.

Why We Have Wisdom Teeth

Most people will start losing their primary teeth between the ages of 6 and 7. By 12 or 13, most people will have all of their permanent teeth, too. (That’s also why this is a good time for orthodontic treatment.)

Then, your wisdom teeth start to erupt in your late teens or early 20s. Whether you have room for them to fit or not, they will try to come in.

What are these late arrivals? These are your third set of molars, which are the larger, flatter teeth in the back of our mouths. We use these teeth to grind our food into smaller pieces.

Why do we have these teeth? That is not entirely clear. Today, wisdom teeth are considered a vestigial body part, like our tonsils or our appendix.

Scientists have studied our anatomy and compared our mouths with our ancestors. One thing that is clear is that, in general, modern humans have smaller jaws than our ancestors.

One hypothesis is that our ancestors needed this third set of molars because of their diet. They were not eating food that had been processed. The thought is that they were eating raw foods, and the extra molars made it easier to grind and chew that food.

Another hypothesis is that wisdom teeth often replaced other teeth. Our ancient ancestors may not have had dentists, but they still lost teeth. These late-arriving teeth could have helped to replace teeth that had fallen out.

Why Wisdom Teeth Are Removed

If you have enough room for your wisdom teeth to erupt correctly, there isn’t a reason to remove them. Yet, experts estimate that between 75 and 85 percent of people will have their wisdom teeth extracted.

As we mentioned above, our jaws are smaller than our ancestors. Most people simply do not have enough room for one more set of teeth to fit.

So what happens when those teeth try to come in? Many times they can become impacted, and impacted teeth are bad for your mouth.

Instead of coming in vertically, impacted teeth will come in at an angle. As a result, they begin to push into your other teeth. That push can cause your other teeth to become misaligned.

Impacted teeth also have the potential to damage nerves, and they can increase your risk of tooth decay and cavities.

Your wisdom teeth may be fully impacted, which means they remain below the gumline, or partially impacted, which means they break the surface but can’t emerge correctly.

With X-rays and other technology, the dentists at Sunrise Dental often can identify wisdom teeth as they are developing. If we see a potential problem, we can schedule your wisdom teeth removal before you feel the effects of impacted teeth.

Making Extractions Comfortable

You should not feel any pain during the extraction procedure. In addition to local anesthetic to numb your mouth, we can provide oral sedation or nitrous oxide. Either of these will help you relax and prevent you from feeling anything during the extraction.

After your wisdom teeth have been removed, we will advise you on how to care for your mouth as it heals. For example, you should avoid smoking (which is a good idea anyway), using a straw, or touching the exposed area.

Call Today To Schedule An Appointment

The best way to monitor the development of your wisdom teeth is through regular visits to a Sunrise Dental office. This gives our dentists a chance to take X-rays and look for any changes in your alignment.

If you suspect your wisdom teeth are coming in, please make an appointment at any of our dentist offices in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, or Cary as soon as possible.

You would much rather deal with those teeth now than wait and see what happens.

“Say cheese!”

“On the count of three, everybody smile … 1, 2, 3!”

When someone asks you to smile for a picture, what do they want to see? They want to see your teeth.

If you have a gummy smile, this can create an uncomfortable feeling. Instead of a big smile that shows off your pearly whites, you may smile with your lips pressed firmly together. You may not smile at all.

Sunrise Dental wants to change that. Our dentists want you to feel confident about your smile. If you make an appointment at any of our offices in Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, or Cary, we can show you how lasers can change how your smile looks and maybe how you feel about sharing your smile.

What Makes A Gummy Smile?

This is somewhat subjective.

When we see photos of smiling celebrities in magazines, we often see photo with their teeth prominently featured between their lips. Their gums are the there, but they have a supporting role, in a manner of speaking.

In general, you could say a gummy smile is one in which your gum tissue is as prominent as or more prominent than your teeth. One person may consider a smile “gummy,” while another person may think he or she has the right balance of gum-to-teeth.

What matters is whether you think your smile is too gummy. If you do, then Sunrise Dental has the tools and the skill to help you change it.

Two Ways Smiles Can Be Considered Too Gummy

Both of these scenarios depend on your tooth-to-gum ratio. Fixing both of them means tilting that ratio in favor of your teeth.

One possibility is that you have gums that are larger than the average person. It happens. It’s really no different than someone having fingers that are longer than average.

The extra gum tissue may affect how your lips part during a smile. As a result, you may reveal more of your gums than your teeth.

Another possibility is that your have “short” teeth. This may be a bit of a misnomer. It may not be that your teeth are physically smaller than you would expect. It could be that your teeth did not erupt as far outside of your gums as other people.

As a result, your teeth may appear short in comparison to your gums.

To give you a more “toothy” smile, you can remove a portion of your gum tissue. This will either change how your lips part or reveal more of your teeth. The result is a more typical smile in which the teeth are the primary feature.

Lasers Can Change Your Smile

In the past, the most common way to address gummy smiles would have been surgery.

Yes, someone would have cut into your gum tissue with a scalpel. As you can imagine, this would be messy, and you would need time to heal from the procedure.

In some cases, you may have needed stitches to close the gum tissue, which meant a second appointment to have the stitches removed.

Like we pointed out, that was the old way of doing things. At Sunrise Dental, we have added a dental laser, the PerioLase, which gives us a more modern way of dealing with excess gum tissue.

This laser isn’t quite as fancy as the kinds depicted in science fiction, but it is more practical for you and our other patients.

In cosmetic dentistry, the PerioLase can be used to evaporate gum tissue. There is no cutting, which significantly reduces bleeding.

The laser has another big advantage for you. As the laser evaporate gum tissue, it also seals the remaining tissue.

This reduces the time it takes to heal after this procedure. It also means you won’t need stitches in most cases.

The Smile You Want

At Sunrise Dental, we are using technology to improve cosmetic dentistry as well as preventive and restorative care.

Our dental laser is just one of the ways we can make changes that you want to see. Gummy smiles treatments are just one of the many ways we can transform your smile.

Ready To Make An Appointment?

The first step in any cosmetic treatment should be a consultation at the nearest Sunrise Dental. Our dentists can be found in Durham, Raleigh, Cary, and Chapel Hill.

During your initial visit, we can discuss the change you want to make, and we can develop a plan to make those changes happen.

Just call the office closest to you or use our online contact form to request your appointment. Do it today, and you can have your new smile before you know it.

Some combinations work great together. Peanut butter and jelly. Movies and popcorn. Batman and Robin.

In restorative dentistry, one great combination is cone beam scanners and dental implants.

OK, maybe that doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as smoothly as a song by Hall & Oates (kids, ask your parents if you don’t know who they are), but cone beam technology does make dental implants more effective.

And dental implants are already really good on their own.

Today, we will discuss what dental implants can do for you, and how we use cone beam technology at Sunrise Dental to improve that process.

And remember, you can always make an appointment at any of our dentist offices in Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill, and Durham to learn more about implants or any of our other services.

Implants Make Teeth Replacements Better

You don’t need dental implants to replace missing teeth.

You can get a traditional bridge that is supported by your existing teeth. You can get dentures that rest entirely outside of your gums.

But both of those options are missing something important. Neither of them includes a replacement for the roots of your missing teeth.

That’s what dental implants are. They are prosthetic roots. As such, they provide a firm foundation to support a dental crown, a dental bridge, or a full set of dentures.

With dental implants, you aren’t just filling empty space in your mouth. Instead, you are creating complete teeth replacements.

This is illustrated in the two extremes when dental implants are used — single tooth replacements and complete arch replacements.

If you don’t use a dental implant, you need to make a dental bridge to replace a single tooth. This means grinding down two teeth that may be perfectly healthy so they can support the bridge.

With a dental implant, you can leave your healthy teeth alone. Instead, you can place the implant in your jaw and attach a dental crown. This restores the appearance of your smile and the usefulness of your tooth.

If you are missing an entire arch of teeth, dentures can give you back your smile. Dentures even allow you to eat some foods again.

If you place those dentures on a series of dental implants, however, you now have dentures that look and function nearly as well as natural teeth. You will be able to eat all the foods that you enjoy, and you can stay confident that your dentures will stay in place.

Cone Beam Improves Implant Placement

Dental implants provide strength, security, and stability to your teeth replacements.

But where those implants are placed can make a difference in how much stability and strength they provide.

One thing that dentists have to take into consideration are the nerves in your jaw. A misplaced implant could be painful. You don’t want that, and we don’t want that, either.

With X-rays, dentists can guess at where those nerves might be in your mouth.

By using a cone beam scanner, we get much more detailed information. The cone beam scanner is a like a smaller CAT scan. We can use the cone beam to create a three-dimensional model of your jaw, so we know exactly where things are located.

This gives our dentists more exact representation of where your nerves are, and we can identify the best places to embed your implants in your jaw.

This imagining system goes beyond what we can see with X-rays alone. X-rays still have their place, and we will continue to use them.

But our cone beam scanners are yet another example of how Sunrise Dental is putting technology to use for you, our patients.

Putting It All Together

The real joy in what we do isn’t when we make the scan of your teeth or even when we place your implants.

We get our real satisfaction from seeing our patients smile. When someone gets a dental crown or another patient gets implant-supported dentures, we love seeing the look on their faces when they see their new smile.

We also love hearing how their replacement teeth have made allowed them to eat comfortably again.

Another Great Combination: Sunrise Dental And You

The only way to benefit from the many services that we offer at Sunrise Dental is to make an appointment. We would be happy to help you and your family get the dental care that you need.

That can include restorative dentistry like dental implants or it may mean preventive care with routine cleanings and examinations.

To learn more about what we can do for you, schedule a consultation with one of our dentists at any of our four locations.

Grinding out a victory on the football field can be a good thing. Grinding down your teeth … well, that’s not something anyone should do.

Teeth grinding is a problem for many people, including patients at Sunrise Dental. It’s also why our dentists will do whatever we can to alleviate the pain and the other problems that can be caused by clenching your teeth.

If you make an appointment, we can examine your teeth and let you know if we see the signs of grinding. More importantly, our dentists can help you fix it.

If you live in or near Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, or Raleigh, you can make an appointment online or by calling the office closest to you.

Teeth Grinding Can Lead To Bigger Problems

When you think of someone grinding their teeth, what comes to mind?

We think of someone who is angry, frustrated, or stressed. We think of someone who feels he or she has to hold his tongue and clenches or grinds his or her teeth together to keep from saying something that could cause more problems.

Unfortunately, this approach to stress can have dire consequences on your mouth.

One of the issues is that grinding actually does grinding down your teeth. When you rub your top and bottom teeth together, you are wearing down enamel. This is the outer layer of your teeth and the hardest substance on the human body.

As you wear down your enamel, you could expose the softer dentin. You may notice that your teeth have become more sensitive, and you are increasing your risk for tooth decay.

That’s just the start of how teeth grinding can affect you.

Grinding and clenching your teeth can lead to a TMJ disorder as well. Here are some the symptoms to watch for:

▷ Pain in your jaw or face

▷ Frequent headaches or earaches

▷ Pain while eating or after you finish chewing

▷ Neck, shoulder, and upper back pain

▷ Limited mobility of your jaw

What Is A TMJ Disorder?

TMJ is an abbreviation for temporomandibular joint. You have two of these joints. One is located on either side of your face, and together they allow your jaw to open and close.

A TMJ disorder causes pain or dysfunction of one or both of these joints.

Teeth grinding and clenching may be a primary factor in some TMJ problems, or it could be one of a combination of factors. Injuries, arthritis, and illnesses can affect your TMJ as well.

Just as grinding may be one of the contributing factors to your TMJ, you may have multiple issues affecting your grinding.

One of those factors could be the alignment of your teeth.

Another factor may be the stress we mentioned earlier.

You may be thinking that you don’t grind your teeth, but this may be something you do subconsciously. It’s also something that you may be doing unconsciously, as in, while you are sleeping.

The National Sleep Foundation reported that 8 percent of American adults grind their teeth at night. If you often wake up with jaw pain, headaches, or other TMJ symptoms, this could be why.

If you visit Sunrise Dental, we will examine your mouth and jaw. If we determine that you are grinding your teeth together, we can begin your treatment.

Fixing TMJ Problems By Stopping Teeth Grinding

We want to start by mentioning that there are things you can do to alleviate the stress that is contributing to your teeth grinding.

Exercise is effective for some people. Breathing exercises or meditation could help you relax. Therapy may be beneficial as well.

From the dental side, we can create a special mouthguard that you wear while you sleep. The mouthguard is designed to change the position of your jaw. This can alleviate the pressure you have been putting on your TMJ and the surrounding tissues as a result of your teeth grinding.

Further, the mouthguard creates a barrier between your upper and lower teeth. This will prevent you from grinding them together.

As you become more comfortable wearing the mouthguard, you should notice that your TMJ symptoms become less common.

Less Pain, More Gains For You

We have dentist offices in Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh. We don’t want any of our patients to be in pain, and if there is anything we can do to help, then we want to do just that.

To get help with your TMJ or your teeth grinding, call the nearest Sunrise Dental or fill out our online form to make an appointment. Relief could be closer than you know.

Dental crowns are a wonderful way to repair teeth that are broken, worn down, or decayed. And today’s crowns are better than ever. How? Because you can get your crown faster than ever if you come to Sunrise Dental in Raleigh, NC. With our CEREC in-office milling machine, we can create your permanent crown on the same day that we reshape your tooth. To learn more call our office in Raleigh, NC, at 919-578-9923 or request an appointment online.

Picking the right dentist for yourself isn’t easy. Picking the right dentist for your whole family is even harder.

You deserve high-quality dental care, and you certainly want the best service you can find for your spouse and your children.

If you live near the Research Triangle, you’re in a good position. You can pick from one of four Sunrise Dental locations in Durham, Raleigh, Cary, and Chapel Hill.

Call, contact us online, or stop by any of our offices to learn more about us and our approach to general and family dentistry.

You Deserve Comprehensive Care

The foundation for oral health is preventive care. From your initial visit on, we want you and every member of your family to realize that our professional staff will provide you with complete dental care.

This starts with routine cleanings and examinations. In addition to removing plaque and tartar buildup, we will polish your teeth and check for signs of a variety of dental problems:

▪︎ Tooth decay

▪︎ Gum disease

▪︎ Oral cancer

▪︎ Alignment issues

If we see anything that gives us pause, we will let you know so you can begin your treatment as soon as possible.

That’s just the beginning of what you will find at our offices, however.

We offer a range of cosmetic services. We can make your teeth whiter. We can fix a gummy smile or reshape teeth that you wish looked a little different. We can make your teeth look straighter, too, with Invisalign® or a set of dental veneers.

If you need restorative dental care, you can get that at Sunrise Dental, too. We offer dental crowns and bridges. We also offer dentures, including implant-supported dentures to give you the strongest and most secure replacement teeth.

Your Dentist Should Use The Latest Technology

Dr. Dinah Vice describes herself as a technology “junkie.” She wants the nicest equipment because she knows that having state-of-the-art equipment allows our dentists to provide state-of-the-art treatment for our patients.

A great example of this is our cone beam CT scanner. That may not mean much to you as your read it, but if you or someone you love ever needs a dental implant, you will appreciate it.

The cone beam scanner allows our dentists to create a three-dimensional model of your jaw and teeth. This way they can precisely determine the best location to place a dental implant.

You’ll also be glad we have scanners if you’ve ever had impressions made by hold a tray filled with that funny-tasting goop in your mouth. With technology, we can make digital impressions instead.

One of the most recent technological additions we have made is the CEREC milling machine at our office in Raleigh. This machine allows us to craft a dental crown for a patient and place that crown on his or her tooth that same day.

You Should Be Comfortable Throughout Your Dental Visits

Last, but not least, we want you and your family to feel at home from the moment you walk through the doors of any of our offices.

You will be greeted by our friendly staff, and you will have your choice of refreshments while you wait.

In the patient rooms, you’ll find televisions so you can watch one of your favorite shows during your visit. We can also provide you with comfort options to help you feel cozy while you are our guest.

For patients who may feel anxious about coming to the dentist, we want to make dental care easier for you.

For some, this can mean taking advantage of our longer appointment option. With a longer appointment, you can dictate the pace of your treatment. At any time, you can ask your dentist or hygienist to take a break.

For any procedure that could cause any pain, we will provide local anesthetic so you don’t feel a thing. We also know some patients might prefer something stronger, so we offer two kinds of sedation dentistry.

Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) both takes effect and wears off quickly. As long as you a breathing it in, you will benefit from how it keeps you calm and prevents you from feeling pain.

Oral conscious sedation is stronger than nitrous oxide. Oral sedation involves taking medication that will leave you relaxed and pain-free throughout your treatment and probably for a few hours after. (You must arrange for someone else to drive if you elect to receive oral sedation.)

We Would Love To Meet You

Our goal is for every patient to become a regular patient. That starts with your family’s first visit to any Sunrise Dental location.

Find out for yourself why so many patients in and around the Research Triangle receive their dental care with us. Call or fill out an online form for the office closest to you to schedule your visit. We look forward to meeting you and to seeing your smile.

Restorative dentistry could do more than restore you smile. It could restore your self-confidence, and it could restore your ability to comfortably eat the foods that you love. If you are interested in anything from a dental filling to implant-supported dentures, crowns, or bridges, then you can find it at any of our dentist offices in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, or Care.

Call the nearest Sunrise Dental or use the online form to request an appointment.

Few things scare patients more than hearing, “You need a root canal.” We don’t know if this is because of misperceptions created by the way dentists are depicted in movies or because of a story they heard from someone else.

We do know that root canal therapy is not something you should fear if you have your procedure at any Sunrise Dental location. We have dentists in Durham, Raleigh, Cary, and Chapel Hill to serve patients the Research Triangle and the surrounding area.

You can make an appointment at any of our offices by contacting us online or by calling the office closest to you. Whether you need root canal therapy or you are trying to avoid needing it, our team is here for you.

Signs That You May Need A Root Canal

Root canal treatments have an undeserved bad reputation. This may be because you often need this treatment in response to the pains that come with having an infected tooth.

Dr. Vice has explained that you need relief when you are in pain, like you will be if you have an abscessed tooth.

Root canal problems are often preceded by other oral health problems. Often this is gum disease, tooth decay, or an injury of some kind. All of those things can allow bacteria to reach the soft tissue called pulp at the center of your tooth.

When this happens, your tooth is infected, and you may notice one or more of the following symptoms:

◆ Lingering low-level pain in one of your teeth

◆ Spikes in pain when you bite or chew with a particular tooth

◆ Painful gums

◆ Sensitivity to heat, cold, and sweets

◆ Soreness or tenderness of your gums near the problem tooth

You should make an appointment at the nearest Sunrise Dental if you are experiencing any of the symptoms described above.

The one thing all of those symptoms have in common is pain. At Sunrise Dental we don’t like it when our patients are in pain, and we will do everything that we can to alleviate that pain. We certainly don’t want to cause more of it.

What’s The Difference Between A Root Canal And Root Canal Therapy?

In all fairness, when most people say they need a root canal, they mean they need root canal therapy or treatment.

From a more technical perspective, root canals are openings that allow blood vessels and nerves to enter the roots of your teeth. These openings lead to the pulp chamber, which contains the soft pulp that we mentioned earlier.

Root canal therapy is the procedure to remove pulp that has become inflamed as a result of being infected by bacteria. We will remove nerves and blood vessels as part of this procedure as well.

The dentists at Sunrise Dental know that the infection is the cause of your pain. We also know that removing the bacteria and any soft tissues they may have infected will alleviate that pain.

It’s why we want you to call us as soon as you notice any of the symptoms described above. It’s also why we make preventive dentistry an important part of our practice. Routine dental care often can be enough to prevent or reverse the underlying conditions that make tooth infections possible.

How We Perform Root Canal Procedures

We want your root canal therapy to end your pain, not cause new ones. That’s why the first step in any root canal treatment at Sunrise Dental is making sure you won’t feel any pain during your procedure.

For some people, this will mean using a local anesthetic to numb the infected tooth and the nearby tissues. For others, we provide sedation dentistry to assure that you do not feel anything throughout the root canal treatment.

Either option will keep you from feeling any pain during your procedure. We will clean and sanitize the infected tooth, and we will fill it will a special material to reduce your risk of a new infection.

When the root canal therapy is finished, you will start to feel better in a matter of days. You should notice a lot less pain in the aftermath of the treatment, too.

The Right Way To Treat Your Root Canal

First and foremost, we want you to focus on preventing tooth decay and gum disease with daily brushing and flossing and with routine cleanings at any Sunrise Dental location.

Second, we want you to be aware of the symptoms of an infected tooth so you will know when to call our dentists in Durham, Raleigh, Cary, or Chapel Hill for help.

To schedule your appointment, you can call or click on the name of the office to make an appointment online.

Most people would like to have white teeth. That doesn’t make you vain. It makes you human. It’s also why you may want to consider professional teeth whitening if you would like to remove unsightly stains from your teeth.

You can visit any Sunrise Dental location if you are interested in professional teeth whitening. We understand if you are wondering what makes professional whitening better than the commercial products you can find in any toothpaste aisle.

To find out, schedule a consultation with one of our dentists in Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill, or Durham. You owe it to yourself to find out what your options are and whether they are likely to work before you spend a dime of your money on making your teeth looking whiter and brighter.

How Teeth Whitening Works

When we talk about teeth whitening, we are talking about “bleaching” products. These are things like white strips and whitening gels that can do more than remove surface stains from your teeth.

In case you were wondering, whitening toothpaste can remove surface stains, but it won’t go deeper than that. That comes straight from the American Dental Association Council on Scientific Affairs.

At Sunrise Dental, we use Sinsational Smile®. This is considered a professional strength teeth whitening product. The “bleaching” agent used in this product is carbamide peroxide.

When carbamide peroxide is placed on your teeth it starts to break down into hydrogen peroxide and other things. The hydrogen peroxide goes deep into your teeth to remove deep stains that may have taken years to develop.

Many commercial products use carbamide peroxide as well, but they still don’t provide the same whitening power that you will find if you come to Sunrise Dental for your care.

How Professional Teeth Whitening Is Better

So what makes the whitening treatments you can get at Sunrise Dental more effective that the commercial products?

Professional strength is what. This is a matter of concentration.

To qualify for the ADA Seal of Acceptance, commercial whitening products can contain no more than 10 percent carbamide peroxide. Professional products can have seven times higher levels or more than their commercial counterparts.

That’s a powerful punch to apply to the pernicious stains on your teeth. It’s why you can come to Sunrise Dental for a teeth whitening treatment and see tremendous results in as little as 20 minutes.

If you prefer a take-home treatment, we can help with that, too. After making custom-made whitening trays for you, we will provide you with Opalescence whitening gel. You can see results in a few weeks comparable to our in-office treatment if you use the trays and the gel as directed.

And using any whitening product as directed is more important than you may realize.

Professional Teeth Whitening Is Safer

The ADA Council on Scientific Affairs started looking into whitening products as they become more and more common. You can probably find dozens of self-proclaimed “whitening” products at almost any toothpaste aisle.

Unfortunately, whitening products can cause problems as well. Using them for longer than directed or overuse of these products can cause damage to your teeth.

That’s why the ADA council recommends talking to a dentist before you begin any whitening treatment — professional or otherwise. For patients who have had multiple fillings or dental crowns, whitening may not have the desired effect.

Likewise, some tooth discolorations are not due to staining. In those cases, whitening isn’t going to do much to improve the whiteness of your smile.

The dentists at Sunrise Dental can examine your teeth and let you know if whitening will work. If it won’t, we will let you know that, too.

That doesn’t mean you have to give up on your dream of a whiter smile, however. You may be a good candidate for dental veneers.

Instead of removing your stains, hide them with dental veneers. Veneers can be bonded to the front of your teeth to give you the white smile you are seeking. Many times, dental veneers will work in cases when teeth whitening isn’t an option.

We Can Help Give You A Whiter Smile

Teeth whitening is popular for a reason. Many people believe it is the single most popular treatment in cosmetic dentistry.

At Sunrise Dental, we use Sinsational Smile because want our patients to have a fast, effective, and affordable options for removing stains from their teeth.

Call or contact us online today to schedule a consultation at any Sunrise Dental location. Find out today how our dentists in Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill, and Durham can make your smile whiter.

Don’t let the thought of wearing metal brackets and wires for years prevent you from fixing your misaligned teeth. Make an appointment at any Sunrise Dental to learn how Invisalign® clear, plastic aligners can straighten your smile.
We have dentists in Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh who can examine your teeth and let you know if Invisalign would help you. Invisalign is just one part of the cosmetic dentistry that we provide for our patients in and around the Research Triangle.

Gum disease is a problem in the Research Triangle, in North Carolina, and across the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly half of Americans 30 and older have some form or periodontitis.

When gingivitis is added to the mix, some experts estimate that nearly three in four adults have some form of periodontal disease.

At Sunrise Dental, we don’t want any of our patients to suffer from gum disease. Our dentists in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, and Cary would prefer to help you prevent gum disease. If needed, we can provide non-surgical periodontal treatments as well.

You can help yourself by scheduling an appointment for a cleaning and examination. This will give our dental professionals an opportunity to examine your gums and remove the potential causes of gum infections.

The Consequences Of Gum Disease

Gum disease poses obvious problems for your oral health. If bacteria have grown to the point where you have gum disease, you could be facing multiple issues.

One possibility is an infected tooth. As gum disease develops, bacteria, plaque, and tartar can build on the roots of your teeth. If bacteria eats into the root, it could reach your root canals. Once there, it can cause inflammation of the pulp inside your tooth. Root canal therapy may be necessary.

Of course, gum disease can damage your gum tissue as well. The symptoms may include receding gums and damage to the bone that holds your teeth in place as well. When gum tissue separate from your teeth and the bone becomes weaker, you will understand why gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss in the United States.

The risks of gum disease may extend beyond your mouth, however.

Periodontal disease have been linked to other health issues. Premature and low-birthweight babies are more likely when the mother has gum disease. Health experts have also found connections between gum disease and heart disease, diabetes, and strokes as well.

The reasons for those connections aren’t entirely clear, but they are all reasons to be concerned about your ongoing oral health.

When you come to Sunrise Dental, we want you to have a pleasant experience. But that’s only the start of what you will get from our dental professionals.

We will carefully examine your mouth for signs of gum disease. We know we can treat it more effectively if we catch it early.

Today would be a good day to schedule your next cleaning if you haven’t already done so.

Recognizing Gum Disease

Healthy gums should look pink and feel firm. That’s the ideal condition.

Any of the following signs and symptoms can indicate that you have some form of gum disease:

◼︎ gums that bleed

◼︎ gums that are redder than usual

◼︎ swollen gums

◼︎ tender or sore gums

◼︎ receding gums

◼︎ loose teeth

◼︎ constant bad breath

Red, swollen gums that bleed when you brush and floss are symptoms of gingivitis, the mild form of gum disease.

If the bleeding occurs more frequently, if your gums hurt, or if your teeth start to feel like they are loose or are shifting positions, then you could have the advanced gum disease. This is periodontitis.

Sunrise Dental can help you with either form of gum disease, but only if you make an appointment to see us. If you notice any of the symptoms above, please contact us as soon as possible.

Treating Gum Disease

At Sunrise Dental, we encourage all our patients to do the things they should to keep the bacteria in their mouths under control. That includes visiting us regularly for dental cleanings, but it also means brushing your teeth twice daily and cleaning between your teeth and gums every day.

This can often be enough to prevent and to treat gingivitis. Untreated gingivitis can develop into periodontitis, and periodontitis should only be treated by dental professionals.

At Sunrise Dental, we can address the early stages of periodontitis without surgery through scaling and root planing. During this procedure, we remove bacteria, plaque, and tartar that have built up on the roots of your teeth.

For more serious infections, we also have the PerioLase. This is a dental laser, and it allows us to remove infected gum tissue with cutting into the soft tissue. Instead, the laser evaporates the infected tissue. This preserves more of your healthy tissue and seals it at the same time.

Don’t Ignore The Signs Of Gum Disease

Call the nearest Sunrise Dental or contact us online right away if you notice periodontal disease in your mouth. Remember, our dentists have offices in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, and Cary.

Gum disease can be treated, and the earlier you seek treatment, the more effective it will be.

Millions of people across the United States experience dental anxiety and dental fear. Fortunately, you can come to Sunrise Dental where our sedation dentistry can make it easier to receive the oral care that you need and deserve.
Almost daily, our dental sedation options help our patients with everything from routine dental cleanings to dental implant placements. Nitrous oxide and oral sedation are both effective ways to address dental anxiety so you can receive the treatment that you need. We offer sedation dentistry in Durham, Raleigh, Cary, and Chapel Hill.
To make an appointment or to learn more about dental sedation, just call the nearest office or contact us online.
For now, however, answer a few questions to find out if sedation dentistry could help you.

In many places, getting a dental crown requires multiple dental visits just to fix a tooth that is broken, cracked, decayed, or discolored. However, you can get a dental crown in a matter of hours if you make your appointment at the Sunrise Dental office in Raleigh, NC.
With our CEREC same-day dental crowns, we can scan, create, and place a dental crown on your tooth before you leave.
Call 919-578-9923 or contact us online to learn more about this procedure or to make an appointment at our dentist office in Raleigh, NC.

As important as family dentistry is to you, it’s equally important to every member of our team at Sunrise Dental. We care for patients who are as young as 2 years old and patients who are approaching their 100th birthdays.

When we say that family dental care is important, we want to include every member of your family. We hope that you will make routine dental care part of your family life, too.

We also want to make it as easy as we can for you to receive. We have four convenient dentist offices in Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh, and each of those offices can meet your family’s dental needs as you and your children get older.

Contact us to schedule a consultation or to make an appointment at any of our locations.

Family Friendly Dentistry

Your life is busy whether you are newlyweds, are preparing for your first child, or already have multiple children to care for.

If we could, we would make every aspect of your life as simple as we could. As it is, we can help with your dental care. Rather than running all over town to different dentists for each member of your family, all of your loved ones can come to the nearest Sunrise Dental for family and general dentistry.

This starts with your son or daughter’s first dental cleaning. We want to make this a pleasant experience for your child.

Young children are welcome to sit on a parent’s lap during this cleaning and examination. Our goal is to help your son or daughter feel as comfortable as possible. This will reduce the chances that he or she will feel anxious about dental care as they get older.

Building good relationships with our patients is as important as keeping your mouths as healthy as we can.

Family Dentistry Means More Than Just Cleanings

You can expect personal and professional care at any Sunrise Dental location when you make appointments for your family.

We encourage every member of your family to visit us a few times throughout the year for a cleaning. Our dental hygienists will remove any tartar or plaque buildup that has developed on your teeth.

We also will examine your mouth for oral health problems — gum disease, tooth decay, oral cancer. If there is an issue, we want your treatment to begin early when it is less invasive and more effective.

Cleanings are just one way we try to prevent problems, however. Here are some of the other services we offer for your family:

➤ Fluoride treatments — The American Dental Association recommends using toothpaste with fluoride for you day-to-day brushing. Fluoride treatments can take that a step further.

Fluoride is a mineral. When it is applied to your teeth, it helps fight cavities by strengthening your enamel. Enamel is the hard outer layer of your teeth.

Fluoride treatments can repair minor damage to your teeth and make you enamel stronger. Both of these things make it more difficult for the bacteria that cause cavities and tooth decay.

➤ Mouthguards — We can create a couple kinds of mouthguards to help protect your family’s teeth. The first mouthguard can be worn while you or your children sleep. Many people clench or grind their teeth in their sleep. This can wear down the enamel and increase your risk of tooth decay. A nightguard can keep you from grinding your teeth together.

Athletic mouthguards are just as important for anyone who plays high-impact sports. This includes basketball, football, wrestling, volleyball, and soccer. A custom-fitted mouthguard gives you and your children the best protection direct impact injuries as well as indirect injuries from frequent jumping, changes in speed, and changes in direction.

➤ Nutritional counseling — We all know that brushing and flossing our teeth is important to maintaining our oral health. However, the foods that we eat have a big effect as well. Too many sweets can make it easier for bacteria to grow, and that bacteria is what causes cavities and gum disease.

Member of the Sunrise Dental staff can take time to discuss the how the things you eat can help or hurt your oral health.

We Want To Be The Dentists For Your Family

Your entire family can receive the dental care you deserve at any Sunrise Dental location. We invite you to download our new patient forms if this is your first visit. This allows you to print the forms and fill them out prior to your arrival.

To make an appointment, all you have to do is contact the office that is most convenient for you. We hope to see you and your family in the near future.

Loud, constant snoring, irritability, and daytime sleepiness may all be symptoms of sleep apnea. Finding a sleep apnea treatment can improve your health and your relationship with your spouse.

Sunrise Dental can help. Our dentists have the knowledge and training to help you or someone you love receive the sleep apnea treatment that you need so both of you can sleep better.

Contact any of our dentist offices in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, or Cary to learn more about what we can do to help you feel refreshed and rejuvenated each morning.

What Is Sleep Apnea?

According to sleep disorder experts, close to 20 million Americans have some form of sleep apnea. Of that group, most people with sleep apnea have never been diagnosed and as a result, they are not getting the treatment they need.

To put it simply, people with sleep apnea stop breathing when they fall asleep. That sounds scary, and it should. These stoppages can last up to 30 seconds at a time. Some with sleep apnea can stop breathing anywhere from 4 to more than 30 times per hour.

In response, his or her body will wake that person up. Often this is just long enough to take a breath or two, and the person has no memory that this has happened.

For people with obstructive sleep apnea (the most common type of this sleep disorder), the breathing stoppages are a result of a physical issue. Their airways become blocked as their muscle relax and soft tissues collapse when they fall asleep.

At first, this can cause their airways to become partially blocked. That restricted access makes it harder to breathe. It also makes them more likely to snore while amplifying the sound of that snoring (which spouses are all too aware of).

How Can Sunrise Dental Treat Your Sleep Apnea?

We want you to sleep better (for your sake), and we want you to snore less (for your partner’s sake). Since obstructive sleep apnea is a physical issue, we can help.

You need to be able to breathe in order to stay asleep for longer periods of time. This means you need to find a way to keep your airways open.

One way to do this is with a CPAP machine. CPAP means continuous positive airway pressure. This machine forces air through a mask into your mouth or nose to keep your airways open.

For some people, this works well. For others, the machine becomes a new problem. The sound of the machine keeps some people awake. The mask may become irritating or lose its seal, making it ineffective. Plus, the machine needs electricity to work.

You can avoid the sound of the machine, the irritating mask, and the need for electricity by getting a special oral appliance from Sunrise Dental. (We are in the network for Blue Cross Blue Shield and other insurance companies. This could help offset some of the cost of this oral appliance.)

You will wear this mouthpiece while you sleep. It may take some adjusting to get used to it, but once you do, you should sleep deeper, snore less, and wake up feeling refreshed.

The oral appliance works by pulling your jaw forward slightly. This will help to keep your airways open so you can continue breathing throughout the night.

Why We Want To Treat Your Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea doesn’t just affect you when you are asleep.

The constant waking up prevents you from getting the deep sleep that you need to recover from the daily activities. This can lead to sleep deprivation, which can leave you feeling fatigued and more than double your risk of being in a car accident.

The fight for breath has other effects as well. People with sleep apnea are more likely to have high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, and strokes.

An oral appliance from Sunrise Dental has helped many patients reduce their risk of accidents and heart problems. One of our appliances could do the same thing for you or someone you love.

Schedule a consultation today to learn more.

Don’t Let Sleep Apnea Ruin Your Life

Untreated sleep apnea is more than just an annoyance for the people around you. It increases the odds that you will have other health problems as well.

Call or use the online form for the Sunrise Dental office closest to you to make an appointment today. Our dentists are located in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, and Cary.

Teeth grinding and sore jaws and headaches, oh my! That’s what life can be like when you are struggling with a TMJ disorder or TMD.

It’s not fun for you, and in fact, it can prevent you from enjoying your daily life. We want you to be able to do the things that you want to do. That’s why we encourage you to visit the nearest Sunrise Dental if you suspect you may have a TMJ problem.

By making an appointment with our dentists in Durham, Raleigh, Cary, or Chapel Hill, we can explain how we can address your TMJ trouble and make your headaches go away.

TMJ Vs. A TMJ Disorder

You may have heard someone talking about having TMJ. You know what they mean, and that’s what matters.

Technically, everyone has TMJ. The temporomandibular joints are the ball-and-socket joints that connect your lower jaw (mandible) to your skull. When these joints are working correctly, they allow you to open and close your mouth to eat, speak, sing, etc.

A TMJ disorder can arise when you are having problems with one or both of these joints. We’ll get to the specific symptoms in a moment.

For now, just remember that you can call any Sunrise Dental location to make an appointment if you need help with your TMJ problems.

TMJ Disorder Symptoms

We mentioned some of the symptoms of TMJ disorders earlier, but we want to make sure you understand what kinds of problems can arise from this condition.

You should call us if you are regularly dealing with one or more of the following symptoms:

• Sore, tender jaw
• Jaw pain during meals or after you eat
• Frequent headaches (including migraines) and earaches
• Face, neck, or upper back pain
• Popping or clicking sensations you open or close your jaw
• Limited jaw movement

Jaw mobility problems may include an inability to fully open or close your jaw. It also can mean the temporary inability to move your jaw at all.

Our Sunrise Dental team is well aware of the problems these symptoms can create for our patients. We will check for possible causes of your condition when you visit us.

Teeth grinding and misalignment issues can both be factors that contribute to TMJ disorders.

Treating TMJ Troubles

Our dentists are well trained and prepared to address your TMJ issues, but not all TMJ issues rise to the level of TMJ disorders.

You may want to try home remedies first.

Applying something warm and moist to your jaw could improve mobility. Ice or cold packs could numb your pain and reduce swelling of the muscles around your jaw.

Over-the-counter pain relievers may be enough to help with the headaches or jaw pain that you are feeling. Even eating softer foods temporarily may be enough to alleviate your symptoms.

What you should watch for, what our team at Sunrise Dental wants you to watch for, is whether your symptoms persists in spite of your treatments or if they recur when you stop the treatments. Those are the signs that you TMJ problem may be a TMJ disorder.

TMJ disorders develop due to extra pressure on your jaw joints, and one of the common causes of this pressure is teeth grinding. We know from research and from our personal experience in treating patients that many people are not aware that they grind their teeth together. Millions of people do this in their sleep.

Researchers have learned that teeth grinders can put more than double the normal pressure on their jaws. That’s a lot of added stress for your TMJ and the surrounding tissues to deal with.

At Sunrise Dental, we could make a mouthguard to “deprogram” your jaw. This mouthguard can be worn while you sleep. It will keep your top and bottom teeth separated from each other, and it will allow your jaw to rest in a more relaxed position.

By alleviating the pressure on your jaw, you should notice fewer headaches, earaches, jaw pain, and other problems in the long run.

Talk To Us About Your TMJ Concerns

Every member of the Sunrise Dental team wants to help our patients. Our dentists will gladly discuss your TMJ issues and concerns. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and we will do everything we can to treat your condition if and when it is needed.

To schedule a consultation with our dentists in Durham, Raleigh, Cary, or Chapel Hill, call or contact us online today.