The Dulac Dental of Springfield Difference: Our Services
Hi, this is Dr. Jason Dulac coming to you from my office, Dulac Dental of Springfield in Springfield, Virginia. I'm a solo office doctor. I own and operate the practice. When you come to my office, you're always going to see me and one of our great team members. I want to talk comprehensively about all the services we offer at the practice.
Diagnostic Services
I want to start with diagnostic services. Some unique things set us apart. I have a 3D X-ray machine. We're all digital at the office. I have the 2D X-rays, but we also have the 3D X-ray machine. This shows the bone in slices and the roots in slices, all different slices of plane. When you take one X-ray, it compresses it down to a single image. We have a 3D X-ray machine, great for doing root canals and implants quickly and effectively. If you see unique pathology that you're not really sure where it is, the 3D X-ray will tell you exactly where it is. It's something that we have at the office that's always available if you need it.
In addition to that, all of our exams include an oral cancer screening, a sleep screening, and we check the joint, the jaw muscles for TMJ and TMJD. We check for cavities, of course. We check the gum health and just a comprehensive look from the neck up.
Preventative Services
Moving on to preventative services, I have two great hygienists in the office, and a bunch of my assistants are trained for doing younger kids as well. We do cleanings, of course, and periodontal maintenance visits. We also provide fluoride treatments. We have some unique desensitizers and things that can help prevent cavities.
In addition to that, I always like to talk to all my patients about how cavities form, the responsibility of sugar in that process, and brushing and flossing. These are all things that we can do. We also have some elective cosmetic services like whitening.
Fillings and Ways We Can Fix Cavities
Moving on to fillings and ways we can fix cavities. We're all tooth-colored fillings at the office, no silver. We have fillings. I have a same-day crown machine that allows me to do crowns in the office to fix bigger cavities, but it also allows us to do something in between a filling and a crown called an inlay or an onlay. This is something that's often overlooked because it's very hard to temporize.
In most offices, you do a filling or a crown. In my office, you have a traditional transitional option between those two called an inlay or onlay, where it's the shape or size of the filling, but it's made out of strong porcelain like the crown. It really gives you a nice in-between option.
The reasons that it's not done in a lot of offices is they wouldn't have the machine in the office, and sending that to the lab, they wouldn't really be able to provide the patient with a temporary while that was being done. The tooth would be exposed. That's a great option that's often overlooked.
Cosmetic Services
For cosmetics, we do veneers and whitening, and for veneers, we have a lot of different options. I had shied away from veneers for a number of years because I didn't want to have to drill on a tooth. Now, there are 3D printed resins and milled zirconia down to 0.2 mm or 200 microns that you can put on top of the tooth without drilling the tooth at all, so that you have a very natural appearance. They don't look, you know, like horse teeth or anything like that. There are some of those photos on my website if you want to check those out.
Restorative Services
Moving past restorative services, what happens if that cavity gets deep into the nerve? Well, I do root canals for all teeth in my office. I also do some retreatments of some root canals. I don't need to refer you to an endodontist or specialist. We have some great specialists in the area that I work with, but I do root canals in the office. You can come in, get numb, get the cavity taken care of, no matter how deep or big or small it is, and be done that day. We don't stop. I don't refer you to an endodontist, and you come back to me for the crown, and the crown goes out, and you're in the office for four different visits for the same tooth.
At my office, we numb you and we get it taken care of, and it's done. You don't have to deal with it again.
Gum Health
Moving into gum health. We have two great hygienists in my office and myself. I do a number of periodontal procedures and therapeutic procedures for patients. Cleanings are designed to help prevent gum disease, but about two-thirds of people in their life will develop some kind of gum disease, and we have a number of therapies for that. The first therapy is a deep cleaning or scaling, and root planing. We do that in the office. My hygienists do that. We have some ancillary services that go along with that to get the best outcome.
We have a non-surgical laser in the office to kill the bacteria down around the tooth. We can do irrigation with prescription medicines down in there. The next step above that, I actually have a laser in the office that I can use for a surgical periodontal procedure to help reduce the bone and contour the bone to get you the best possible outcome, to get the bone to come back up around the tooth.
We also do cosmetic services, gum contouring. If you have a gummy smile, that's something I can take care of for you. Removing excess gum around tissue, things like that. This water laser that spits out water and the water gets cut by the laser and it provides a very mild cutting action is a great tool that we have in my office that's much more comfortable than traditional periodontal therapy and saves me the need to do a lot of stitching and lifting out of the gum and referring you to a specialist. That's a really nice piece of equipment that we have in the office that's available to all of our patients for any type of procedure they might need it.
Missing Teeth Solutions
Next up, what if you're missing teeth? We have a number of options. Traditionally bridges, bridges are three crowns connected in a row that go in. That was the best option in the 70s. Now, we have implants. I do implants in the office.
I do the surgery and the restoration of the implants, so you don't have to go anywhere else. The implant is a post or screw that replaces the root of the tooth and then you put a crown on top of it. We do that in the office. We also do dentures, partial dentures, and implant-retained dentures. Pretty much any missing tooth situation, we can help you with it.
Orthodontics
Moving on from that, orthodontics. We do orthodontics in the office. I do clear aligner therapy, traditional ortho, and something called functional orthodontics for developing kids. No matter the age of your child, I can do orthodontics in our office.
Whether it's a removable appliance, a fixed appliance, an appliance that helps promote growth and development, whether it's clear aligners for straightening the teeth, Invisalign for straightening teeth, or traditional braces for straightening the teeth. The wires have come a long way since I had them as a kid. They're very soft but firm. They provide differential strengths from front to back to very gently and mildly move the teeth a lot more passively with a lot less pressure than what you may be used to as an adult or in the past.
Ancillary Services
We also have a number of ancillary services that we offer. I do Botox for TMJ issues. If you're having pain in a jaw joint or muscles, it feels fantastic. I give it to myself every 3 months. It feels great.
We make night guards to protect the teeth from wear. Retainers, of course, for after orthodontics.
We do cosmetic contouring of teeth to shape them. Whitening, of course, we have different whitening tiers. We have an over-the-counter product that's a little better than Crest White Strips. We have take-home whitening. We have Zoom in-office whitening. We have a number of services here that can help treat our patients and give them the best possible care without referral to a specialist.
Equipment and Technology
I think the couple pieces of equipment that really set us apart are the 3D X-ray machine to help us do root canals and implants safely and effectively, the same-day crown machine to help us do crowns, inlays, and onlays in one visit. The fact that it's a one-stop shop, but also a water laser for surgical procedures.
I do all types of surgery, not just periodontal and implant surgery. I also do extractions. I do third molar extractions. As long as you don't want to be sedated, it would be a little cheaper to be sedated with an oral surgeon. I do all wisdom teeth extractions of various gradients and difficulties, and I also do a number of other soft tissue procedures. The laser, the 3D X-ray machine, and the fact that it's a one-stop shop with a same-day crown machine are some of the things that I think really set my office apart and really help us to deliver the best possible care to the patients.
If you live in or near Springfield, VA, and are looking for dental care, contact us at (703) 451-4500 to set an appointment. Our staff would love to talk with you!
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