Questions, answered honestly.

Yes. We are actively accepting new patients of all ages. Call (248) 216-1000 or request an appointment online and we will get you booked in.

Monday to Thursday, 8:00am to 4:00pm. We are closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

22180 Pontiac Trail, Suites C/D, South Lyon, MI 48178 — in the plaza at number 22180 on Pontiac Trail, Suites C and D. There is free parking directly in front and a wheelchair-accessible entrance.

Photo ID, your dental insurance card if you have one, a list of any medications you take, and the name of your previous dental office if you would like your records transferred.

Call (248) 216-1000 as early in the day as possible and tell us what has happened. We keep room in the schedule for urgent problems. For a knocked-out tooth, keep it moist — in milk, or held in the cheek — and come straight in; time genuinely matters for reimplantation.

Every six months for most people. If you have gum disease or a higher risk of decay we may suggest coming in more often, and we will explain why rather than simply booking it.

We work with most dental insurance plans and will file the claim for you. Bring your card to your first visit — or call (248) 216-1000 beforehand and we will verify your benefits and explain your coverage in plain terms.

You are still very welcome here. We will give you a clear estimate before treatment begins, tell you what genuinely needs doing now versus what can wait and watch, and talk through financing if it would help.

We offer third-party financing through Cherry, CareCredit and Lending Club Patient Solutions, which spread treatment over monthly payments. Lending Club lets you see the amounts, monthly payments and rates you qualify for with no impact to your credit until you choose a plan and move forward.

Yes. You will get an estimate before treatment begins. If something changes once we are underway — which occasionally happens — we stop and talk to you about it rather than proceeding and presenting a bill afterwards.

We offer veneers, porcelain crowns, bonding with tooth-coloured composite, professional whitening, and orthodontic treatment including Invisalign. Which of those is right depends entirely on what specifically bothers you — call the office and book a consultation, and we will show you the realistic options for your teeth.

Absolutely not. You are never too old to have a smile you like. We would be happy to show you photographs of other transformations we have done for patients at every age.

Sometimes a simple whitening procedure is all it takes. If your staining is resistant to whitening — which some kinds are — there are other routes: veneers, bonding, or porcelain crowns. We will tell you honestly which is likely to work for your particular discolouration.

It varies enormously. Whitening can be a single visit. Veneers or crowns typically take two to three appointments over a few weeks, because the restoration is custom-made at a dental lab. We will give you the real timeline at your consultation.

Some people experience temporary sensitivity to cold during or shortly after whitening. It typically resolves within a day or two, and there are steps we can take to reduce it — including adjusting the concentration or the wear time. Tell us if you already have sensitive teeth and we will plan around it.

Most staining is extrinsic: it accumulates on the enamel from coffee, tea, red wine, cola and tobacco, and it builds up gradually with age as enamel thins and the darker dentine beneath shows through. Some staining is intrinsic — inside the tooth structure, sometimes from medication or injury — and that kind does not respond to whitening.

A veneer is a thin piece of porcelain or composite resin bonded to the front of your tooth. Veneers are used to correct cosmetic problems by improving the colour, shape, length or size of a tooth. You can have one veneer or several, depending on your goals.

Porcelain is strong, but it is not indestructible — a veneer can chip under enough force, and a bond can fail. Avoid using your front teeth as tools, and if you grind your teeth at night, wear the nightguard. If something does go wrong, call us; a chipped or debonded veneer is usually straightforward to address.

No. Porcelain does not respond to whitening agents the way natural enamel does. This is why we whiten first, if you are planning to — we match the veneers to the shade you want to keep, so everything stays consistent afterwards.

A bridge fills the space left by a missing tooth. It is a single restoration that usually includes two dental crowns and a replacement tooth — called a pontic — filling the empty space. The crowns are secured to the adjacent teeth on either side and support the artificial tooth between them.

Modern materials have changed this completely. The porcelain used in today's crowns and bridges is colour-matched to blend with the shade of your natural teeth. With proper placement, your restoration should be virtually indistinguishable from the teeth around it.

Crowns are durable and function much like your own teeth, but use common sense: avoid biting directly down on hard candy, ice or nuts. A broken crown is costly to replace, and you can damage the healthy tooth structure underneath it in the process.

With good oral hygiene and regular cleanings, many years. The failure point is usually not the crown itself but decay in the natural tooth at its margin — which is exactly what your six-month visits are there to catch.

They look the most life-like of any replacement option. The post is titanium, a biocompatible metal the body accepts. They are the most secure and stable choice. They prevent the bone loss that changes the shape of your face. And with proper care, an implant can last a lifetime.

Implants do tend to cost more up front than a bridge or a denture. They are also the most life-like, stable and functional replacement, closely mimicking a natural tooth — and they last longer, which often makes them less expensive over a lifetime. Call the office to schedule a consultation and we will give you real numbers for your situation.

No. They are designed to blend seamlessly with your natural teeth, and you brush and floss them exactly as you would the rest of your mouth. Implants never get cavities and never need root canals — but you still want to brush and floss to keep your natural teeth and gums healthy.

Yes. When you first get them, start with soft foods and slowly introduce harder ones as you get used to biting and chewing. Chew gently and take smaller bites at first to avoid loosening them as you eat.

At first we may recommend you wear them while sleeping. That speeds up your mouth's adjustment and helps us find any uncomfortable spots quickly. Once your mouth has adjusted, they can be worn through the day and removed at night.

It takes time to get used to the feel of them. After a few months you should be comfortable eating and talking with them in, with little or no soreness. If you do have soreness, or if the fit is not right, tell us — that is a fixable problem, not something to put up with.

Brush them to remove food particles before you take them out, then store them in warm water or a denture cleaning solution. Hot water will warp them permanently, so be careful with the tap.

A root canal is a procedure that removes infected or inflamed pulp from the inside of a tooth, cleans and shapes the canal, and seals it. It relieves the pain the infection was causing and allows you to keep the natural tooth rather than extracting it.

The procedure itself is done under anaesthesia and is comparable to having a filling placed. The pain people associate with root canals is the pain of the infection that made the treatment necessary — which is exactly what the procedure ends. Rotary instrumentation also makes the appointment shorter than it used to be.

We numb the area, isolate the tooth, and make a small opening to reach the pulp chamber. The infected pulp is removed, and the canals are cleaned and shaped with rotary instruments. The space is then filled and sealed, and the tooth is restored — usually with a crown, to protect it long-term.

The area is fully numbed before we begin, so during the procedure you should feel pressure but not pain. Afterwards there is some soreness as the site heals, which is normally well managed with over-the-counter pain relief and the aftercare instructions we send home with you.

Three main routes: a dental implant, which replaces the root as well as the crown and preserves the jawbone; a fixed bridge anchored to the teeth on either side; or a removable partial denture. Which is right depends on the location, your bone, and your budget — we will lay out the trade-offs honestly.

Often, yes — and we will look hard for it first. A tooth that seems hopeless can sometimes be saved with root canal therapy and a crown. We only recommend removal when restoration genuinely is not possible or when keeping the tooth puts the rest of your mouth at risk.

Digital x-rays use a significantly lower dose of radiation than traditional film x-rays — a very small exposure, and one that is easily justified by what the images let us catch early. We also use protective shielding and take images only when they will genuinely inform your care.

Because a great deal of dental disease is invisible to a visual exam until it is advanced. X-rays show decay between teeth and under fillings, infection at the root, bone loss from gum disease, impacted teeth, and cysts or tumours — all of them much easier and cheaper to treat when found early.

Decay, infection, bone levels, the position of unerupted or impacted teeth, and abnormalities in the jaw. On a routine visit they are largely a check that nothing is developing where we cannot see it.

Brush twice a day for two minutes with a fluoride toothpaste, floss once a day, and keep your six-month cleaning appointments. Cleanings remove the hardened tartar that brushing cannot, and the exam catches problems while they are still small and inexpensive to fix.

General dentistry covers your routine and preventive care — exams, cleanings, x-rays, fillings, crowns and bonding — plus the diagnosis of anything else going on. It is the core of what we do, and it is where the majority of our appointments sit.