Preventive care is essential to make sure you and your family enjoy a lifetime of good oral health.

Has It Been a While Since Your Last Appointment?

Preventive Dentistry

At Stambaugh Family Dental, we believe in educating our patients on the importance of preventive care when it comes to their oral health. Our goal is to keep complex treatments to a minimum by identifying dental issues while they are still small. Coming to our Springfield and Eugene area dental office every six months provides Dr. Dan Stambaugh with an opportunity to monitor teeth and gums.

Good preventive care also means you can avoid most dental emergencies, such as root canal therapy.

Routine Checkups

Seeing Dr. Stambaugh and his team twice a year enables Dr. Stambaugh to perform the following:

A tooth-by-tooth exam to identify problem areas, including fractures, cracks, and undue wear, and to check the integrity of existing dental restorations
A check of gum tissue to ensure gums are healthy and no infection is present
An oral cancer screening
Digital x-rays so he can see what might be lurking below the surface of the teeth and gums

He always leaves plenty of time in the schedule to go over any questions you might have or to discuss treatment recommendations to ensure you fully understand and can make informed decisions.

Teeth Cleaning

If you are diligent about home care, you might wonder why a professional teeth cleaning is necessary. Even those who brush after meals and floss before bed are still likely to develop plaque that cannot be removed by brushing and flossing alone. This plaque, which is a buildup of bacteria along the gumline and between teeth, hardens into a substance called tartar. When it is not removed, it is one of the primary causes of gum disease.

With a professional dental cleaning, our hygienist will use special dental tools to rid your mouth of tartar, then polish your teeth to remove surface stains. This procedure is a crucial part of maintaining healthy teeth and gums.

Digital X-Rays

For most of our patients, we recommend diagnostic x-rays once per year. Although Dr. Stambaugh conducts a thorough examination visually, problems can lurk beneath the surface. A digital x-ray enables him to see even tiny spots of developing tooth decay, damage in the tooth surface, gum disease, and bone loss, and other problems while they are still in treatable range.

X-rays are an essential part of getting a thorough dental examination. Digital x-rays are safer than ever, and they are quicker and more comfortable than traditional x-rays.

We Look Forward to Seeing Your Entire Family

We welcome patients in Springfield and Eugene at our conveniently located dental office. We are visible from Interstate 105 on the corner of Laura and Q. Whether you need a preventive appointment or are experiencing any type of dental issue, we welcome you to Stambaugh Family Dental.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I need to come to the dentist if I am not having any trouble with my teeth?

Preventive care is crucial to good oral health, and this includes coming to our Springfield, OR dental office twice each year for examinations and cleanings. Routine maintenance is the best way to prevent many dental emergencies.

We commend patients who practice good home care with proper brushing and flossing, but even the most diligent care cannot remove the calculus (tartar) that builds up on teeth. This can only be removed with special dental instruments. If it is not removed, it can lead to gum inflammation and periodontal disease. A dental cleaning also includes a teeth polishing that can help remove surface stains.

Other parts of your routine checkups include:

Diagnostic x-rays to detect potential issues that cannot be seen by the naked eye, such as tooth decay and infection. X-rays also enable your dentist to view the roots of your teeth.
Oral cancer screening for early detection of any abnormalities.
Gum disease evaluation. Gum disease is often present with no signs or symptoms, so people are unaware that they have it. Left untreated, gum disease can lead to tooth loss.
Examination of the integrity of the restorations you already have in your mouth, including fillings and dental crowns.

Has it been a while since your last dental appointment? Schedule an examination and cleaning with us so you can maintain good oral health!

How can I tell if I have gum disease?

You can’t have healthy teeth without healthy gums. And the only way to know for sure that you have gum disease is to have regular examinations at the dentist. Often gum disease develops but shows no symptoms, so people don’t know they have it. Gum disease that is not treated can lead to bone and tooth loss. Many people are unaware that gum disease is so serious, it is the leading cause of tooth loss among adults in this country.

If symptoms are present, they might look something like this:

Bleeding gums after brushing and flossing
Gums that have a swollen, red, puffy appearance
Teeth that have begun to look elongated because the gums are receding
Bad breath that persists despite brushing and mouthwash
Pockets of pus at the gum line

We can sometimes reverse gum disease if we catch it early enough. But in its later stages, it cannot be cured but only managed. Early detection of gum disease is just one of the reasons it is so important to visit your dentist twice each year for examinations and cleanings.

If you are due—or overdue—for a checkup and cleaning, we are welcoming new patients to our Eugene, OR dental practice. Give us a call today to make a dental appointment with Dr. Stambaugh!

Meet Our Doctor:

Dr. Dan Stambaugh

Dr. Stambaugh was raised to believe that trust, respect, and service to the community are keys to establishing lasting relationships. These relationships make his dental practice successful. He is extremely proud of his team’s commitment to taking care of their family of patients. This commitment is evidenced by their loyalty and longevity. Working together for this long allows Dr. Stambaugh and his team to provide cutting-edge dentistry and an unsurpassed knowledge-base upon which patients can rely. His practice philosophy is to treat patients like he’d like to be treated.

Dr. Stambaugh is ...