At the office of Dr. Leonard A. Russell, we provide personalized care to patients of all ages. Dr. Russell and his qualified team offer a wide range of general dental procedures, including periodontal (gum) disease treatment, root canal therapy, orthodontics, and preventive care. To ensure our patients’ comfort, we also provide IV sedation and pain-free air abrasion. These amenities can make an enormous difference in the experience of patients who are especially anxious about visiting the dentist, and Dr. Russell is one of the few dentists in the Cleveland area who offers this service.
Whether you are in need of extensive dental treatment or would simply like to schedule a preventive cleaning, Dr. Russell will help you and your family devise a complete oral health care strategy.
- Pain-Free Dentistry
- Pediatric Care
- Ultrasonic Cleaning
- Crisis Prevention
- Periodontal (Gum) Disease
- Orthodontics
- TMJ Treatment
- Root Canal Therapy
- Emergency Care
Pain-Free Dentistry
All too often patients avoid having dental work performed because of anxieties surrounding needles, surgery, or the dentist’s chair. However, oral health problems must be treated promptly in order to prevent more serious complications from arising. At Dr. Russell’s office, it is our goal to make these treatments as painless and stress-free as possible. In order to help our patients feel more at ease, we offer sedation during all major dental procedures and air abrasion for the treatment of stains and minor tooth decay.
Sedation Dentistry
One of the greatest advantages of sedation is that it allows for longer operating periods. This means that Dr. Russell and his team can complete a number of treatments within a single office visit. This option is especially attractive to busy patients whose schedules cannot accommodate multiple trips to the dentist. It also limits the number of times that severely anxious patients have to face the dentist’s chair.
Sedation is appropriate for most patients, including children, but each patient must be assessed prior to treatment to avoid any complications. Dr. Russell employs an anesthetist who will walk you through the entire process and make sure your questions and concerns are answered.
Air Abrasion Technology
If the mere thought of the dental drill makes you cringe, air abrasion technology can help reduce your anxiety. Air abrasion is a drill-less technique that allows Dr. Russell to remove decay, stains, and discolorations, or to prepare a tooth for the application of sealants or bonding.
The air abrasion tool acts as a tiny sandblaster that soundlessly treats the tooth without producing heat, smell, pressure, or vibration. For very shallow cavities, anesthetic may not even be needed. Air abrasion is best for the treatment of minor decay and is an especially good option for children and patients with severe anxiety.
Pediatric Care
At Dr. Russell’s office, we understand that children are a unique group of people with very specific needs. Our staff has years of experience working with very young children all the way through their teenage years. With our thorough training in communication and behavior modification techniques, we strive to help younger patients feel safe and comfortable during their visit. Dr. Russell has trained with some of the world's most prominent pediatric dentists and has a local reputation for providing compassionate, personalized children’s care.
How Soon Should My Child See the Dentist?
Generally, parents should schedule a dental visit by their child’s first birthday. Although it is easy to take an infant’s oral health for granted, problems such as baby-bottle tooth decay (BBTD), which results from prolonged exposure to surgery liquids such as juice and breast milk, can occur as soon as a child’s first tooth arrives. Proper oral hygiene, regular dental visits, and a healthy diet are all excellent ways to ensure a lifetime of healthy teeth for your child.
Ultrasonic Cleaning
Ultrasonic cleaning is an excellent way to treat and prevent periodontal (gum) disease, and is a gentler way to scale the teeth than conventional metal devices, or “picks.” Scaling simply involves scraping away the tartar and calculus that can build up on the teeth between visits to the dentist. When used in combination with proper brushing and flossing, scaling is crucial to maintaining healthy teeth and gums.
Ultrasonic cleaning involves the use of high-frequency sound waves to gently remove plaque and tartar. Much like an ultrasound, the treatment is minimally invasive and highly effective. It is especially useful for treating patients with sore or sensitive gums.
Crisis Prevention
Many people don't visit their dentist on a regular basis, but instead go only when they feel they have a problem. We call this "crisis treatment" as opposed to "preventive treatment.” Although it may seem more cost effective, patients who fail to seek preventive care usually end up spending more money in the long run. The reason is simple: most dental problems don’t have any symptoms until they have reached the advanced stages.
For example, tooth decay will not show any symptoms until it gets close to the nerve of the tooth. Then the pain begins, and the patient must undergo root canal therapy or similar treatment to save his or her tooth. Had this decay been detected during a routine check-up, a filling could have been placed while the cavity was still small.
There are several ways to prevent the development of tooth decay even before a filling is necessary, including fluoride treatments and the application of sealants.
Fluoride
The American Dental Association endorses the use of fluoride as an excellent way to prevent tooth decay and keep teeth strong and healthy. When you come in for a routine cleaning, our oral hygienist will apply a fluoride gel treatment to your teeth. Along with regular fluoride supplementation, this gel will significantly reduce your chances of developing cavities.
Most people living in the United States do not need to worry about taking fluoride supplements, as it us usually added to the public water supply. However, you should contact your local water district to be sure that your tap water contains fluoride. If not, you will want to make sure your children receive regular fluoride supplements until their second permanent molars have grown in, around age 12.
Sealants
Although fluoride and regular brushing and flossing do wonders for preventing cavities, further preventive care is still necessary. The most decay-prone areas of teeth are the grooves and depressions on the chewing surfaces of the back teeth, and these areas can be protected by applying sealants. A sealant is a plastic-like coating that is painted on the chewing surfaces of all the back teeth. Studies have shown that sealants can reduce tooth decay by as much as 90 to 100 percent.
The American Dental Association recommends that sealants be placed as soon as the first adult back teeth come in (around age 6 or 7). Sealants should continue to be applied as each back tooth grows in. The application of sealants is simple, fast, and painless, and is an invaluable investment in your long-term health.
Periodontal (Gum) Disease
Most people are unaware of how serious periodontal disease can be. Not only does it cause red, swollen, or bleeding gums, it has also been linked to heart disease and premature birth weight. Gum disease is caused by a build-up of bacterial plaque, the sticky, colorless film that builds up on your teeth between brushings. Without proper oral hygiene and regular cleanings, the bacteria can infect the gum and bone tissue supporting the teeth.
There are two stages to periodontal disease; the first, gingivitis, is the better known of the two. Gingivitis can usually be treated with professional cleanings and rigorous home care. If the disease advances to periodontitis, the toxins have spread below the gums and triggered an autoimmune response. What this means is that the body has begun to attack itself; it has identified the infection but has begun destroying vital gum and bone tissue in its attempt to fight back.
Although this may sound scary, there is a solution. Dr. Russell offers rigorous gum disease treatment to remove infected gum tissue and vaporize the bacteria causing the infection. In very advanced cases, special cleaning with anesthesia or gum surgery may be necessary. While genetics, smoking, stress, and poor nutrition can all play a part in causing gum disease, prompt treatment can almost always reverse its effects.
Orthodontics
Orthodontic care is an invaluable step in creating a healthy, beautiful smile. Children from the age of five all the way into their teens can be fitted with braces that will correct gaps, crowded or unevenly spaced teeth, or an overbite.
However, braces aren’t just for kids. In recent years, it has become much more socially acceptable for adults to use orthodontic appliances to correct their teeth. It’s never too late to achieve an even, vibrant smile, and new innovations such as Invisalign® can make the process more discreet.
Dr. Russell is passionate about creating beautiful smiles and finding the best method of treatment for each individual patient. He will carefully asses your current condition and help you determine which orthodontic regimen will most effectively improve your smile.
TMJ Treatment
Over fifteen percent of American adults suffer from symptoms of Temporo-Mandibular Joint (TMJ) disorder, the symptoms of which include chronic facial pain, pain in or around the ear, jaw tenderness, clicking or popping noises when opening the mouth, headaches, and neck aches. Often people who suffer from TMJ disorders feel as though they have a toothache, but have no evidence of decay or other trauma. Others may clench their jaws or grind their teeth at night, a disorder called bruxism.
TMJ disorders can be extremely painful, and the side effects damaging to the teeth and jaw. For example, nighttime teeth-grinding can lead to the eventual deterioration of the teeth by scraping off the enamel and causing chipping or cracking.
Dr. Russell offers a number of solutions to TMJ disorders, including bite guards, muscle relaxants, and teeth reshaping.
Root Canal Therapy
Root canal therapy is a method of treating the pulp of the tooth—that is, the soft inside part of the tooth that contains nerve endings, blood vessels, and connective tissue. Contrary to what many people think, root canal therapy is not simply a way to take care of a “really bad cavity.” Although excessive decay is one of the main reasons that the dental pulp can become infected, trauma, such as a hard blow to the tooth, can also be a culprit. Symptoms of pulpal damage include pain when biting down or chewing, oversensitivity to hot or cold drinks, and swelling of the face.
In the not-too-distant past, the only way to treat a tooth with pulpal infection was to pull it out. Now, however, the natural tooth can be saved with root canal therapy in 95 percent of cases. This eliminates the problems associated with missing teeth, keeping your smile healthy and attractive.
During root canal therapy, the top part of the tooth is removed, and the root canal is cleaned of dead or infected tissue. It is then sealed off to protect the tooth and pulp from further infection.
Emergency Care
In spite of everyone's best intentions, accidents do happen. When these accidents involve your teeth, Dr. Russell and his staff will be there to help repair your smile as soon as possible. If you have suffered a sudden injury due to a sports, automobile, or other type of accident, we will combine our resources to quickly repair teeth that have been broken, knocked out, or otherwise damaged.
Contact Us
To find out more about our practice or to schedule an appointment, please contact Dr. Russell’s office today.
Leonard A. Russell, D.D.S.
2204 South Taylor Road
Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118
Phone: 216-321-3462
