Thomas Nykamp, DDS

A Family Dentist Practice including General, Cosmetic, and Restorative Dentistry

Specialty Dental Services

Most of the time, Dr. Thomas Nykamp is the only name you need to know in reference to your oral health. Every once in a while you may need a dental service specialist. When this becomes necessary, Dr. Nykamp has several very highly qualified and competent specialists he will refer you to should you need a special or higher level oral health service. There are several kinds of specialist including:

Dental Service Specialties

Endodontist

An Endodontist deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide variety of other diseases and injuries to the pulp (the internal soft tissue of the tooth). While Edodontists also do root canal procedures, often Dr. Nykamp does this work except in special situations.

Orthodontist

If Dr. Nykamp says you need to see an orthodontist, it means you have some irregular dental development, missing teeth or other abnormalities that are in need of correction. Chances are you’ll be fitted for braces to establish normal function and appearance of your teeth and jaws.

Oral Radiology

This type of specialist helps to diagnose a wide variety of diseases in the head and neck through the use of X-rays, computed tomographic investigations (CT scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs), and other imaging technologies.

Oral Pathologist

An oral pathologist is a dental service spepecialist that deals with the identification and management of diseases that affect your mouth and face. These specialists rely on clinical, radiographic, microscopic and biochemical examinations for diagnosis.

Oral Surgeon

This one’s an easy one. An oral surgeon is a dental service specialist diagnoses and operates on disease, injuries and defects in the mouth, jaw and face, generally through surgical extraction and reconstruction.

Pediatric Dentist

A pediatric dentist specializes in providing comprehensive dental treatment to children, adolescents and young adults. Dr. Nykamp does quite well with children of all ages but will make a referral if necessary.

Periodontist

If Dr. Nykamp thinks you have a disease that could seriously damage your gums, bone or other tissues that support your teeth, he may refer you to a periodontist for diagnosis and treatment.

Prosthodontist

If you need to have a missing tooth or other oral structure replaced, if your dental needs are require complex  dental service work, Dr. Nykamp may refer you to a prosthodontist.

oral surgery dental service specialty

Contact Us

Dentist Office

2540 Woodmeadow DR SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546

Telephone

Tel:    616-452-5721
Fax:   616-452-0514

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The Dentist's Hours

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday
                  8:00 am - 12:30 pm
                  2:00 pm  -  6:00 pm

Lunch:    12:30 pm  -  1:45 pm
Tuesday:  1:00 pm  -  8:00 pm

Closed:  Friday - Sunday

Menu

Cleanings

Bi-annual dental exams and cleaning by a professional dental hygienist, and good dental habits at home are the keys to keeping your teeth and gums healthy.

Preventive dentistry is important for all ages of people: infants, children, teens, adults and seniors.

Cavities

Our goal is to help our patients prevent cavities through regular scheduled bi-annual checkups and providing resources to help our patients take excellent care of their teeth daily.Repair of Cavities is typical of a General Dentistry dental practice.

What are cavities?
Cavities are caused by the bacteria in your mouth turning simple sugars into acids. These acids attack the mineral crystals in teeth and can lead to decay of the tooth.

When an examination does reveal a cavity, it's important that treatment occur as soon as possible to eliminate the decay and restore the tooth structure using a filling material. After the decay is removed, the filling material is layered on top of a base to restore the damaged tooth.

Several different materials are available to fill cavities in a tooth. See the Filling Section below for more information.

Preventing Cavities
Good oral hygiene is the best defense against cavities, including brushing with a fluoride toothpaste, rinsing and flossing. Your body's own saliva is also an excellent fighter of cavities because it contains special chemicals that rinse away many harmful materials.  Between brushing, chewing a good sugarless gum will stimulate saliva production.

Fillings

A filling is used to treat a small hole, or cavity, in a tooth. To repair a cavity, a dentist removes the decayed tooth tissue and then fills the space with a filling material.

While prevention is the ideal approach to oral health, it is important to know that cavities can be effectively treated. To address these dental issues, various filling materials are utilized, most commonly tooth-colored composite fillings that provide a natural appearance and silver-colored amalgam fillings known for their durability and strength.

Composite resin materials are increasingly used by dentists to fill teeth because many people prefer tooth-colored fillings and because composites continue to improve.

There are also treatments called crowns (or caps), used to repair badly broken-down teeth.

Digital X-Rays

Dental technology has significantly enhanced the practice of dentistry, and one notable advancement is the digital X-ray. In simple terms, a digital X-ray employs computer imaging to capture and store images of your teeth, eliminating the need for traditional X-ray films that must be developed.

Higher Quality Detailed Images Provide Better and More Accurate Diagnosis

When you depend on your doctor for an accurate diagnosis, the quality of the images is paramount. You receive results in seconds, and the images can be effortlessly resized to highlight subtle issues without compromising their clarity or integrity.

Digital X-Rays provide crucial insights by revealing hidden areas that a standard visual dental examination may overlook, including decay between teeth or beneath existing restorations, bone infections, gum disease, abscesses, cysts, developmental abnormalities, and tumors.
Digital X-rays for General Dentistry

Panoramic (Panorex) X-rays

Panoramic X-rays offer a comprehensive digital image that captures your entire mouth from all angles, showcasing both the upper and lower arches along with all the teeth in a single view.

Panoramic X-rays offer a comprehensive view of the mouth, revealing intricate details about how various structures are interconnected. These images are essential for effectively planning dental implant treatments, identifying impacted wisdom teeth and jaw issues, and diagnosing bony tumors and cysts.

Less Radiation

Digital dental X-rays produce between 80% and 90% less radiation than traditional X-ray films. Dental X-rays can help diagnose disease and pathology.

Crowns

Simply put, a crown is a cap that goes over a tooth.

It can be made using any number of materials depending on its purpose. And what are those purposes? Well, they fall into two major categories—medical and cosmetic.

Medically speaking, crowns are used to:

  • Keep a large filling in place that your tooth may otherwise not be able to support
  • Attach a bridge
  • Prevent a weak tooth from breaking
  • Repair an already-broken tooth

Cosmetically, people opt to use crowns to make their pearly whites appear whiter. Others use them to reshape their teeth for that perfectly straight look.

Crowns are sometimes confused with veneers, but they are quite different.

Veneers are typically applied only to relatively small areas.

Bridges

A Dental Bridge is a custom-made replacement tooth or teeth that fill the space where one or more teeth are missing.

Why Should  Missing Teeth Be Replaced?

If a missing tooth or teeth are not replaced, other teeth can gradually drift out of position, leading to changes in the bite.

Over time, lost teeth may contribute to an older appearance, causing the lips to seem thinner and flatter. Additionally, the chin may shift forward and upward, giving it a pointed look.

Failing to replace missing teeth can result in a loss of shape in the mouth, straightening the lip line. Furthermore, pronounced pouches may develop on either side of the lower jaw, and cracks or sores may form at the corners of the mouth.

 

Are There Different Kinds of Bridges?

There are several types of dental bridges.  The specific type of bridge will depend upon the number of teeth or gap being replaced and the condition of the teeth that will abut the bridge.

Dental Implants

Before development of dental implants, dentures were the only option to replacing a missing tooth or teeth.

Dental implants are artificial structures designed to fill the space where a natural tooth once resided. These implants are securely anchored to the jawbone, providing a stable foundation for a single artificial tooth or a permanent bridge.

Additionally, dental implants may serve to support dentures in certain situations. However, not everyone qualifies for dental implants; successful implantation depends on having adequate bone density. Maintaining rigorous oral hygiene is essential for the longevity of dental implants.

Crafted from advanced biocompatible materials such as metal or ceramic, these implants closely resemble the natural appearance and feel of real teeth.

 

Dentures

Dentures are prosthetic devices designed to effectively replace missing teeth, and they are supported by the surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity.

While conventional dentures are typically removable, various denture designs are available, some of which utilize bonding or clasping mechanisms to secure them to existing teeth or dental implants, providing patients with different options to enhance their oral function and aesthetics.

Partials (Removable Dentures)

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Root Canals - Anterior & Bicuspid

A Root canal dental procedure is a treatment to repair and save a badly damaged or infected tooth instead of removing it. The term "root canal" comes from cleaning of the canals inside a tooth's root.

People fear root canals because they assume they are painful. Actually, most people report that the procedure itself is no more painful than having a filling placed.

What Causes the Need for a Root Canal

Common causes of root canals pain include:

  • Decay: Tooth decay that has penetrated the outer layers of the teeth causes root canal pain.
  • Damage: Cracks or chips in teeth can cause tooth decay and root canal pain.
  • Disease: Risk factors for infection in the tooth pulp include severe tooth decay, trauma to the tooth, recent dental procedures, large fillings, and cracks or chips in the teeth.

If the cause of your teeth pain is serious decay or infection in the tooth pulp, your dentist may recommend a root canal.

Signs You Need a Root Canal

Not all types of teeth pain are indications for a root canal. But signs of infection severe enough to require a root canal include:

  • Serious teeth pain when eating or when you put pressure on the area
  • Teeth pain and sensitivity to hot or cold that lingers after the hot or cold stimuli have been removed
  • A small, pimple-like bump on the gums near the area of teeth pain
  • Darkening of the tooth
  • Tenderness or swelling in the gums near the area of teeth pain

Dr. Nykamp often will perform a root canal procedure on Anterior and Bicuspid teeth.  For other types of teeth, Dr. Nykamp will likely make a referral to a reputable and competent provider of Dental Specialty Services like an Endodontist.

Occlusal Guards

Do you sometimes wake up with soreness or jaw pain, wake up with a headache, have sensitive teeth or notice signs that your teeth are shifting or wearing down? If so, you may need an occlusal or "bite" guard.

Often people are unaware that they clench or grind their teeth because this typically occurs at night when they are not conscious of their habits.grand rapids dental occlusal guard how to stop effects of grinding or clenching teeth

Wearing a bite guard will typically will not stop you from clenching or grinding your teeth. However the bite guard will serve as a cushion, and as a result, help protect your teeth from wear and also relieve the pain and tension in your jaw muscles.

 Grinding or Clenching?

Persistent grinding or clenching wears down the enamel of your teeth making them more prone to breaking and being sensitive. There are many signs that your teeth are undergoing repeated and unnecessary strain and stress, and as a result, you may notice:

  • You have a chipped tooth you don't recall chipping
  • Your front teeth are looking shorter
  • Your molars appear flat on top or have holes or little bits in them.
  • You can see little cracks in your teeth.

 These are all signs that you are clenching or grinding. The bite guard will help protect your teeth from the clenching and grinding forces and protect the enamel in your teeth.

Simple Extractions

A dental extraction is the removal of a tooth from the mouth.  Some of the most common reasons for a tooth extraction are:

  • A tooth that is non-restorable due to tooth decay
  • Impacted or problematic wisdom teeth
  • Make room for an orthodontic procedure
  • Severe gum disease
  • Fractured teeth
  • Cosmetic reasons

The removal of a tooth is recommended only after all other dental options have been exhausted.

Simple extractions are performed on teeth that are visible in the mouth; it usually occurs under local anesthesia and requires only the use of instruments to elevate and/or grasp the visible portion of the tooth.

A surgical extraction involves the removal of a tooth that cannot be easily accessed, either because it has broken under the gum line or because it has not erupted fully.

If you have a complicated extraction, Dr. Nykamp will make a referral to a reputable and competent provider of Dental Specialty Services