Thomas Nykamp, DDS

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

New Patients

New patients are always welcome!

 

We welcome new patients and any questions you may have. Potential new patients can call us on the phone or click here to contact us with any of your new patient questions.

If you would like to be a new patient of Dr. Nykamp, and need an appointment, we prefer that during business hours, you try to first contact us by telephone. (616) 452-5721.  If you reach our voice mail – please leave a message so we can call you back.

new patients hispanic family

Alternately, if it is outside of our office hours, or more convenient for you, feel free to use the online form to Request An Appointment or ask questions that new patients have. We will respond to your inquiry promptly (we are closed Friday – Sunday).

We welcome the Hispanic Community!

Our Receptionist is bilingual and speak in both Spanish and English and will be happy to assist you.

Dental Insurance

Our office participates in many insurance plans, in fact there are simply too many to list. However, if you don’t see yours listed, please call the office or use our online contact form to make an inquiry regarding your specific dental plan.

Dental Plans We Accept

AetnaDelta DentalDentamax
ASRDelta PPODentaQuest
Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS)Dental Benefit ProvidersMetLife
Sun Life
Cigna PPOUnited ConcordiaUnited Healthcare

How Dental  Plans Work — From the Michigan Dental Association

You’ve seen their portraits everywhere – in your history books, your wallet, even on a mountain! But you’ve never seen their smiles. Maybe that’s because they didn’t have a good history with their dentist. You do. Your dentist understands your personal dental needs. And how to ensure that you keep your teeth for a lifetime of good health and appearance.

So, when you’re looking at a new dental plan, make sure you can still see your own dentist. You see, a lot of plans don’t care about your doctor/patient relationship, and might limit you to one of the dentists in their network. So, choose a plan that lets you stick with your own dentist.

Review Your Dental Plan

Make sure your plan will let you see your dentist. After all, when you wake up with a horrible toothache or your son’s fallen and chipped his front tooth, you’ll want your insurance to pay for the care, no questions asked. And don’t let them dictate what treatment’s best for your smile. Only you and your dentist know what you need to keep your smile looking its best.

Keep all these things in mind and your smile will shine brightly through countless centuries. And remember to talk to your dentist if you have any questions about dental plan options.

Unexpected Dental Costs

My Dental Plan covers only a portion of the cost of this major dental expense — What can I do?

Major dental procedures can be expensive and can be unexpected. Often even the best Dental Plans only cover a limited amount of the cost and the rest is up to you.

Care Credit can be a solution.  Care Credit is different from a regular credit card and you can use it to pay out-of-pocket expenses not covered by medical and dental insurance plans — and special financing options are available that you may not be able to get with other cards.   You can learn more and apply online now.

Welcome to Our Practice

new patients grand rapids dentist
Dr. Thomas Nykamp is one of several of the Michigan Dental Association members in SE Grand Rapids. Dr. Thomas Nykamp’s practice is a Family Dentist practice providing general dentistry services, cosmetic and restorative dental services and dentures. New Patients are welcome!

The office is barrier-free accessible and is conveniently located at 2540 Woodmeadow St. SE, in Grand Rapids, MI. Our new location is a few blocks North on Breton Road from the intersection Breton Road and 28th Street SE. You can click here for a map.

Some information about using the Grand Rapids Metro city bus, The Rapid or The Rapid Go!Bus can be found here: Ride The Rapid to the Dentist Office.

If you have not previously been to Dr. Nykamp’s Dental Office on Woodmeadow St. SE, please take a look at the map as there are several dental practices near on Breton Road and several close by on Woodmeadow Street.

Please take a moment to see pictures of our building, look at the Map and Get Directions — it will make getting to Dr. Nykamp’s office easy and you will arrive on time for your appointment.

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