Comprehensive Restorative Dentistry

For up-to-date dental restorations using the most current dental technology, Dr. Gregory Yount, DMD is the go to dentist in Central Illinois. He provides quality restorative dentistry with an innate understanding of the functionality of the patient’s occlusion (bite) which is very important in maintaining long-term dental restorations. He creates beautiful smiles while keeping the patient’s best interest at the forefront of his decision making process ensuring a natural and functional lifetime smile whether placing a crown or a filling. Dr. Yount is very proficient in all areas of dentistry; such as, TMJD, fillings, crowns, veneers, onlays, inlays, implants, root canals and various other services that patients require. Dr. Yount’s staff is highly skilled, very efficient and treats patients with respect and kindness. Dr. Yount and his staff are a very cohesive team dedicated to making the patient’s visit as enjoyable, relaxing and as pain free as possible. To learn more about the services provided by Dr. Yount and his staff, please visit our sections on services, preventive care or TMJD

Crowns:

Dr. Yount believes patients should receive the most up-to-date dental care and has incorporated making his own crowns with the E4D Crown Machine to ensure proper fit and excellent quality. Many dental problems can necessitate placing a crown which is an excellent restorative option. Crowns protect the remaining tooth structure and they look and feel are just like a natural tooth. Although dental crowns can restore and protect the visible portion of a damaged tooth, they only work in cases where the root of the tooth is still healthy and intact or previously had a root canal treatment.

To learn more about this procedure or to schedule a consultation appointment, please call Dr. Yount’s office at 217.235.0434.

Why a Crown?

  • To replace worn or cracked teeth
  • To replace a large filling that is cracked or damaged
  • To cover a tooth that has had a root canal treatment
  • To repair a damaged tooth
  • To repair a patients’ occlusion (bite)
  • To cosmetically enhance a person’s smile

Benefits of a Crown:

  • Stronger and hold up well
  • Looks like a natural tooth
  • Saves a natural tooth that might otherwise be extracted
  • Protects from further decay, cracking and infection
  • Long-term durability

The Crown Process:

  • Anesthetic is applied to the area around the tooth
  • Am impression of the tooth or teeth is taken
  • The shade for the crown is determined
  • If decay is present, it is removed
  • The original tooth is prepared for the crown
  • A temporary crown is placed to protect the tooth until the patient’s next appointment
  • The new crown is bonded
  • The bite is adjusted to ensure proper occlusion

Bridges

Dr. Yount believes placing a bridge is an excellent restorative option and a viable solution for some patients. Bridges are an excellent way to maintain a patient’s smile, bite and overall functionality. They are usually three units consisting of two crowns which cover the two anchoring teeth (abutments) and a pontic (false tooth) which used to replace the missing tooth.
To learn more about this procedure or to schedule a consultation appointment, please call Dr. Yount’s office at 217.235.0434.

Why a Bridge?

  • Fill the space of missing teeth
  • Maintain facial shape
  • Prevent remaining teeth from drifting out of position
  • Restore chewing and speaking ability
  • Restore patient’s smile
  • Replace a removable partial denture with a permanent dental structure

Benefits of a Bridge

  • Improves patient’s occlusion (bite)
  • Restores patient’s chewing surface
  • Keeps teeth from moving to close the space created by the missing teeth
  • Long-term durability

The Bridge Process:

  • Requires two or more visits
  • Anesthetic is applied to the area to be prepped
  • An impression is taken of the area to be restore
  • A shade for the color of bridge is determined
  • If decay is present, it is removed
  • The teeth for the bridge are prepared
  • A temporary bridge is placed to protect the tooth until the patient’s next appointment
  • The new bridge is bonded
  • The bite is adjusted to ensure proper occlusion (bite)

Composite or White Colored Fillings

Dr. Yount believes that every patient deserves to have a beautiful and natural looking smile. Composite fillings are an increasingly popular alternative to silver amalgam fillings. Unlike amalgam fillings, composite fillings are virtually invisible and the shade is matched perfectly to the color of the tooth, giving the patient a beautiful silver free smile!

To learn more about this procedure or to schedule a consultation appointment, please call Dr. Yount’s office at 217.235.0434.

Why Choose White Fillings?

  • To repair chipped, cracked or broken teeth
  • To close the space between two teeth
  • To eliminate decay
  • To repair worn teeth

Benefits of Composite White Fillings

  • Ensures a natural look and feel
  • Requires less preparation time, less of your tooth structure is lost and less drilling is needed
  • Made from acrylic and glass particles, containing no mercury or other metals
  • Provides support to remaining tooth structure, and insulates against temperature changes
  • Placed in one appointment

The Filling Process

  • Anesthetic is applied to the area to be prepped
  • The targeted tooth is prepped for the composite filling
  • A bonding agent is applied to the prepared tooth
  • The composite material is attached and molded to your tooth to give the appearance of a natural tooth
  • The material is hardened by focusing intense light rays on it for about a minute

 

It is not unusual to experience sensitivity to hot and cold when receiving a composite filling; however, the sensitivity will decrease and eventually be gone as your tooth acclimates to the new filling. Your filling brightness can be maintained by simply practicing good oral hygiene and avoiding staining food and drinks such as coffee, soda, tea, etc.

Dr. Yount also offers an alternative to the white fillings, the amalgam or dark colored filling. These fillings are placed for specific reasons. He consults with the patient prior to the placement of any filling to determine which type of filling material best meets the needs and wishes of the patient.

Root Canal Therapy

Dr. Yount has performed over 6,000 root canals with very little discomfort for the patient. Many call him the gentle giant because his technique with all procedures, especially root canals, is virtually painless. He believes in saving patients’ teeth and root canal therapy is a way to preserve the patient’s occlusion and smile.

To learn more about this procedure or to schedule a consultation appointment, please call Dr. Yount’s office at 217.235.0434.

Why Choose a Root Canal?

  • The tooth has infection that affects the nerve of the tooth
  • The tooth has a large cavity that is threating the integrity of the pulp chamber (living tissue inside the tooth)
  • A broken tooth that has comprised the nerve area
  • A crown that has failed and infection has comprised the nerve area
  • Injury or trauma to tooth

Benefits of a Root Canal

  • Prevents patient from losing a tooth
  • Maintains occulsial integrity
  • Maintains patient’s smile
  • Keeps teeth from moving and requiring additional treatment, such as, orthondontics

The Root Canal Process

At the first appointment:

  • Anesthetic is applied to the area to be prepped
  • The tooth is opened from the top and evaluated
  • If the tooth is severely infected, the doctor may place medication in the canals and put the patient on an antibiotic.

 

If not, then the following procedures are followed.

  • The dead or infected tissue (pulp, nerve tissue, and bacteria) is removed from the canals. When the canals are free from the infected tissue, a temporary filling is placed to let the tooth settle down.

 

At the second appointment:

  • Anesthetic is applied to the area to be prepped
  • The tooth is opened and evaluated to see if infection is completely gone
  • If the infection is not completely gone, the doctor will remove more of the infected tissue and have the patient return to finish the root canal.
  • When the infections is completely gone, a filling material is placed, the tooth is built-up, if needed, and a permanent filling is placed.
  • After the tooth has healed, about 2 weeks, the patient is scheduled for the permanent restoration or crown process.

Dentures and Partial Dentures

Dr. Yount is dedicated to restoring teeth in order to keep the integrity of the patient’s bite and smile, but on occasion this is not possible and dentures are the only alternative. Dr. Yount offers CUSTOM MADE dentures which are delivered to the patient the very day the extractions take place. PATIENTS NEVER GO WITHOUT TEETH! Dr. Yount hand crafts the dentures in the office from start to finish. He uses the best materials and the finished product looks and fits just like the patient’s original teeth. Patients have no trouble eating or speaking when receiving Dr. Yount’s custom made dentures!

If a patient requires a partial denture, the preliminary work is done in the office by Dr. Yount, but the framework is sent to a quality dental lab. There are several kinds of partials and the type needed by the patient is determined by Dr. Yount during the evaluation process.

To learn more about these procedures or to schedule a consultation appointment, please call Dr. Yount’s office at
217.235.0434.

Why Choose Dentures – Full or Partial?

  • To replace missing teeth
  • For strength and durability
  • To aide in chewing, speaking and digestion
  • To improve patients appearance

The Denture Process

  • Requires multiple appointments
  • Impressions (molds) are taken
  • Measurements are taken
  • Try-in appointments determine color, shape, size, fit and to make sure the patient can speak clearly
  • At the final appointment, the remaining teeth are extracted (if needed) and the dentures are delivered. Dr. Yount makes sure the denture fits properly, has good suction and the bite is correct to ensure the patient’s muscles are comfortable and speaking and chewing are good before the patient is released to go home.
  • Proper care instructions are given to the patient upon departure
  • Patients are scheduled back in one week to check on their progress and fit.
  • If teeth are extracted, additional appointments are needed to monitor the healing process and to add a soft-liner to the patient’s denture for comfort and fit during the healing process
  • Once healing has occurred, Dr. Yount has the patient leave their denture overnight while he rebases it for the proper fit. The rebase is usually delivered the next day and the patient does not have to go a week or more waiting for the denture to be returned from a dental lab.

Dental Implants

Dental implants are becoming a very popular with many patients. Those who have missing teeth have several options from which to choose, but placing an implant seems to be the treatment of choice. The implant process takes several appointments and completion takes 3-9 months.

Choosing a dental implant is an effective way to restore missing teeth and to allow for restorations which maintain the integrity of the patient’s smile and bite. Dr Yount is very proficient placing implants and only moves forward with treatment after extensive evaluation using a 3-D cone beam scan of the patient’s proposed implant site. Patients who have chosen implants over other types of treatment are very pleased with them and recommend implants to their friends and co-workers!

To learn more about this procedure or to schedule a consultation appointment, please call Dr. Yount’s office at 217.235.0434.

Why Choose a Dental Implant?

  • Implants normally serve the patient for a lifetime
  • Restorations look natural and the occlusial integrity is maintained
  • Replaces a removal partial

The Benefits of Dental Implants

  • Improved personal appearance
  • Great for filling a space between two viable teeth
  • Implant restorations look, feel and act as natural teeth

The Dental Implant Process

  • A 3-D cone beam scan is taken
  • Placement of bone graft (if needed) which takes an intergration time of three to four months
  • Try-in and evaluate surgical guide (stent)
  • A circular piece of tissue is removed with a tissue punch
  • The bone is prepared for the implant by using various sizes of implant drills to the correct length and width
  • The implant is placed
  • A healing cuff is placed over the implant for three to four months giving the implant time to integrate
  • The healing cuff is removed and the restoration process begins