Expert Care for Your Smile with a Trusted Clear Lake General Dentist

You can’t talk about your Clear Lake general dentist and not refer to comprehensive examinations at some point. They play a significant role in caring for your smile and body. Every time we conduct a comprehensive exam for everyone, from new patients to the most established dental patients, we ensure you are healthy and disease-free. It’s our way of recording and keeping a detailed record of your oral health and the progress we’re making with your course of treatment.

During your comprehensive exam, we’ll take safe, digital X-rays and high-definition photographs using state-of-the-art intraoral and extraoral cameras. You’ll also receive a thorough visual and manual oral cancer screening, where we can spot any abnormalities that might require further investigation. This is our chance to understand your mouth and what’s happening regarding your oral health. We can use all of the information and data we collect during this time to create a more personalized dental experience for you and your family. You can schedule an appointment or a comprehensive exam any time online or by calling our Bay Area dental office. We’re always accepting new patients into our dental family.

One of the most important goals of our Clear Lake general dentist is keeping your mouth cancer-free. This is of the utmost importance because, to beat oral cancer, you should get checked and detect issues as early as possible. The National Cancer Institute even suggests oral cancer screenings should occur before there are any symptoms.

It’s important to talk to Dr. Flanagan about your family health history, lifestyle, and more so that we know if you’re at a higher risk of developing oral cancer. She can conduct a visual/manual screening of all parts of your mouth, face, lips, neck, and nose. She has a keen eye and years of experience spotting abnormalities such as:

• Bumps
• Spots
• Patches of color
• Swelling
• Asymmetry

She wants to catch those very early warning signs that can accompany oral cancer as soon as possible. This is what makes detecting this type of disease so tricky at times. Sometimes those warning signs don’t exist, and oral cancer is never diagnosed until it reaches advanced stages. If you or someone in your family is at a heightened risk for oral cancer, you should schedule a screening and a talk with Dr. Flanagan. Setting up an appointment is easy and stress-free.

Today’s modern dental X-rays make the radiographs of the past seem ancient. Our all-digital x-rays are safer for you and your family, more efficient, and better for our environment as they cause less waste than traditional x-rays. What’s even better about digital X-rays is that they can provide our Clear Lake general dentist with incredibly detailed images that are beneficial to creating a custom treatment plan for you and your smile. You and Dr. Flanagan will be able to see the results almost instantly after we snap the first X-ray radiograph. Digital X-rays provide us with a highly detailed glimpse at your mouth, so we’re better able to:

• Detect cavities
• See what’s happening with your tooth roots
• Check bony areas around your teeth for optimal health
• Diagnose and treat periodontal or gum disease
• Monitor the status of developing teeth ready to push through your gums

We also use digital panoramic X-rays as part of our Clear Lake general dentistry services and radiography. Panoramic radiographs consist of a quick exam that’s two-dimensional and designed to precisely show us your entire mouth all in one single image. This includes your:

• Teeth
• Upper jaw
• Lower jaw
• Tissues
• Joints

Sometimes panoramic x-rays are the best way to spot issues such as bone fractures, underlying cysts, teeth that are impacted, and infections. If any of these things could occur in your mouth, there’s a good chance the digital panoramic X-ray will spot it.

There are many dental offices in Clear Lake from which you can choose for dental hygiene. However, merely picking from that Clear Lake general dentist list you searched for could lead you to the door of a dentist who’s not a good fit for you and your family. You need a team like ours, whose staff are some of Clear Lake’s most dedicated dental hygienists, caring for everyone’s smile.

If it’s been a while since your last cleaning appointment, that’s OK. We get it, and we’re here to help. It’s never too late to schedule an appointment and a hygiene visit with us. When you come to the office for your cleaning, one of our hygienists will thoroughly remove the plaque and tartar from your teeth that brushing and flossing might have missed. We aim to provide you with an even deeper cleaning to reach areas below the gum line, removing hidden bacteria that can lead to disease and decay. Having healthy gums and healthy teeth extends beyond simply having a charming smile. It’s also essential to have optimal overall health. Our hygienists use state-of-the-art Cavitron ultrasonic cleaners to gently, yet effectively, vibrate away tartar and plaque.

As your Clear Lake general dentist, part of our promise to you is to always educate our patients about the intricate connection between our oral and overall health. When you join our extended dental family, you’ll soon learn how what’s going on inside your mouth with your teeth and gums can impact issues occurring elsewhere in your body.

The problem is this: When bacteria cause infections and inflammation in your gums, there’s a chance it could wind up entering your bloodstream. When this occurs, there’s a heightened risk to your overall health for future problems. Researchers have found that gum disease has possible links to problems such as:

• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Premature birth
• Low-weight birth
• Bacterial pneumonia
• Stroke

As part of your periodontal therapy, we might suggest using both a numbing gel and ARESTIN, which is simply an antibiotic we add to your dental hygiene cleaning. It helps reduce your periodontal pocket depth, especially in adult patients battling gum disease.

If you have questions about your gum health or want to know more about the specifics of our periodontal therapy, please let us know. Please schedule a consultation and talk to us about your concerns and needs.

When you partner with us as your Clear Lake general dentist, we recommend that kids and adults receive a fluoride treatment. For decades, dentists like Dr. Flanagan have relied on in-office fluoride treatments to keep everyone’s smiles healthy and protected. Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that can build healthier teeth and prevent future cavities.

We especially recommend in-office fluoride treatment as part of your dental hygiene in Clear Lake if you’re at a higher risk of developing tooth decay. Check out some of the following risk factors. Are any of these true for you?

• Poor oral hygiene
• Eating disorders
• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Lack of routine dental care
• Heightened levels of oral bacteria
• A diet high in sugar and carbohydrates
• Dry mouth due to medications or a medical condition

The many benefits of fluoride treatment far outweigh any risks you might have heard about in the past. Fluoride has been shown to help:

• Reduce your risk of developing cavities
• Limit the amount of time you spend in the dental chair
• Protect and prolong the life of your little one’s baby teeth

If you’re interested in learning more about fluoride treatment with us, please don’t hesitate to message us or call with questions.

You’ve already invested so much into your oral health (along with your family) that you don’t want to take the risk of damaging your precious dental work. Maybe it’s time to invest in professional-grade protection for your smile.

As your Clear Lake general dentist, we offer two mouthguard options designed to provide superior protection. Unlike those from sporting goods stores, our mouthguards are made with higher quality materials for better comfort and defense, helping safeguard your smile from whatever life throws your way.

Sports Mouthguards – Can you guess the most dangerous sport for your smile? (Hint: It’s probably not the one you’re thinking of.) As it turns out, your teeth are most at risk of injury if you’re a baller who likes to shoot hoops. That’s right; basketball is dangerous for your smile. We offer sports mouthguards, especially for kids, to protect them no matter their favorite sport or activity. Our sports mouthguards are custom-fit, so they won’t be distracted while trying to score their next point.

Nightguards – Do you grind your teeth at night? Does your little one struggle with this? It’s something called bruxism, and it can do real damage to your teeth and your health. Bruxism, or teeth grinding, can also cause the following in both children and adults alike:

• Headaches
• Broken teeth
• Jaw pain

Don’t wait for an accident to happen! Talk to us today about your custom mouthguard options.

Is there something about the Clear Lake general dentist that’s so unnerving that it keeps you from seeing the dentist every six months for a checkup? Did you have a negative dentistry experience in your past, and now you’re unsure if you’re willing to return to routine care? At Cindy T. Flanagan, DDS, we don’t just say we go out of our way to ensure you’re always comfortable and cared for, with compassion, kindness, and exceptional soothing amenities. We want your appointments and visits with us to feel like a little break from the everyday, where you’re with an extended dental family who cares about your smile and well-being.

If there’s something more we can do for you, please let us know. We offer oral sedation for patients who are exceptionally nervous or scheduled for a more in-depth dental procedure. Oral sedation involves providing you with a prescription anti-anxiety medication that you would take before coming to the office for your treatment. It will surely help you feel relaxed and at ease the entire time you’re in the dental chair. You might feel a little more fatigued and sleepy when the medication takes effect. You’ll want to arrange for a companion to drive you and bring you home from your appointment. Learn more today.

Basketballs, baseballs, accidents, popcorn kernels, pet mishaps—there are quite a few ways our smiles can get into trouble and need emergency care. Your teeth can also run into trouble, leading to broken, chipped, or even missing teeth. Sometimes, when you least expect it, you wake up with uncomfortable nerve pain, and you need relief fast.

At Cindy T. Flanagan, DDS, we’re a Clear Lake general dentist team prepared to make your emergency less stressful and provide you with immediate solutions so we can help you feel better and fix your smile. Depending on the severity of your condition, we have the advanced technology and training to treat and save your damaged tooth or teeth. During regular business hours, we go out of our way to see emergency cases (both new and existing patients). If you need our immediate assistance after hours, our doctor is on call and will get back to you as soon as possible.

We understand how frustrating a dental emergency can be. In all of our years of providing comprehensive Clear Lake general dentistry, we’ve had the pleasure of helping patients of every age with dental emergencies. Act quickly to get the help you need to preserve your natural teeth and keep your oral and overall health balanced.

Innovative technology is one of the ways our offices stand apart for the advanced style of Clear Lake general dentistry we provide for our family of patients. We take the time to research and understand what’s available in dentistry today, bringing you the very best equipment there is to offer.
We want you to make the most of every minute you visit our Clear Lake general dentist without wasting your precious personal time.

We count on high-tech tools such as:

• Intraoral cameras
• Digital X-rays
• Panoramic x-rays
• Cavitron ultrasonic scalers

Because we have all these at our disposal daily, we can expertly provide our patients with a more personalized, comfortable dental experience. We use the photographs and X-rays we collect to connect with you and help you better understand what’s happening with your oral health and how we can improve it. You get to see what Dr. Flanagan sees firsthand so that we can explain the “why” behind our recommended treatments. Together, we can make a more informed decision about how to help you and your smile. If you would like to learn more about the technology we have at our dental office in Houston, we’d be happy to answer any questions. Please send us a message or give us a call!