Phone  317.883.3300     Map  Directions    |   Contact Us  Contact Us    |   7605 S. Emerson Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46237

If you need it, we can do it. Make Southport Dental your one stop for all your dental care.

Request An Appointment

Check out our latest offers to save even more on your dental care.

Request Now

Topic: Oral Health

Spring Break Is Not For Your Teeth!

spring-break-green-beach-sunglasses-photo Sunshine, warmer weather, greener grass, and setting our clocks forward an hour can only mean one thing here in Central Indiana:  it’s Spring Break Time! Sounds great, right?  Let’s just not confuse a much-needed vacation for our bodies and minds with a vacation for our teeth. Simply stated, your vacation is not the time to neglect your teeth. Your overall oral health shouldn’t take a break!

That being said, we’d like to offer up a few spring break dental care tips you should know and consider while on vacation.

  1. Drink plenty of water. Besides the obvious benefits of hydration, drinking water throughout the day will reduce the buildup of plaque on your teeth.
  1. Avoid sugary drinks. High sugar drinks such as soda erode the enamel on your teeth.
  1. Pack your oral health essentials with you. Bring healthy snacks (such as apples) that act as a cleanser for your teeth. Carry travel-size toothbrushes and mouthwash for road trips.

Whatever your plans are this spring break, remember to keep up with your dental care. Spring break can be a great time of relaxation and rejuvenation, but it’s not the time to give your teeth a break! If you would like to schedule an appointment before your break, give us a call.

The staff at Southport Dental is dedicated to providing you and your family the highest quality dental care.

About Southport Dental PC

New patients are always welcome. We will not make you wait weeks to get the dental visits you want. Let us know what you want to accomplish at your first visit and we will make it happen! We take the time with our patients to explain their treatment options and inform them of additional preventive care.

Contact us today to learn more.

Is Brushing Too Hard Bad For My Mouth?

Yes, it certainly is!  Brushing too hard (and too often) can absolutely be detrimental to your oral health.  For the sake of this discussion, we will refer to both brushing too much and brushing too hard as over brushing.

Let’s take a look at what happens when you over brush and what you can do to prevent it. By the end of this blog entry, we hope you’ll be able to brush your teeth in a safer, gentler manner and improve your overall oral health in the process.

Are there symptoms?

If you start to notice that your gums are receding, you may be brushing too hard!  Your gums will begin to recede if you continually, day after day, brush them too hard.  Additionally, if you see that some gums on certain teeth are much higher than others, you very well could be brushing too aggressively.  If this is the case, it’s a good idea to see your dentist as soon as possible.

Another way to tell if you’re turning into the Incredible Hulk when you brush is if you notice your teeth becoming sensitive.  It’s possible that you have created this sensitivity by exposing your mouth to such extreme brushing.  Also be on the lookout for bleeding from your gums. This is a very good indicator of over brushing and a clear cut sign you need to lighten up.

What can I do?

Here is the good news:  you can be helped if you are an overbrusher.  There are plenty of resources online to make certain you are brushing your teeth properly. Brushing is an important activity that we do so often, it’s key to remember that you do it correctly.  Gentler strokes, gentler strokes, gentler strokes!  You simply can’t go wrong with gentle, proper brushing.

And we have one last helpful tip for you overbrushers out there.  Consider picking up an electric toothbrush.  It’s a great investment that will have you in greater control of just how hard you brush.  Or, perhaps an alternate view of looking at things, an electric toothbrush can help stop you, within reason, from hard brushing.

Always get professional dental help from experienced, certified and responsible professionals the minute you notice something is wrong with your teeth or gums.  Dentists are able to advise you on the best course of action when you’ve been over brushing.

If you are looking for top dental care, you’ve come to the right place.  The staff at Southport Dental always puts your needs first.  We want to be positive that you leave our office smiling after every visit.  Get in touch with us today to schedule a checkup.

About Southport Dental PC

New patients are always welcome. We will not make you wait weeks to get the dental visits you want. Let us know what you want to accomplish at your first visit and we will make it happen! We take the time with our patients to explain their treatment options and inform them of additional preventive care.

Contact us today to learn more.

Want the Secret for a Lifetime of Dental Health?

Healthy teeth all during your lifetime is not as complicated as people make it out to be. Dental health is really a simple recipe – with only three key ingredients.

Lifetime Healthy Teeth Solution #1:  Treat dental problems immediately

Get cavities, infections and dental problems treated as soon as you become aware of them. Waiting for dental problems to fix themselves will never make things better.

Cavities are more easily treated when they are small. If left too long, the cavity will inevitably progress to an abscess. The filling that would have treated the cavity, will not fix the abscess. Treatment becomes more costly and possibly more radical, such as taking teeth out rather than saving them, or root canals rather than fillings.

Gum infections spread deeper and eat away at the jawbone that holds your teeth in. This bone, once eroded will never grow back – leaving your teeth unsupported and mobile. What could have been treated with a routine cleaning now requires gum and bone surgery, or even extractions.

Lifetime Healthy Teeth Solution #2:  Eat healthy for your teeth

When talking about healthy eating habits for our body, experts commonly suggest a balanced diet – rich in lean meats, fruits and vegetables with several small meals each day rather than the three big meals, which our parents and grandparents recommended.

While a balanced diet is good for your body’s general health, the manner in which food is eaten during the day can have a big influence on whether your teeth develop problems or not.

When we eat, the bacteria in the plaque on our teeth and in the mouth use the food particles to produce acids, which then eat away at the teeth. Compounds present in saliva act to neutralize these acids and minerals in saliva then act to repair the damage done by the acid attack after eating. It commonly takes ninety minutes to two hours to neutralize an acid attack after eating.

Researchers have shown that eating or drinking anything other than water on more than five different occasions each day lessens the time for saliva to neutralize the acids between each acid attack – and may not be adequate. This means that the teeth may be under acid attack for most of the day and this will inevitably lead to enamel damage, decay and tooth loss.

Lifetime Healthy Teeth Solution #3:  Regular 6 month dental check-up and clean

If you want to keep your teeth for life, being reactive and waiting for dental problems to manifest before seeking professional help just won’t do it.Mason and Jaime

Good health for your teeth and gums, just like any other body system requires being proactive, not reactive. You never hear cardiologists recommend their patients waiting for their arteries to clog to the point where you have a heart attack and then having surgery to have the diseased arteries ‘bypassed’. Common sense would say this approach is obviously inferior to a program of regular exercise and a healthy diet.

It’s the same with teeth. Waiting for teeth to abscess and having root canals does not make sense compared to regular six month visits, yet only half of the population have a regular dentist and not even all of those have regular check-ups every six months. Common sense just doesn’t seem to be that common these days.

Keep that awesome smile!

Do I Need My Wisdom Teeth Removed?

wisdom-teeth-removalWell, OK, the pain says it’s time to have your wisdom teeth removed. Many dentists refer you to an oral surgeon for this procedure. Dr. Mills’ advanced surgical techniques allow Southport Dental to perform many of these extractions without the inconvenience of scheduling an appointment with an oral surgeon. Only in special circumstances of extreme compaction will Dr. Mills recommend an oral surgeon. And the other good news is it should only take a few days for your mouth to heal and for you to feel back to normal.

Why Take Them Out?

Wisdom teeth are a third set of molars in the back of your mouth. They usually come in between the ages of 17 and 25, and they’re spotted on X-rays. Most people have them removed for one of these reasons:

  • They’re impacted. Because they’re so far back in your mouth, wisdom teeth may not come in normally. They can be trapped in your jawbone or gums, which can be painful.
  • They come in at the wrong angle. They may press against your other teeth.
  • Your mouth isn’t big enough. Your jaw has no room for an extra set of molars.
  • You have cavities or gum disease. You may not be able to reach your wisdom teeth with your toothbrush or dental floss.

Before Surgery

You’ll meet with Dr. Mills to discuss the entire process. At this appointment, make sure you:

  • Talk about any health problems you have.
  • List any drugs you take on a regular basis.
  • Ask any questions you have about the surgery.
  • Discuss what type of anesthesia you’ll have. You can either be numb or asleep during your surgery.
  • Plan time off from work or school to have your surgery and rest afterward at home. Set up child care, pet care, or a ride home if needed.

During Surgery

Your surgery should take 45 minutes or less. You’ll get one of these types of anesthesia so you don’t feel pain during the removal:

  • Local: We will numb your mouth with a shot of Novocaine in your gums.
  • General: You may also breathe nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, to relax or even doze during surgery. You should feel alert again shortly afterward.

Dr. Mills may have to cut your gums or bone to get the teeth out. If so, he’ll stitch the wounds shut so they heal quickly. These stitches usually dissolve after a few days. He may also stuff gauze pads in your mouth to soak up some of the blood.

After Surgery

Everyone responds differently to anesthesia. If you had a local anesthetic and feel alert, you might be able to drive home to begin your recovery. You might even be able to go back to work or do your normal activities. If you had general anesthesia or still feel drowsy, you’ll need someone to drive you home.

Most people have little to no pain after surgery. You’ll likely have swelling and mild discomfort for 3 or so days. Your mouth may need a few weeks to completely heal.

Follow your doctor’s instructions for a quicker recovery. Here are some tips for the first 3 days after surgery:

Dos:

  • Use an ice pack on your face to curb swelling or skin color changes.
  • Use moist heat for a sore jaw.
  • Gently open and close your mouth to exercise your jaw.
  • Eat soft foods like pasta, rice, or soup.
  • Drink plenty of fluids.
  • Brush your teeth starting the second day. Don’t brush against any blood clots.
  • Take the drugs your doctor prescribes to ease pain or swelling.
  • Call your doctor if you have a fever, or if your pain or swelling doesn’t improve.

Don’ts:

  • Don’t drink through a straw. Sucking may loosen blood clots that help your mouth heal.
  • Don’t rinse your mouth too harshly. Your doctor may suggest rinsing gently with saltwater.
  • Don’t eat hard, crunchy, or sticky foods that may scratch your wounds.
  • Don’t smoke. Smoking can slow your healing.

About Southport Dental PC

New patients are always welcome. We will not make you wait weeks to get the dental visits you want. Let us know what you want to accomplish at your first visit and we will make it happen! We take the time with our patients to explain their treatment options and inform them of additional preventive care.

Contact us today to learn more.

Why Risk Your Dental Health to a Profit-Driven Dental Chain?

The level of confidence is changing in dentistry because of the emergence of dental chains. In today’s world, unfortunately there are some dentists that are simply out to cash in on their patients. Dental chains are known for recommending unnecessary procedures to their patients for the sake of increasing their bottom line profits.

The ADA News, the official publication of the American Dental Association published an article by pediatric dentistry Jeffrey Camm describing a disturbing trend he called “creative diagnosis”-the peddling of unnecessary treatments.  Dr. Camm went on to say that there were several instances where dentists recommended a procedure with the thought it’s covered by insurance so it’s not hurting the patients.  At Southport Dental we will only recommend dental procedures that we feel you truly need!

Up-selling in dentistry isn’t anything new it’s just becoming more of a phenomenon since tuition is on the rise and many dentists are taking jobs with chains.  Many of these dental chains have turned dentists into salespeople.  In recent years several chains have been sued over allegations of unnecessary fillings, extractions and root canals that were covered by Medicaid. Several other chains have been sued over similar allegations.

The word to the wise is just be cautious when seeing your dentist or a new dentist that you feel may be recommending excessive procedures.  It doesn’t hurt to seek a second opinion on dental care. Dr. Ryan Mills and his staff are dedicated to providing you and your family the highest quality dental care.

At Southport Dental we are committed to providing a warm, stress free environment in which our patients are treated as family. Only necessary procedures are recommended, in other words, no one is pressured with “up selling.” When considering treatment, patients are clearly presented with pros, cons, and all available options.

We are accepting New Patients! Call us at 317-494-7366 to schedule an appointment.

About Southport Dental PC

New patients are always welcome. We will not make you wait weeks to get the dental visits you want. Let us know what you want to accomplish at your first visit and we will make it happen! We take the time with our patients to explain their treatment options and inform them of additional preventive care.

Contact us today to learn more.

Better Health & Smile With Adult Braces

Adult SmileAdult orthodontic treatment is designed to straighten teeth, correct your bite and help you achieve a beautiful smile. Orthodontic treatment may help prevent many serious potential problems such as tooth decay, gum disease and eventual tooth loss. Fixing a bad bite improves your smile and your health.

Dr. Mills can help you determine if orthodontic treatment is the right option for you. These days adults make up almost half of all orthodontic patients. About 1 million Americans over the age of 18 wear braces. We offer both Six Months Smiles cosmetic braces or clear aligners such as Invisalign. Both types of braces are an effective option.

When considering Six Month Smiles or Invisalign, patients are clearly presented with pros, cons, and all available options.

If you would like to learn more about adult braces, and which solution may be best for your lifestyle, give our dental team a call at 317-494-7366.

We are always available to answer questions about your dental health and about the services we provide for your treatment.

About Southport Dental PC

New patients are always welcome. We will not make you wait weeks to get the dental visits you want. Let us know what you want to accomplish at your first visit and we will make it happen! We take the time with our patients to explain their treatment options and inform them of additional preventive care.

Contact us today to learn more.

 

When Was The Last Time You Saw The Dentist?

Dental Checkup IndianapolisCan’t remember the last time you saw a dentist? Don’t worry we are here to help no matter what your history is in seeing a dentist. If it’s been a while since your last exam, here’s what you can expect the next time you sit in the dentist’s chair. On your initial visit we will perform a comprehensive examination that will include examining your mouth, head a neck. We will also do a series of x-rays and discuss your medical history with you.

Southport Dental is proud to provide a talented, friendly staff to make your dental experience exceptional. Dr. Mills stays current with dental techniques and trends by frequently attending continuing education seminars and courses ensuring that his patients receive the most comprehensive and advanced dental care. Our front office staff will find the answers to all your questions and make you feel at home. We provide skilled, gentle and knowledgeable dental hygienist and dental assistants. They will give you their undivided attention during your cleaning visits and dental procedures.

A dental checkup can keep you and your teeth healthy. Don’t delay when it comes to the health of your teeth. Any untreated problems can turn into even bigger ones, so it’s important to schedule a checkup soon. New patients are always welcome. We will not make you wait weeks to get the dental visits you want. Let us know what you want to accomplish at your first visit and we will make it happen! Your first dental visit promises to be a pleasant experience. Making sound decisions about your dental care and oral health is an easy thing to do with the right preparation beforehand:

  • Make a list of questions to ask our office, so you don’t forget anything on the day of your appointment. This includes any concerns you have, or oral problems you’ve been experiencing.
  • Fill out the New Patient Form at home and bring it with you or arrive 15 minutes before your appointment to complete this at our office.
  • If you have dental insurance, remember to bring your insurance card with you.

If you are interested in scheduling an appointment give our team a call at 317-494-7366 or fill out an appointment and new patient form.

About Southport Dental PC

New patients are always welcome. We will not make you wait weeks to get the dental visits you want. Let us know what you want to accomplish at your first visit and we will make it happen! We take the time with our patients to explain their treatment options and inform them of additional preventive care.

Contact us today to learn more.

Southport Dental Indianapolis | Screening for Oral Cancer

A regular oral cancer screening by your dentist, every six months, is the best way to catch cancer at its earliest stages. An oral cancer screening takes just minutes and can be performed during regular dental exams and cleanings. During your routine dental cleanings and exams at our office, Dr. Mills and his team will perform an oral cancer screening to check for the signs of oral cancer.

The video below demonstrates a screening of oral cancer during a dental checkup:

Oral cancer screenings are important for detecting and treating mouth cancer early! Oral, head and neck cancer represents a variety of cancers that can be found in the mouth, including the tongue, throat, lips, larynx and salivary glands, as well as the sinuses, nasal cavity and thyroid. Early detection is key to surviving this type of cancer.

If you would like to schedule an exam with an oral cancer screening give our team a call at 317-494-7366 to schedule an appointment. We are dedicated to providing you and your family the highest quality dental care!

About Southport Dental PC

New patients are always welcome. We will not make you wait weeks to get the dental visits you want. Let us know what you want to accomplish at your first visit and we will make it happen! We take the time with our patients to explain their treatment options and inform them of additional preventive care.

Contact us today to learn more.

Southport Dental Indianapolis | Kicking the Tobacco Habit is Good For Your Teeth

SmokingBadforTeethKicking the tobacco habit is not just good for your body, but good for your teeth and gums. Smoking causes bad breath and stains the enamel on your teeth. In addition to having unsightly teeth, smoking can cause serious health conditions. Because of the carcinogens in cigarettes, smoking is associated with an increased risk of oral cancer, which can be deadly. Smoking and tobacco products can lead to gum disease by affecting the attachment of bone and soft tissue to your teeth.

As with any addiction, breaking your tobacco habit may take some time. If you are able to kick the habit, it will only lead to better oral health! Your teeth will be whiter and less likely to decay. Everyone wants white teeth, fresh breath, a healthy mouth and firm gums. With help from your dental office, you can achieve all of these. It’s never too late to quit using tobacco. Ask us how to help kick the habit and reasons why it needs to be done soon!.

Southport Dental is proud to employ a talented, friendly staff to make your dental experience exceptional. Our front office staff will find the answers to all your questions and make you feel at home. Give us a call today at 317-494-7366.

About Southport Dental PC

New patients are always welcome. We will not make you wait weeks to get the dental visits you want. Let us know what you want to accomplish at your first visit and we will make it happen! We take the time with our patients to explain their treatment options and inform them of additional preventive care.

Contact us today to learn more.

Southport Dental Indianapolis | The Advantages of Invisalign

Get Almost Invisible Orthodontic Treatment with Invisalign Clear Braces. There are many advantages of using Invisalign that make it more attractive than conventional metal braces. Both braces and Invisalign are designed to straighten teeth while improving your smile.

Invisalign consists of a series of custom-made clear removable aligners with tooth colored buttons, which gradually move teeth into perfect alignment. Unlike conventional braces, which consist of metal brackets and wires, Invisalign uses no metal wires or brackets, so there is a lower likelihood of irritation to the cheeks and gums.

Watch the enclosed video which demonstrates how Invisalign works:

Having straight teeth is not only important for beauty reasons, but also for maintaining a healthy mouth. Invisalign is not for everyone, but you may be able to take advantage of this tremendous improvement in orthodontic treatment. When considering treatment, patients are clearly presented with pros, cons, and all available options. To learn whether you are a candidate for Invisalign, please schedule a consultation with our Indianapolis Southport Dental team to explore all of your options.

About Southport Dental PC

New patients are always welcome. We will not make you wait weeks to get the dental visits you want. Let us know what you want to accomplish at your first visit and we will make it happen! We take the time with our patients to explain their treatment options and inform them of additional preventive care.

Contact us today to learn more.

What our patients are saying about us.

For the first time in my 50+ years I don't fear going to the dentist. Dr. Mills does a remarkable job putting his patients at ease and he gets the job done with the least amount of pain I've ever experienced in a dentists chair. My husband hated going to the dentist until we found Dr. Mills, thanks to my friend, Sara!

- Corann W.

Read More Testimonials