Restorative Dentistry Focused on Your Overall Health in Chicago
At Healthful Alternatives, we believe in protecting teeth and gums with solutions that keep your physical, mental, and emotional well-being in mind. Dr. Marianne Schaefer and her dedicated team offer restorative dentistry that combines trusted techniques and treatments with safe and beautiful materials.
We love helping individuals and families across Chicago and the surrounding Cook County communities. Our dentist is known for her holistic and conservative approach to dental care and always taking her time to understand your needs.
Let our team help you achieve a healthy, beautiful, and renewed smile today! Contact Healthful Alternatives to schedule your next appointment!
CALL US: (773) 777-8300 REQUEST APPOINTMENT
Restorative Solutions from Dr. Marianne Schaefer
Even with diligent oral hygiene and routine dental care, damage, infection, and decay can still affect your smile. When it does, Dr. Schafer and her team provide restorative dentistry services designed to treat these issues.
Our dentist does her best to ensure each solution combines the best aspects of holistic dentistry using trusted techniques and the highest quality of natural-looking, safe materials. This conservative approach to your dental care helps to keep your long-term health at the forefront of treatment.
Our restorative dental treatments include:
- Implant-Supported Restorations
- Biocompatible Dental Restorations
- Porcelain Crowns & Bridges
- Full & Partial Dentures
- White Composite Fillings
- Porcelain Inlays & Onlays
- Non-Surgical Gum Disease Treatment
Making sure you receive the essential dental care you need is Dr. Schaefer’s top priority. Our dentist works closely with trusted specialists throughout Chicago when you require intricate care. Whatever the complexity of your needs, she collaborates with local periodontists, endodontists, and oral surgeons known for their use of safe and innovative technologies.
Why Choose Restorative Dentistry with a Holistic Approach?
Restorative dentistry involves diagnosing and treating issues with solutions designed to rebuild your smile to its former glory. When you have teeth that need repair or replacement, why not choose care that puts your complete health in mind?
Restorative dentistry delivered with a holistic approach means that your options are free of metal, amalgam materials, hazardous chemicals, and mercury. We use only body-safe substances to protect your oral health and overall well-being while also working to restore your smile. Instead of purely addressing the issues at hand, our restorative care works to prevent harmful conditions and improve your smile in ways that benefit your physical and mental health as well.
Our experience in providing conservative, body-safe dentistry means we can create treatment plans that promote better overall well-being. By delivering care that focuses on protecting you, we can also help you maintain a healthier body and immune system. This is especially important for preventing gum disease issues that can lead to complications with diabetes, pregnancy, cardiovascular disease, and more.
Restoring Dental Implants in Chicago
If you’ve lost one tooth or many, dental implants can provide permanent solutions in the most comprehensive ways. Implants are the only option available that can become a lasting part of your smile while also restoring a tooth completely.
While implant posts are permanent, the crown, bridge, or denture restoration is not. If not cared for properly, they can become damaged or worn down with time. At Healthful Alternatives, we can restore your dental implants using reliable techniques and beautiful, safe, and resilient materials. Our implant-supported restorations are made to look, feel, and function like natural teeth, promoting better overall health, confidence, and quality of life.
When you’re looking to resolve tooth loss with dental implants, we work with trusted oral surgeons and periodontists. These experts specialize in implant placement. During exams, they use innovative diagnostic technologies, such as cone beam CT scanners that produce precise images of teeth, gums, roots, nerves, bone, and facial structures, all with minimal radiation. These powerful tools and our collaborative approach to your care helps to ensure accurate and safe treatment.
Our Available Implant-Supported Restorations
At Healthful Alternatives, we are proud to provide dental restorations created to complete your dental implants. Each is crafted to meet your unique tooth replacement needs.
Our available implant-supported restorations include:
- Crowns that replace a single missing tooth when attached to one implant
- Bridges that restore several lost teeth in a row when supported by two dental implants
- Partial dentures that replace multiple missing teeth throughout the smile
- Full dentures that can restore an entire smile of missing teeth using four to eight implants
Lifelike Restorations for Superior Dental Health
When your teeth are generally healthy but suffer damage or decay, we can protect your dental health and function. Our restorations are designed to renew appeal and blend seamlessly with the smile. This is possible because Dr. Schaefer only works with labs that use tooth-colored and biocompatible materials. By doing so, our dentist can better preserve your dental health without compromising treatment quality.
White Composite Fillings
When we catch early signs of tooth decay or damage, we use amalgam-free fillings to restore your teeth. Once we’ve removed areas of decay, we apply composite filling materials to help replace, rebuild, and reshape your tooth’s enamel. Composite fillings are ideal for restoring teeth with minor chips, cracks, decay, and wear. We can also treat and match any tooth in your smile.
Porcelain Inlays & Onlays
Inlays and onlays are restorations crafted outside of your smile. They are a perfect in-between treatment for restoring teeth and molars that are too damaged for a filling but not enough to need a crown. Inlays and onlays consist of single pieces of porcelain fitted into specific areas of teeth. Inlays fill gaps in the surface of your tooth, while onlays extend over one or more cusps.
Dental Crowns
Crowns are ideal for treating a severely worn, damaged, or decayed tooth. They work by encasing the entire tooth and preserving its structure. With crowns, we can restore the shape and function of a weakened tooth while also maintaining appeal. These restorations are versatile and have many uses in restorative dentistry.
With crowns, we can:
- Complete a dental implant
- Support a dental bridge
- Protect a tooth after a root canal treatment
- Strengthen weak and worn teeth
- Improve the look of a tooth
- Treat misshapen and discolored teeth
- Improve biting and chewing functions
Dental Bridges
Bridges consist of two or more crowns supporting prosthetic teeth that fill in the gaps left by missing teeth. Traditional bridges use two hollow crowns placed on natural teeth on either side of the gap for secure anchors. Once placed, these restorations improve biting and chewing functions and keep neighboring teeth in place.
Full & Partial Dentures
Dr. Schaefer recommends partial dentures when there are multiple missing teeth in your smile. If you’ve lost all of your teeth, full dentures are an ideal option. Dentures can replace teeth missing in the upper and lower jaws. Our denture restorations are made from safe and natural-looking materials. Both types consist of a pink acrylic base created to mimic gum tissue with a set of porcelain teeth that resemble natural teeth.
Restoring Oral Health & Treating Gum Disease
Healthy gums are essential for lasting oral health and overall wellness. This is because there is a close connection between the health of your body and your smile.
Gingivitis is the earliest phase of gum disease and is often the result of toxic plaque buildup on the surfaces of teeth and below the gumline. If left untreated, the condition can develop into periodontitis, the most advanced and damaging stage of gum infection.
At Healthful Alternatives, we are passionate about protecting your oral health and well-being. We provide non-surgical procedures for treating gum disease in the least invasive ways possible.
Scaling and root planing is also known as a deep periodontal cleaning. Tooth scaling involves gently removing plaque, tartar, and toxic by-products from the teeth and below the gum line. Root planing is smoothing out the surface areas on the tooth roots. This helps to prevent plaque and bacteria from reforming along and underneath the gumline. It also allows your gums to reattach and heal properly.
Patient education will inform you about the impact that diligent oral hygiene, healthy habits, and routine care can have on your overall health. Our Chicago dental team understands how these factors can work together to help you prevent damage, tooth decay, and gum disease. Our team works closely with you to discuss oral hygiene best practices and what you can do at home to protect your smile.
As a conservative dental practice, we always strive to save your natural teeth whenever possible. However, in some cases, extracting teeth may be the best solution to protect your long-term health. Decayed or damaged teeth that cannot be saved with root canal therapy may need removal to keep the gums and smile healthy. Our dentist can perform gentle tooth extractions when necessary.
Visit Healthful Alternatives to Experience Safe Restorative Dentistry
Dr. Marianne Schaefer is on a mission to provide individuals and families across Chicago with healthy and lasting smiles through conservative restorative dentistry. Our commitment to our Cook County community is shown in our exceptional approach to your care. To discover our available services, contact Healthful Alternatives today!
CALL US: (773) 777-8300 REQUEST APPOINTMENT