water tower dental care

When it comes to your teeth, you should never have to wait to get an important cosmetic or general dentistry treatment done just because of money. That’s why we offer a variety of payment options at Water Tower Dental Care in Chicago. This way, you can receive affordable dental care when you need it most. We’re going to break down some of our payment options now so that you know exactly what to expect when you come into our Chicago office.

CareCredit for More Affordable Dental Treatments

Let’s face it, dental treatments can add up. Financing options can help make your dental care more affordable. We’re pleased to offer CareCredit to help you finance your dental treatments. CareCredit is a credit card exclusively used for health care, including treatments at your dentist office. The CareCredit program allows you to receive your dental treatment immediately, and then pay for it in low monthly payments that fit your budget.
When you’re paying off your card, there are a variety of financing options you can choose from. For example, you can pay in equal monthly payments, minimum monthly payments or increasing monthly payments. There are also some fantastic CareCredit promos, which you can check out here. You can design a CareCredit payment plan with no interest, no annual fees and no prepayment penalties. We can work with you to find the best option to fit your lifestyle and budget. No more sweating over how you can afford to pay for a big teeth treatment in one visit!

Cash, Checks, Credit & Debit

Whether you happen to have the perfect amount of cash on hand or need to pay with your credit card, you’re warmly welcome at Water Tower Dental Care. We accept cash, checks, American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa. While we don’t mind how you pay, we do offer a 5% discount to patients who pay for their treatment with cash at least 24 hours before their visit.

Dental Insurance

When it comes to using your dental insurance to pay for a treatment, we try to make the process as easy as possible. We’ll electronically file your claim as a courtesy to you and provide your insurance company with all of the information they need to maximize your benefits. This way, you’ll always know that you’re getting the most out of your insurance when receiving treatments at Water Tower Dental Care.
We strive to provide some of the most affordable high quality dental care in Chicago with these payment options. If you’re worried about being able to pay for a specific dental treatment, please contact us. We would love to work with you to find effective treatments with a payment option that works for you. We can guide you through CreditCare or discuss alternative treatment options.

When it comes to your social and professional life, teeth can make a big difference. That’s why we’re focused on making your smile as beautiful as possible. Over the years, we’ve become known as the top cosmetic dentistry in Chicago for our work on pearly whites. Here are a few of our most popular teeth treatments in Water Tower Place, Chicago and why so many people love them.

Invisalign Clear Braces

Traditional braces are so five years ago. But really, why wear annoying, obtrusive and unattractive traditional braces when you can wear invisible braces? Invisalign has become one of our most popular dental treatments because of how easy and transparent it is. Just like traditional braces, Invisalign straightens out your teeth over time. But it does this with clear aligners that can easily be removed whenever you’d like. Learn how Invisalign can fix your underbite too! Take a look at our before and after Invisalign photos here.

Teeth Whitening

There’s a reason most celebrities have shiny white teeth. Whether it makes sense or not, pearly whites make you look young, healthy and successful. We have a ton of patients come through our offices for Zoom! Teeth Whitening because it can make your teeth up to ten shades whiter after just one single one-hour treatment. Fast, effective and long lasting, you can’t beat Zoom! when it comes to teeth whitening. We also offer take home teeth whitening trays if you prefer your couch to the dental chair.
[caption id="attachment_2288" align="aligncenter" width="604"] A Water Tower Dental Care patient before and after Invisalign, teeth whitening and dental veneers.[/caption]

Dental Veneers

Mask your teeth imperfections with dental veneers! Veneers are so popular because they successfully cover up a variety of different teeth problems, including stains, odd shapes, chips, big spaces, and crooked teeth. Whether Mother Nature didn’t give you the teeth of your dreams, or injury or age has left you with teeth you don’t recognize, veneers can be carefully placed onto your teeth to perfect issues. Check out our before and after porcelain veneers photo gallery!
Carefully designed for your mouth, more permanent porcelain veneers are best for severe dental issues, while minimal prep veneers are the better choice for those who have smaller problems and/or less time. Find out which type of veneer is best for you here.

CEREC One Visit Crowns

Traditionally, it took at least two visits and countless hours to fit, create and place dental crowns. With CEREC One Visit Crown technology, crowns can be perfectly customized and placed to match your teeth in just one hour. You can see why this treatment has become one of our most popular. Take a look at Water Tower Dental patients before and after CEREC One Visit Crowns. Learn more about fixing a broken tooth with CEREC One Visit Crowns here!
These are our most popular cosmetic dental treatments for a reason: they make your smile look better than ever while saving you time! Contact us to learn more about the treatments our office in Water Tower Place, Chicago offers.

Sometimes we find home remedies and new tricks to cleaning your teeth incredibly interesting, and potentially helpful. Oil pulling has been around for thousands of years, yet has only sparked the attention of many of our patients just recently. So what exactly is oil pulling and can it help keep your teeth is top health?

Oil pulling originally comes from Indian folk remedies to help clear the mouth of harmful bacteria. Not until the ‘90s did oil pulling start to emerge as a healthy practice in America. A medical doctor, Dr. F. Karach, was the first to introduce oil pulling to his patients in the United States. After finding the remedy a successful tool for lowering harmful bacteria levels, oil pulling began to grow in popularity.
As bacteria build up in your mouth, it creates plaque so it can adhere to your teeth and cause as much harm as it wants. Brushing, flossing, and visits to your dentist all aim to remove the plaque that the bacteria are harboring on. Oils such as sesame, sunflower, and coconut oil, when used properly, can help pull these bacteria off of the teeth for a cleaner, healthier mouth.
It’s rather simple to do, just use a tablespoon of oil and swish it in your mouth like mouthwash for 20 minutes. Once the twenty minutes are complete, spit into a trash can. Twenty minutes is the instructed amount of time because it allows enough time for bacteria to be pulled off the teeth and into the oil without allowing them to be reabsorbed into the body.

Does Oil Pulling work?

There is much debate as to the effectiveness of oil pulling and what it actually can help. In a study conducted in 2008, 20 adolescent boys were instructed to either perform an oil pulling procedure, or to use Chlorhexidine to reduce the amount of streptococcus mutans- one of the main bacterias that can cause plaque build up and tooth decay. After two weeks, the boys who used oil pulling had significantly reduced the amount of streptococcus mutans in their mouth, however not as much as the patients using the Chlorhexidine. That does not mean oil pulling does not work, only that it is slightly less effective than the harsh chemicals of Chlorhexidine.
A similar study was conducted to test oil pulling’s effect against gingivitis causing bacteria alongside Chlorhexidine. In this study, both the oil pulling and mouthwash were equally effective against the bacteria.
And last, a final study showed that oil pulling is significantly effective in reducing bacteria that cause halitosis, or more commonly know as bad breath.
While oil pulling may not be recommended by every doctor, we find it to be a more natural way to help clean your teeth and keep your gums healthy.
If you have more questions about this home remedy or many others that are often discussed on this blog, please contact Water Tower Dental, would be happy to help answer any of your questions.

Do you have trouble convincing your children it’s time to brush their teeth? Many kids find it difficult to want to scrub their tiny molars as they see it just like any other chore. However, with the right attitude you can make brushing teeth a fun activity that your children get excited to do. Healthy teeth in young children are extremely important, so try out a few of these tips next time you’re brushing with your kids.

Start With Variety

An easy way to get a child excited about grabbing that toothbrush is by giving them an option. Buy an assortment pack of toothbrushes that are multicolored or have different characters from their favorite story or movie on them. Every time they go to grab their toothbrush, they get to choose a new fun color. Already, the child feels as if they’re in control and that they can make brushing their teeth just a little more fun.

Brush With Them

Children learn from a good example, so at first, always brush your teeth with your children. Show them how fun it can be. A client of ours once told us of how his grandfather used to brush his teeth with him when he was a child. Halfway through the brushing, his grandfather would always stop and show him a big, foamy smile. That stuck with him, and every time he brushed his teeth, even as an adult, he would give himself a big foamy smile halfway through the brushing.

Tasty Toothpaste

Many toothpaste companies make toothpaste specific for children that often have a sweeter taste that a child can enjoy. Look for safe and non-abrasive toothpaste approved by the ADA.

Get the Timer

Any parent knows children have a tough time staying still for more than a few seconds. To help condition your child to brush their teeth for more than a blink of the eye, grab a timer. At first, set the timer to twenty seconds and challenge your child to brush until the timer goes off. Gradually increase the time until you’ve reached two minutes.

Dance While You Brush

If your children don’t seem to take to the timer experience, find a fun song they love that’s around the two-minute mark. Let them listen to the song as they brush their teeth and let them know they can’t stop until the song is over. Let them get funky with the song, even dance with them a little, just make sure they keep brushing their teeth.

Reward With a Sticker

A simple reward for a job well done is a sticker. It can easily be put on a board or poster that the child can then see and feel proud of whenever they finish their brushing.
It’s important to start your children early with proper oral hygiene as they adapt habits much easier when they’re younger. If you’re consistent with your education and participation with your teeth brushing, it will have a lasting effect on their care for their teeth. Make sure to consider taking your child to the dentist as early as age 2. If you have any more questions, contact Water Tower Dental today.

When it comes to oral hygiene, Water Tower Dental encourages daily brushing and flossing along with biannual dental cleanings and check ups. Clearing harmful bacteria out of the mouth will help keep your teeth and gums clean and healthy, but what about your breath? Although brushing a flossing can help keep the bacteria that cause bad breath away from your teeth and gums, there's still a chance you'll have bad breath. That's because many of the bacteria can camp out on your tongue. Cue the tongue scraper, a leading tool in keeping harmful bacteria off your tongue.

Ever wake up in the morning and take a good look at your tongue? You may notice a white or murky yellow build up near the throat. That is from the mouth having insufficient amount of water to flush bacteria out of your mouth over the long night. Those tiny ridges and bumps on the surface of the tongue are the perfect breeding ground for volatile sulfur compounds such as hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, and dimethyl sulfide: the main ingredients to bad breath. While mouthwash or using your toothbrush to scrub at the tongue can help, bacteria can still hide in the spongy gaps of your tongue. A tongue scraper however, is much more efficient.
There are several different designs of a tongue scraper (also referred to as a tongue brush or tongue cleaner), but their objective is still the same. Tongue cleaners- unlike toothbrushes- are designed for the purpose of lifting and trapping the plaque coating and removing it from the tongue.
The user will reach as far back on the tongue as possible, place the scraper down, and pull forward. It is recommended to repeat several times.
A regular user of a tongue brush might not get the assurance of seeing the white or murky yellow plaque be scraped from their tongue. But rest assured that with each scrap, you're keeping a colony of bacteria out of your mouth. In a study by the NCBI, tongue scrapers showed a 75 percent reduction of volatile sulfur compounds compared to a 45 percent reduction with a toothbrush. That means is a tongue scraper can guarantee cleaner, fresher breath.
A tongue scraper will not just help your bad breath though. A tongue scraper helps remove ama from the tongue. Ama is sanskrit meaning anything that is undigested. Specifically for your mouth, undigested food. Old remnants of food, just like plaque, can build up along the tongue. The more build up you have, however, the less your taste buds can detect flavors of food. By using a tongue scraper, you can actually help your tongue taste food better. That's a great plus for anyone who loves a good meal.
As well, tongue scrapers are great for the overall hygiene of your mouth. By removing bacteria and plaque from your tongue you're limiting the amount of bacteria that can spread throughout your entire mouth. This will help with general oral hygiene.
If you're looking for the ultimate fighting tool against bad breath, after following the basic practices of oral hygiene, we recommend investing in a tongue scraper. They're a great way to keep bacteria and unwanted plaque out of the mouth for cleaner, fresher breath.