Dental Health

Unfortunately, gingivitis (gum disease) is very common. But completely preventable.

Here’s some simple ways to keep your teeth and gums healthy:

If you keep your teeth and gums healthy, you will only need to visit the dentist for cleanings and checkups. Not major treatment.

1. Brush properly

Brush for two to three minutes, at least twice a day, with fluoridated toothpaste. Be sure to brush along the gumline. Scrub away the fragments of food Don’t brush too hard, but be thorough. Scrubbing your gums aggressively can be painful and is a BIG don’t.

2. Floss daily

Flossing removes plaque from places your toothbrush can’t reach. Don’t like to floss? Try a floss holder, which makes it far less complicated to insert the floss between teeth. But get over your aversion to flossing, unless you want tooth decay or gum disease.

3. Use a mouth rinse

Although not a substitute for brushing and flossing, using a mouth rinse can halt plaque accumulation and keep your enamel strong. Remember that fluoride mouth rinses are not the same as mouthwashes. Mouthwashes have alcohol and are designed to freshen your breath. (But they can worsen dry mouth which can cause other problems.)

4. Eat a healthy diet

Starchy and sugary foods increase plaque. A wholesome diet provides the nutrients needed (Vitamins A and C, in particular) to keep teeth and gums healthy.

5. Skip cigarettes and smokeless tobacco

Both of these habits may result in periodontitis (advanced gum disease) or oral cancer. While you’re at it, avoid E-cigs and vapors.

6. Check your meds

Be aware that certain medications can also threaten a healthy mouth. These include oral contraceptives, antidepressants and heart medicines. If your medications are affecting your dental health, meet with Dr. Kernagis.

7. Make preventative care a priority

Exercise preventive care and schedule regular evaluations — the ideal way to detect early signs of gum disease and make a plan to reverse it.

8. Talk to your dentist

Talk to your dentist about dental issues such as old, broken fillings or crowded teeth.

9. Protect your teeth

If you grind your teeth, talk with Dr. Kernagis about ways to protect your smile. If you participate in contact sports, use a custom mouthguard.

Listed above are nine simple ways to ensure your teeth don’t decay, or worse, fall out completely. It’s vital to brush your teeth in the morning and at night. Bonus points for brushing and/or rinsing after lunch. Daily dental hygiene also keeps your breath fresh. Your friends, family, and co-workers will appreciate that!

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Locations: (Tap to open in Google Maps):

South Shore – Gibsonton

13145 Kings Lake Drive Ste 105B
Gibsonton, FL 33534
Call: 813-519-0128

FishHawk – Lithia

5486 Lithia Pinecrest Rd, Ste B
Lithia, FL 33547
Call: 813-519-0128

Dental professionals in the Gibsonton area (including the team at Your Time Dental Urgent Care) are dedicated to oral health. Unfortunately, some men and women rarely go to the dentist. Others have the misconception that you only need to go to the dentist when you have a toothache.

In addition, there are those who have severe dental anxiety. Perhaps you fall into this category.

Dental anxiety is real, we get it.

If you are uneasy about dental visits, here are a few recommendations that may help ease you into consistent dental checkups. Certainly, enriched oral health will elevate your quality of life.

Choose a dentist you can trust.

I understand how challenging it can be to seek dental treatment. That’s why I make sure my patients are relaxed before I examine their teeth. First, I ask you many questions. I want to get to know you and help you get to know me. Communication builds a connection. A connection leads to a trusting relationship.

The more I know about you, the easier I can help you.

Be prepared to provide me with vital information about your lifestyle and health. Many men and women are intimidated at a dentist office. Because of this, they may hesitate to disclose sensitive issues.

We are here to help, regardless of your history or oral condition.

There is nothing in your past that we haven’t dealt with. Neglecting oral health. Drug use. Eating disorders. Regardless of your history, we have helped patients with similar problems.

In order to help you, I need complete accurate details. Bring notes if you are worried that you will forget something.

Also, during treatment, tell what you are experiencing so I can help you feel more relaxed. If we discover that you are going to need a dental procedure more extensive than filling a cavity, let’s discuss sleep dentistry.

Oral sedation is safe and effective.

The most important thing to know is that oral conscious sedation or sleep dentistry is perfectly safe. At Your Time Dental Urgent Care, we have been providing sedation since 2001. We offer different levels of sedation and a choice of medication including oral analgesics, nitrous oxide, and IV sedation.

At Your Time Dental Urgent Care, our comfortable staff will work to make your visit as pleasant as possible.

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Locations: (Tap to open in Google Maps):

South Shore – Gibsonton

13145 Kings Lake Drive Ste 105B
Gibsonton, FL 33534
Call: 813-519-0128

FishHawk – Lithia

5486 Lithia Pinecrest Rd, Ste B
Lithia, FL 33547
Call: 813-519-0128

“My neighbor’s bad breath is scaring me.”

I’m Dr. Kernagis with Your Time Dental Urgent Care. I’d like to take a few minutes to share with you some insight about halitosis.

Brushing just the teeth may not remove bits of food between the teeth and up in the gums. Bacteria can grow and stink from hidden floss-only locations. Gently brushing the gums, sides of the mouth, and the tongue in addition to the teeth may make the difference.

Also, the food you are eating can influence the odor in your mouth. Onions, garlic, and coffee are likely to show up on the breath no matter how much time is logged brushing.

Illness, infection, and allergies can all cause a lack of saliva which in turn upset the control of bacteria in the mouth. Diabetes, kidney failure, radiation therapy, liver malfunction, dry mouth, or even a runny nose can cause an odor. The microbe balance in the mouth is ever-changing.

Finally, dentures or removable appliances may also carry bacteria that need to be cleaned and freshened up on a regular basis.

1. Brush and floss the teeth as well as brush the tongue, gums, and sides of the mouth.
2. Enjoy onions and garlic a little less.
3. Stay on top of health issues.
4. Keep dentures clean.

Again, I’m Dr. Richard Kernagis. Located at 13145 Kings Lake Drive Ste 105B Gibsonton, Florida. We offer root canals, tooth extractions, weekend dental care, dental implants, and sedation dentistry just to name a few of our services.

We make patients feel comfortable

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Locations: (Tap to open in Google Maps):

South Shore – Gibsonton

13145 Kings Lake Drive Ste 105B
Gibsonton, FL 33534
Call: 813-519-0128

FishHawk – Lithia

5486 Lithia Pinecrest Rd, Ste B
Lithia, FL 33547
Call: 813-519-0128

In today’s post, we will veer a bit off the beaten path, so to speak, and examine an important dental specialty; forensic dentistry. The official term for the use of dentistry in criminal cases and post-mortem identification is forensic odontology. These specialists are rarely recognized but play a crucial role in crime and disaster investigations.

Dental X-rays, dentures, and bite marks are all used to provide clues about the victim’s identity and/or the manner of death. A person’s teeth are as unique as fingerprints and can often survive forces such as fire, explosions, submersion in water, and natural decay without being destroyed.

Identifying One Victim

Identifying a victim through dental records is aided immensely when authorities have narrowed down a group of suspected victims to just a few people (or, ideally, just one) and can consult the dentists who had treated them. When the identity is entirely unknown, a forensic dentist searches other databases such as those kept by the armed forces and prisons.3

“Dental identifications are so much quicker and so much less expensive than DNA.” -Dr. Mark Bernstein, dentist and forensic dental consultant¹

Identifying Hundreds of Victims

While identifying one victim of a homicide or accident can be relatively simple, natural disasters, plane crashes, and other large-scale tragedies are exponentially more complicated.

According to Dr. Jeffrey Burkes, chief forensic dental consultant for the 9/11 attacks, over 140 dentists worked to identify the fragments of remains that were recovered from the scene of the terrorist attacks. The identification effort was an exceptionally painstaking and complicated process. First, the dentists were assigned to one of four teams. The Go Team gathered evidence from the scene, the Antemortem Team analyzed existing dental records of presumed victims, the Postmortem Team X-rayed the recovered dental evidence, and the Comparison Team compared the X-rays of the remains of unknown corpses to the files of missing people thought to have been at the scene.²

“Dentistry fulfills one of its most important social, moral, and professional obligations by applying its unique knowledge and expertise to the task of identifying countless persons who are tragic victims of fires, catastrophes, disasters, and homicides.”³

¹Ashley Hayes, “How authorities identify a burned body,” CNN, February 13, 2013, http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/health/burned-body-id/, accessed February 20, 2017
²James Berry, Clayton Luz, Arlene Furlong, Craig Palmer, “Forensic Dentistry: Identifying the Victims of 9/11” Dental Practice Management, December 1, 2001,http://www.oralhealthgroup.com/features/forensic-dentistry-identifying-the-victims-of-9-11/, accessed February 20, 2017
³Dr. Vincent Funaro, “Charts, Radiographs, Study Models: A Forensic Trilogy, January 1, 2006, Dentistry Today, http://www.dentistrytoday.com/forensic-dentistry/1159-, accessed February 20, 2017

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Locations: (Tap to open in Google Maps):

South Shore – Gibsonton

13145 Kings Lake Drive Ste 105B
Gibsonton, FL 33534
Call: 813-519-0128

FishHawk – Lithia

5486 Lithia Pinecrest Rd, Ste B
Lithia, FL 33547
Call: 813-519-0128

If you have money in your Gibsonton flexible spending account you may want to schedule some cosmetic dentistry before the deadline. Remember, you lose any funds left over after the plan year ends. Why not improve your smile with tax-free dollars?

Even a small change can make a big difference in the appearance of your teeth. You might consider getting a veneer for a chipped tooth or replacing a broken crown. Maybe you want to straighten your teeth with braces or replace amalgam fillings with ones that blend with your natural teeth. Tooth whitening is quick and easy and benefits even the most attractive smiles.

Perhaps aesthetic dentistry is not your first priority. Maybe you have a more pressing dental need such as a cavity that is bothering you or swollen gums. Don’t let these problems get worse and possibly more expensive to treat.

Call 813-519-0128 to book a consultation at Your Time Dental Urgent Care in Gibsonton. We are located at 13145 Kings Lake Drive Ste 105B.

Richard Kernagis is one of the most sought-after Gibsonton dentists and stays at the forefront of cosmetic dentistry techniques and technology. A radiant smile is possible for anyone in the Tampa area, regardless of issues such as tetracycline stains, periodontal disease, or missing teeth.

If you are planning to use flex account funds for Tampa dentistry, make sure you check your employer’s guidelines for eligible cosmetic or restorative dental procedures.

With a smile makeover at Your Time Dental Urgent Care, what will your “after” photo look like?

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Locations: (Tap to open in Google Maps):

South Shore – Gibsonton

13145 Kings Lake Drive Ste 105B Gibsonton, FL 33534 Call: 813-519-0128

FishHawk – Lithia

5486 Lithia Pinecrest Rd, Ste B Lithia, FL 33547 Call: 813-519-0128

Looking for the best dentist in Gibsonton? You can click around on the computer or watch for postcard ads in your mailbox. Even then, the outcome is shaky at best. Finding the best dentist in Gibsonton truly hinges on what you are looking for. Are you looking for consistent, professional evaluation? Are you looking for an honest, straightforward diagnosis and treatment proposal? Are you looking for economical dental care without a background agenda?

Don’t let the myriad of dentists throughout Florida overwhelm you. Today Dr. Richard Kernagis offers 3 reliable steps for finding a dentist who will expertly serve your family’s dental needs in comfort and style.

Step 1
Pick up the phone: 813-519-0128. Contact our comfortable staff at Your Time Dental Urgent Care for your best appointment of the year, a dental checkup with Dr. Richard Kernagis. Our office offers competitive pricing to go with professional, educated experience. The needs of our patients run the gamut. From root canals to tooth extractions, from weekend dental care to dental implants. Providing quality services can make your sedation dentistry experience quick and uncomplicated.

Step 2
Make the appointment. Researching general and cosmetic dental practices start with a consultation. An evaluation of what your teeth need, what your smile could use and what your budget can afford are all key pieces of the puzzle. Located here at 13145 Kings Lake Drive Ste 105B in Gibsonton, Florida, we are equipped and proud to handle emergency same-day dental care, emergency dental care, urgent dental care, and everything in between.

Step 3
Meet the good doctor. Dr. Kernagis has a friendly and comfortable chairside manner, explains concisely and fully the procedures and possibilities, and performs superb dental work day in and day out. Expect to see the metamorphosis you want. Expect to meet with a professional. Expect outstanding, talented service.

Finding a dentist that will bring a smile to your face and put you at ease is just a click away at https://www.yourtimedentalurgentcare.com.

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Locations: (Tap to open in Google Maps):

South Shore – Gibsonton

13145 Kings Lake Drive Ste 105B
Gibsonton, FL 33534
Call: 813-519-0128

FishHawk – Lithia

5486 Lithia Pinecrest Rd, Ste B
Lithia, FL 33547
Call: 813-519-0128

A dental crown is a strong, natural-looking permanent tooth restoration that covers the top of the damaged tooth. Dentists use dental crowns to solve a number of dental dilemmas.

Crowns can remedy the following issues:

• A cracked tooth with decay
• An ill-fitting existing crown
• A decayed tooth that has lost a considerable amount of tooth structure
• A tooth that has had a root canal
• A tooth that is too small or misshapen
• A tooth that causes bite misalignment

Before your dentist can attach the crown to your tooth, we must prepare the tooth. Dentists often give you a local anesthetic so you won’t feel pain during the prepping.

Your dentist will remove decay, if any, and shape the tooth to receive the crown. Then a mold is taken of the prepped tooth and surrounding teeth.

A temporary crown is then placed on the tooth to protect it until you return to receive the permanent restoration. The patient needs to be cautious while wearing the temporary crown. Vigorous brushing or flossing can displace the crown or damage the exposed soft tissue. The patient should also refrain from eating extremely hard foods like nuts or sticky candy.

The mold of your teeth is sent to a dental lab where your crown is created. Dental crowns are offered in three varieties: tooth-colored crowns made of resin or porcelain, porcelain-fused-to-metal, and solid metal crowns.

Each type has its pros and cons. Your dentist will choose the right crown material for your particular tooth.

What if you need a permanent dental restoration for both the top and root of your tooth? A tooth implant is your answer.

For more information about complete dental restorations and other cosmetic dental solutions, call Your Time Dental Urgent Care at 813-519-0128 today.

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Locations: (Tap to open in Google Maps):

South Shore – Gibsonton

13145 Kings Lake Drive Ste 105B Gibsonton, FL 33534 Call: 813-519-0128

FishHawk – Lithia

5486 Lithia Pinecrest Rd, Ste B Lithia, FL 33547 Call: 813-519-0128

Welcome to the dental practice of Dr. Richard Kernagis, DMD.

At Your Time Dental Urgent Care, we provide comprehensive full-service dentistry for patients in Gibsonton and surrounding communities. Our comfortable team of skilled hygienists, dental assistants, and administrative staff help Dr. Kernagis exceed our patients’ expectations. At Your Time Dental Urgent Care, we understand the value of a healthy and beautiful smile.

We are devoted to providing each patient with personalized care in our cutting-edge dental practice.

Your Time Dental Urgent Care is located at 13145 Kings Lake Drive Ste 105B in Gibsonton. For more specifics about our team, see https://www.yourtimedentalurgentcare.com.

If you were blessed with a pleasing smile, we can help you keep it that way with professional deep cleanings and thorough examinations. We set the standard for preventative family dentistry.

If you were not blessed with a beautiful smile, let’s talk about how we can improve it. Modern cosmetic dentistry provides a remedy for virtually every aesthetic dilemma.

If it has been a while since you received a professional dental cleaning, call 813-519-0128 today to schedule a cleaning with one of our proficient hygienists. Your teeth will feel amazingly clean, silky, and smooth after the chalky plaque and calculus is removed.

Whether you need an examination or a complex full mouth reconstruction, at Your Time Dental Urgent Care we’ll get you smiling again!

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Locations: (Tap to open in Google Maps):

South Shore – Gibsonton

13145 Kings Lake Drive Ste 105B Gibsonton, FL 33534 Call: 813-519-0128

FishHawk – Lithia

5486 Lithia Pinecrest Rd, Ste B Lithia, FL 33547 Call: 813-519-0128

If your crooked, stained teeth keep you from smiling and you feel like there is nothing you can do about it, please give me a call!

My name is Dr. Kernagis and my comfortable staff and I have been giving the people of Gibsonton something to smile about since 2001.

If you are disappointed with the smile Mother Nature gave you, let me create the brilliant smile of your dreams. New procedures and innovative materials make it possible to completely revamp and restyle your mouth.

If your teeth are uneven, Your Time Dental Urgent Care has several options to repair that. We can re-contour your teeth by removing a small portion of your enamel to change the length or shape of your tooth. If more is required to improve your smile we can offer veneers or bonding.

A veneer is a thin shell of porcelain that is permanently attached to the front of a tooth, correcting cosmetic imperfections. They can last longer than dental bonding and preserve more natural tooth structure than crowns.

Many individuals have teeth that have become discolored by drinking colas, tea, or coffee. If you have darkened teeth and dream of having pearly white teeth then check out the many teeth whitening options.

Stop hiding behind a timid smile. Take charge and let Your Time Dental Urgent Care create a new celebrity-caliber smile.

Ask us about emergency same-day dental care, urgent dental care, and emergency dental care.

We make patients feel comfortable

Contact Your Time Dental Urgent Care:

Locations: (Tap to open in Google Maps):

South Shore – Gibsonton

13145 Kings Lake Drive Ste 105B
Gibsonton, FL 33534
Call: 813-519-0128

FishHawk – Lithia

5486 Lithia Pinecrest Rd, Ste B
Lithia, FL 33547
Call: 813-519-0128