Dental Office

Our office is open Monday through Friday, with hours that can accommodate most any schedule. We know that your time is important, and we work to ensure that your visit happens as professionally and quickly as possible.

Littlefield, TX Dentist
Littlefield Smiles Dentistry and Orthodontics
320 E 8th St
Littlefield , TX 79339
(806) 385-6935
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
08:00 AM - 05:00 PM
08:00 AM - 05:00 PM
08:00 AM - 05:00 PM
08:00 AM - 05:00 PM
08:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Emergency and After Office Hours:
Dental emergencies are never convenient or timely. At J.W. Haltom Family Dental we are committed to our patients' dental health no matter what time of the day or night it is. If you are a current patient, and have a dental emergency after regular office hours, please call us at (806)773-9309.

Reception Room at J.W. Haltom Family Dentistry Patient Room at J.W. Haltom Family Dentistry
This is a picture of our reception room. We have worked hard to rennovate our entire office to have a warm, home-like atmosphere. To accomplish this is the reception room we replaced all the office chairs with a comfortable couch and western decor chairs. We also offer a wide variety of up-to-date magazines and satellite television. This is a picture of one of our three treatment rooms. As we did with the reception room, we placed hard wood floors and warmer paint to provide a warm atmosphere. We also outfitted all three treatment rooms with overhead televisions with satellite t.v. that they can watch during treatment. The rooms also have headphones that block out the dental noise and play what ever television or music station the patient wants to listen to while they are in the dental chair.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Which type of toothbrush should I use?
A: The brand of the toothbrush is not as critical as the type of bristle and the size of the head. A soft toothbrush with a small head is recommended because medium and hard brushes tend to cause irritation and contribute to recession of the gums, and a small head allows you to get around each tooth more completely and is less likely to injure your gums. It's unnecessary to "scrub" the teeth as long as you are brushing at least twice a day and visiting your dentist at least twice a year for cleanings.

Q: Is one toothpaste better than others?
A: Generally, no. However, it's advisable to use a fluoride containing toothpaste to decrease the incidence of dental decay. We recommend our patients use what tastes good to them as long as it contains fluoride. Toothpaste that claims to prevent tartar or whiten your teeth only does so by an added abrasive ingredient ( in actuality toothpaste cannot prevent tartar or whiten teeth). The one thing this abracive ingredient does do is cause your teeth to become sensitive.

Q: How often should I floss?
A: Flossing of the teeth once per day helps to prevent cavities from forming between the teeth where your toothbrush can't reach. Flossing also helps to keep your gums healthy.

Q: What's the difference between a "crown" and a "cap"?
A: These are restorations to repair a severely broken tooth by covering all or most of the tooth after removing old fillings, fractured tooth structure, and all decay. The restoration material is made of gold, porcelain, composites, or even stainless steel. Dentists refer to all of these restorations as "crowns". However, patients often refer to the tooth-colored ones as "caps" and the gold or stainless steel ones as "crowns".

Q: What's the difference between a "bridge" and a "partial denture"?
A: Both bridges and partial dentures replace missing teeth. A bridge is permanently attached to teeth adjacent to the tooth/teeth that are missing, or in some cases, implants. A partial denture is attached by clasps to the teeth and is easily removed by the patient. Patients are usually more satisfied with bridges than with partial dentures due to the fact that they require less hassle on the pateints part and they feel much more natural.

Q: What about "silver" fillings versus "white" fillings?
A: Although the U.S. Public Health Service issued a report in 1993 stating there is no health reason not to use amalgam (silver fillings), more patients today are requesting "white" or tooth-colored composite fillings. We also prefer tooth-colored fillings because they "bond" to the tooth structure and therefore help strengthen a tooth weakened by decay. While fillings are also usually less sensitive to temperature, and they also look better. However, "white" fillings cannot be used in every situation, and if a tooth is very badly broken-down, a crown will usually be necessary and provide better overall satisfaction for the patient.

Q: Do I need to have a root canal just because I have to have a crown?
A: No. While most teeth which have had root canal treatments do need crowns to strengthen the teeth and to return the teeth to normal form and function, not every tooth needing a crown also needs to have a root canal.