Testimonials
Whenever we've needed an appointment, we've had no problems. Calling and getting in Commonwealth dentistry has given us multiple opportunities to schedule around times and days our family of four goes, so we try to get them all on the same day and they accommodate us so we can get everything done at one time.
When the emergencies happen, we've had no problem coming in and just calling and getting in within a couple of days, if not the same day. Our entire family has always gone to Commonwealth Dentistry and we always recommend them to other families. We have multiple, um, people from our family that also come here now and they love it.
We just haven't even thought about going somewhere else.
I was a little bit scared to come to the dentist. I hadn't actually gone for a while prior to my first visit here, and I was worried of what they would think, you know, my whole leading up to my first appointment, I just was embarrassed. But they made me feel right at home. I mean everyone I encountered was excellent.
So I've been coming back ever since. I was scheduled right in. When I get here, I'm not waiting a long time. I do have a busy work schedule, so that's important to me. The service I receive at Commonwealth has been at such a high level that I really don't think it's worth looking at any other places.
I would definitely recommend Commonwealth dentistry.
I don't feel like a patient. I actually feel like a friend. I specifically was having trouble with my front teeth. I just wasn't happy with them. I had a crown. I expressed some disinterest in getting braces and, um, so I was actually just given an array of options and picked one. And I cannot tell you how convenient it was.
I sometimes stayed after hours and they didn't mind, you know, just to finish me . Um, it was, it was like a work around my schedule, so I haven't been happier with my smile. I'm so excited about it actually. So yeah, I love it here. I absolutely would recommend coming off demonstrate.
I feel like that's what their main goal is, to welcome you and make you feel like part of their little family. For me, I was coming from one dentist all my whole life, so I was really nervous about more of like a corporate dentistry feel, but it still feels at home. I never felt rushed, which is huge.
When you have children, they can act up, they can act out. You just never know what they're going to do. So. The fact that I didn't feel rushed, kind of made me less anxious. They always have time in their calendars, which is super important to me. If I have to cancel, you know, I don't want to wait six months to get in.
Especially not for my children. The reminder calls the texts, are huge to me because a lot of the time I can't use the phone, so that text message just to say, hey, you have an appointment on this date at this time, and you can just confirm it as easy as the text message.
You just reply with the C and it confirms your appointment. I would recommend Commonwealth Dentistry. I've never seen him not smiling. I mean, they come into the room and it's almost cliche to say that, but they're happy to see you.
Services
Well, Invisalign is an alternative treatment to traditional braces. They are clear retainers that you cannot see from a distance and are able to make movements to teeth through different sizes of trays called tracking trays. But essentially each tray changes the movements of your teeth little by little into the position that me and you both decide on which is the best treatment for those teeth.
You come to see us every two weeks, get new retainers, and we trade those out as we go along. It’s just very important to see us for these because we're tracking and making sure that everything is moving in the position that we want to. There's other types of brace treatments right now with at-home treatments that people are not seeing dentists and I really want to stress to them that if you do Invisalign, how easy it is. Come see us and let us see those movements as they're going along to make sure things are tracking and going the right way.
During our initial exam process, we are evaluating not only restorative needs of replacing missing teeth, we're also evaluating the foundation of the teeth. That is the periodontal evaluation. What we do is we measure the pocketing around the tooth to see if there is any active infection, any bleeding, any active bone loss, and that helps us determine what type of cleaning the patient needs.
When you don't scrub your baseboards for months at a time, the job is harder. If you're not brushing and flossing at home, rinsing, or doing what the hygienist has recommended you do to clean deeper pocketed areas are harder to reach areas, food trap areas, things like that.
By doing that on a regular basis, you are decreasing the amount of work that goes into it when you come in to see us.
Once a patient has gone through the scaling and root planing process, it's very important to maintain those perio maintenance appointments so that we can keep the gum tissue as healthy as possible. We know that bacteria peaks in the mouth at three months, and so as the longer the bacteria. Days in a place that it's not being accessed at home.
The more inflammation and damage it can cause to the ligaments and the bone structure around the teeth. We really pride ourselves in Maine, encouraging our patients to comply to a maintenance schedule that allows us to evaluate overall health as well.
Patient : Everybody is incredibly friendly. I'm always treated with, you know, smiles. Everybody, I feel like sends a good mood. If you're looking for quality and professionalism, Commonwealth dentistry would be the place to go.
Dentist : I want you to be comfortable from the minute you walk in the door with that first impression, at our front desk to the minute you leave.
We truly care for our patients and their comfort and their experience. Customer service is incredibly important to us.
Patient : It's a very family oriented practice. I never felt rushed, which is huge when you have children. Our daughter Ellie, she likes coming here to see Dr. Woodard, and Dr. Woodard has a daughter her age as well, so she talks to her and asks her questions that are at her level.
Dentist : You come in the door and you tell us you have a concern. We're going to address that concern. I want to do everything we possibly can to take care of that. We can take blood pressure at every appointment. We take a detailed health history. We really and truly do comprehensive dental care.
Patient : Whenever we've needed an appointment, we've had no problems calling and getting in.
Dentist : We are fortunate to have multiple locations and an incredible group of providers. So we can offer that flexibility. We care about you and you are our main priority. No matter what.
Patient : I would recommend Commonwealth Dentistry.
Patient : I would absolutely recommend it.
Patient : Commonwealth Dentistry. I absolutely would recommend Commonwealth dentistry.
Patient : I really don't think it's worth looking at any other places.
FAQs
We will come to the door and they're nervous and anxious, which I completely understand. You know, you're nervous. It's been a while. Maybe it's your first time unless you are in excruciating pain and something needs to be done today. I'm in no rush to do anything until you're comfortable. If you want to come in and just meet us and get to know the staff and see the building. That's okay with us. If you want to come and let us do some X rays and just take a look at everything, kind of evaluate what needs to be done and make a plan moving forward fast. Your comfort is my number one concern.
I think that happens all the time and people will tell us, well, it's been 10 years, it's been 15 years, and all that matters is they're here now. So that's what's important is they decided to, you know, kind of get back on the horse, so to speak, and come back to the office and we just move on from there.
So there's no story that we haven't heard before. If nobody needed to come to the dentist, it be very unexciting in our office. So we're glad when people decide it's time to come, no matter how long it's been.
Well, I think some people want to know how often I should come. And ideally, you know, we'd love to see you at least every six months just for, if nothing else, that checkup, then an evaluation. It enables us to catch any dental needs or recommendations early, so we get to them when they're minimal needs.
The toothbrush touches a third of the tooth structure. There is a pocket space underneath the gum tissue that your toothbrush bristles are not going to reach, and that's where the flossing comes into play. The adaptation of the floss is important, really hugging the side of the tooth to pull the plaque and bacteria out from underneath the gum tissue.
Professional cleanings for someone who does not have any active periodontal disease, who does not have any active bone loss is about six months. There are patients who build up a lot of plaque and have a lot of buildup on there, but they may not have the bone loss and those patients, sometimes we do recommend they come every three or four months, to minimize the time between appointments to make it easier on them, so that we can prevent that disease state from occurring.
We have digital x-rays and all of our records are digital now, state of the art equipment, laser dentistry. We can offer a wide range of state of the art materials, but we aren't the ones to jump on the bandwagon of just something that's new and out there that hasn't been proven. And so I think that we embrace technology, but we make sure that we're really incorporating technologies that are proven to benefit our patients.
Two minutes. Twice a day is ideal. Oftentimes people feel like they've rushed for two minutes and it's really only been 30 or 45 seconds. So that's where an electric toothbrush can be a great tool if for nothing else than it keeps you on the timer. So that can really help keep you brushing for that full two minutes.
Some folks like to carry around a Listerine travel bottle or sugar free gum is a great thing to use. Some of the components in gum and in between brushing can really help fight cavities and help freshen your breath if that's something that you're feeling like you need mid day.
Is that something that many patients are always concerned about is not being able to afford to come to the dentist. In addition to taking a wide variety of insurance plans, we also offer an in house discount plan. And what's great about this plan is, um, for a small fee, you're able to get two cleanings a year, all of your x-rays, um, and includes an emergency visit as well.
You're also able to get that done for a 20% discount and a lot of people like to go this route. There's people that don't have dental insurance. and that ends up being cheaper than dental insurance and even in bigger cases.
And sometimes in small cases, we also take care credit if you're not familiar with care credit, care credit allows people to essentially get some extra help when they need some dental treatment done and pay the company back at no interest rate for the first year. A lot of people that have bigger work being done, say a bridge or an implant, like to use this plan to help them just get that extra little push until they're able to get the treatment done.