GDC Smiles is a Gainesville based family dentist practice that treats patients of all ages. We are committed to delivering the highest quality dental care and do so using advanced dental equipment. We are a cosmetic dentist that offers services like checkups, teeth cleaning, crowns, veneers and more.

Dr. Lia Gallo-Urrego loves what she does every day; helping people smile. For over 25 years of transforming peoples smiles, she says its really her life that has been most affected and her heart that has been touched. The transformation she sees in her patients is not only physical, but emotional as well, as they walk taller, smile wider, and live life a little bit happier. Dr. Gallo-Urrego prides herself in the community she has established with her patients. They trust her, and this makes all the difference in an ideal doctor-patient scenario.

Dr. Gallo-Urrego earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree in 1993 from University of Antioquia, Colombia, one of the most prestigious universities in South America. She graduated as Salutatorian of her class. She later earned her second DDS degree from the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine in 2008.

Dr. Gallo recently completed an extensive Implant Externship Program with Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine and Dental XP to keep up to date with the latest trends in the dental field. As an avid student, Dr. Gallo is also preparing to take the prestigious Associate Fellowship exam of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID), where she is also a member.

With a true love for the work she does and the people she encounters, Dr. Gallo-Urrego volunteers much of her time giving back. As a member of Free Chapel she heard about her churchs program for men and women recuperating from drug addiction, No Longer Bound and New Beginnings, and decided these men and women deserve another chance at a better life. She began giving total reconstruction of their mouths, free of charge.

'Getting to be a part of something so monumental and such a beautiful change in someones life towards a better future is what makes me proud to be a doctor and thankful for the work I get to do every day.'

Dr. Juan C. Cruz is the newest addition to the GDC Smiles family as our Associate Dentist. He was born and raised in Colombia, South America where he first fell in love with the field of dentistry. There is something about seeing the joy in a patients eyes after giving them a smile they can be proud of, that fills Dr. Cruz with pride and genuine fulfillment in his work and career. He enjoys the challenge of transforming the many smiles that come through our office. You can easily find Dr. Cruz chatting with his patients about life, cracking jokes, and being intentional with his time answering their questions and easing away their concerns.

In his free time, Dr. Cruz enjoys exploring his new home of Gainesville, Georgia with his wife and 15-year-old son. He loves the outdoors, and if hes not in the office you can find him traveling, reading, biking and hiking in the North Georgia Mountains.

Dr. Cruz graduated from the Universidad Autonoma de Manizales with his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 1995. In 2017 Dr. Cruz graduated from the University Of Colorado Anschutz School Of Dental Medicine International Student Program. He was awarded the American College of Dentists Award by virtue of Ethics, Scholarship, Patient Care and Professional Behavior. Dr. Cruz also graduated at the top of his class as valedictorian for the International Student Program Class of 2017.

Outside of the office Dr. Cruz has a passion for serving his community with his talents and profession. Dr. Cruz has volunteered his time providing free dental treatment for children, Latino Americans, and poverty-stricken families through various organizations such as SOS Clinic, Clinica Latina, and Dentistry from the Heart. He has also given his time and expertise through teaching opportunities with the Medical College of Georgia as an adjunct instructor.

Olivia is a Registered Dental Hygienist and has been on the team for four years now. She was promoted to the position of Office Manager three years ago thanks to her love and devotion to GDC Smiles Mission.

In 2014, Olivia graduated from Athens Technical College with an Associates Degree in Applied Science. She is dedicated to always furthering her education and makes sure to attend multiple continuing education (CE) courses each year. She loves to give back her time to the community and volunteers her talents and efforts at Good News Clinic, a clinic that offers free dental services to the Gainesville community.

Ana, the Marketing Director and Patient Relation Coordinator at GDC Smiles, loves interacting with all of our patients on social media and even more when she gets to meet them face to face. She is constantly striving to maintain a high standard of customer service throughout our team by leading the team through extensive customer service and employee training.

After graduating from Kennesaw State University with a BBA in Marketing, Ana earned her Masters of Science in Merchandising and International Trade from the University of Georgia. She is a true team player, taking the GDC Smiles Mission to heart, and constantly making sure the team always put its best foot forward.

As our Insurance Coordinator, Maggie has extensive experience in the dental field having previously worked as our dental assistant for four years. Maggie values her education and attended both North Georgia Technical College and Lanier Technical College, and recently received her expanded duties certificate from Gwinnett Technical College. Her favorite part about working at GDC Smiles is getting to serve both the Hispanic and American community.

Maggie is married to her loving husband of seven years and together they enjoy spending time with their sweet son, Rafael. Its a special time for their family as they are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Rafaels new baby brother at the end of the summer!

Missing teeth can be embarrassing, causing people to hide their smile and lose their self-esteem. The space that missing teeth create can easily become infected with bacteria, causing other teeth to shift out of place, and making it difficult for people to speak or eat correctly. The team at GDC Smiles are sensitive to the hardship a missing tooth can create. We provide dental implants so that our patients can regain their self-confidence, improve their health, and approach life boldly.

GDC Smiles makes use of the Award-Winning CareStream Cone Beam 3D Dental Imaging System for Optimum Results in Implant Placement. This machine takes a 3 dimensional picture of the jaw which allows us to know exactly where to position an implant.

Once you are cleared for the procedure, the staff at GDC Smiles will take an impression of your mouth to create a new tooth in a dental lab. Each synthetic tooth will match the size and shape of the surrounding teeth, along with having a perfect color match. This way your smile will appear completely natural once we complete the procedure. Many patients are satisfied with the results since no one can tell the difference between which teeth are real and which ones are synthetic.

Teeth restored with implants will not get cavities. A replacement tooth, or crown, does not decay like a natural tooth. However, you still need to brush, floss and care for it and your surrounding natural teeth in the same manner as natural teeth. Regular professional cleanings and dental checkups are also essential.

The next step in the procedure is to implant a metal post under the gum line. This aspect of the procedure is what sets an implant apart from other forms of cosmetic dentistry. The metal post is secured to the jawbone in order to create a durable, synthetic root system that rivals the strength of natural roots; with one exception that the metal cannot face infection. Over the course of a couple of months, the metal post and jawbone will fuse together. This creates a level of durability that cannot be replicated in other types of procedures.

Afterward, we will secure the new synthetic tooth to the metal post at the surface of the gums. The new tooth is attached so securely, that patients can eat their favorite foods, maintain an active lifestyle, play sports, and more, without fear of their tooth becoming loose or falling out. Patients can enjoy the benefits that come from never having to worry about their tooth again.

Once implants have been installed, they are extremely easy to care for. We hear patients throughout Gainesville ask questions that range from 'Do implants come out' to 'How do I brush my teeth'. Fortunately, the answers are not as complex as some people might believe. Since we install dental implants by creating a synthetic root system, they are durable and secure. The dental implants will not fall out or become loose. This means you can go play basketball, run in a 10k marathon, and wrestle with your kids without worrying about your tooth coming out.

In order to care for your implants, we advise patients to brush and floss their teeth throughout the day like normal. Additionally, it is important to schedule dental exams and cleanings with Dr. Lia Gallo-Urrego at least twice a year. The staff at GDC Smiles will help to clean your teeth and ensure that they stay healthy. While dental implants cannot become infected themselves, the teeth around them can. If, in the future, you suffer from a severe case of gum disease or a dental abscess, the infection can spread into your jawbone. This puts your implants in jeopardy because in order to stay secure, the jawbone must be in good health. If it becomes infected, your dental implants and all of your teeth will be in jeopardy.

A. Generally, this is not a good idea. We find that it is generally much better not to attach implants to teeth. We frequently attach implants to each other, which can improve strength and works well. So in a case like this, although it may be more expensive in the short term to place two implants instead of one, the long-term success is likely to be much better with the two implants.

Q. I lost my upper back teeth on one side and have gone for years without doing anything about it. My sinuses always seem to bother me more on that side than on the side that I have back teeth. Could these problems be related to one another?

A. In a large majority of people who are missing their upper back teeth for a long period of time, is the increasing downward growth of the maxillary sinus. At birth, it is the size of a pea and progressively grows as the skull matures. This growth is at the expense of the surrounding bone. If you are considering replacing those upper back teeth with fixed teeth that stay in all the time, it may be necessary to perform a sinus elevation procedure to allow room for placement of dental implants into this area to support those teeth. This involves placement of bone and/or bone substitutes into an area which was previously occupied by the lower part of the maxillary sinus. Most importantly, this procedure increases the available bone use to place implants and restore the missing back teeth.

A. In most cases, with the new options available today in the field of dental implants, some form of treatment is possible. We encourage people to get help as soon as possible if they are already having some problems with their current situation. These problems include excessive use of denture adhesives, chewing only soft food, unable to taste some foods, constant mouth sores, unhappy with the appearance of one's teeth and bite position (in some cases the nose and chin getting closer together). The sooner we correct the problems with dental implants, the more choices one has available for treatment. If you have any or all of the above symptoms, implants can very well be the answer for you.

A. It is not necessary to have an implant for every tooth that is being replaced. The number of implants necessary to provide support depends on the type of implants used and the type of teeth (removable vs. non- removable) that will be attached to the implants. A thorough oral exam and panoramic x-ray is all that is necessary in most cases, to determine which implant can be used and how many must be used. Sometimes additional X-rays or CT scans are used in more complicated cases.

Q. I consulted a dentist several years ago about using implants to replace my lower denture and he told me that I did not have adequate bone available to place enough in-the-bone implants without danger of fracturing my now fragile jawbone. Are there any alternatives?

A. Because of the advances in the field of implantology, there are now more choices and techniques. It is rare for a person to not be able to receive an implant or a combination of implants. Today we have available many types of implants designed to accommodate multiple problems.

A. Teeth that have root canals can fracture more easily than other teeth because they are weaker and somewhat dehydrated. They can sometimes be as brittle as glass. In the past, the best available treatment was to remove the tooth and file down the adjacent teeth to make a bridge - caps on the adjacent teeth with an attached 'dummy' tooth between. Sometimes this still is the only way. However, in many cases an implant can replace the fractured tooth and we will not need to grind down a tooth to at all.

If someone is missing teeth, one of the options for replacing them is dental implants. According to the CDC, one in five adults over 65 have severe tooth loss. Tooth loss may occur due to untreated cavities, gingivitis, and oral trauma. There are numerous benefits to getting implants, although it is not necessarily an option

If the dentist has recommended getting dental implants, you might want to know what goes into the process and the treatment timeline. Dental implants are a long-term solution when a tooth is missing and offer great aesthetic appeal. Dental implants are more complex and time-consuming than dental bridges or dentures. This article contains a quick

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