Facts About Dental Implants

What are Dental Implants?

Implants are an ideal dental restoration for people missing one or more teeth that resulted from an injury or periodontal disease.  Dental implants are composed of three parts:

·        The titanium implant that fuses with the jawbone

·        The abutment (fits over portion of the implant that protrudes from the gum line)

·        The crown which is fitted onto the abutment for a natural appearance

To sum up those three components, it’s a metal post that a periodontist or oral surgeon surgically positions into your jaw.  Once in place and when the surrounding bone has had ample time to heal, a replacement tooth is attached to the post.  There are two types of dental restoration implants:

·        Endosteal: meaning “in the bone,” this is the most common type of implant and is placed into your jawbone.  This is generally used as an alternative for our patients with bridges or removable dentures.

·        Subperiosteal: meaning “on the bone,” is placed on top of jaw with the metal framework’s posts protruding through the gums to hold the prosthesis.  Our patients who have these are usually the ones who are unable to wear conventional dentures and who have minimal bone height.

 

Why get a Dental Implant?

While dental implants are more expensive than other methods for replacing your teeth, they provide far superior benefits.  They combine the best of modern science and technology.  Implants are stronger than natural teeth and generally last 10-20 years!  They are also a more favorable approach than bridgework since they do not depend on the neighboring teeth for support.

To receive implants, you need to have healthy gums and adequate bone to support the implant.  In addition, you must be committed to excellent oral hygiene and regular dental cleanings as these are crucial to the long-term success of the implant.

What is the Implant Process like?

Placing an implant is truly a team effort – a team made up of you, the patient; our restorative dentistry expert, our Valencia dentists; and the oral/maxillofacial surgeon placing the implant. 

What makes our Valencia dental facility unique and unlike any other is that we have teammate that no other facility has.  In fact, very few do in the entire world.  It’s called the Cone Beam 3D Scanner.  Feel free to visit our technology section of our website for more information on this scanner but in a nutshell, it allows us plan implants without having to physically explore your mouth.  We can perform our implant surgeries on our computer workstations before performing them on our patients!  By duplicating the results of our virtual implant placement to our patients, we practically eliminate all complications leading to short procedure times.  Sounds too good to be true right?  That’s exactly why we have one in our Valencia dentist office.  Nothing is too good for our patients and we want only the best for you.

If you are looking for more information on dental implants, WebMD offers a valuable self-help resource.

 

Posted by Go Dental, Your Valencia Dentist.

Dentistry and Mental Health

According to a study performed at University of North Carolina, people with poor dental health perform worse on cognitive memory test compared to those with healthy mouths.  The study was reported in December 2013 Journal of the American Dental Association and summarized in US News and World Report. In the study, people 9,874 people were tested for memory retention of words and numbers.  What they found was that for every tooth a person was missing, their cognitive function score decreased slightly.  People who were missing all of their teeth, generally scored the lowest numbers.  These results held true for those with periodontal disease.  Those with healthy mouths generally scored higher than those who displayed moderate to severe periodontal disease.

In this study, the researchers speculated that the poor dental health lead to the inability to eat “healthy brain foods” therefore causing the memory discrepancy.  They also speculated about the possibility that periodontal disease may release endotoxins into the bloodstream which may affect cognitive thinking.  

While the findings of this study will require further investigation, it is important to remember that our mouths are an integral part of the health of our entire body.  Taking care of your teeth affects so much more than your smile and your breath.  It affects your entire body and maybe even your mind.  

It’s not too late to come in and take advantage of any benefits you may have left in 2013!

Posted by Go Dental, Your Valencia Dentist

Top 3 Most Common Dental Emergency Calls

The holiday season is upon us and this is the time of the year where many of our patients are traveling to visit family and friends around the world.  Inevitably, it’s also the time of the year where we are swamped with calls from patients who have dental emergencies of some type or another and may not have the opportunity to come into our office to see the doctor on call.  We wanted to make everyone aware of our dental emergency section on our website.  Also be aware that as a patient of ours, there is always a dentist on call to answer any questions you may have when you suspect something has gone awry in your mouth.

Here are the three most common of the dental emergency calls we get what you should do about them:

1) My crown fell out.

This is usually a result biting into some great holiday treat or some awful fruitcake that has been passed on from year to year.  Regardless of the cause, you should head on over to your local pharmacy and get yourself some den-temp or similarmaterial.  It’s pretty easy to apply.  First of all, try to refit the crown on the tooth to make sure it still fits properly.  Bite down to make certain it feels comfortable when you bite down and doesn't hit first. Secondly, clean it out as best you can.  Finally, you want to swallow all the extra saliva out of your mouth and place the crown back onto your tooth. It should be fine until you can come in to see us.

2) “I have a toothache.”

Toothache carries a lot of different meanings.  If it’s a constant dull throb in your mouth, you probably have an infection.  You’ll need to call us so that we can prescribe an antibiotic to you.  If you have a lot of cold sensitivity, go to your pharmacy and pick up a tube of Sensodyne.  Put a generous amount on your finger tip and rub it into the affected area.  After two or three applications, your sensitivity should go away.  If you can’t bite into things, your tooth may be cracked.  Give us a call and stay away from biting on things that hurt that tooth until you can see us.

3) “My tooth cracked in half.”

If you fractured your tooth, you first have to evaluate it to see if its something that you need to come in for.  If the tooth cracked as a result of a traumatic incident  (ie. a ball or elbow to the face), there may be a lot of bleeding that is around the damaged area.  If there is bleeding coming from the inside of the tooth, this means you have fractured the tooth into the nerve and you need to see a dentist immediately.  If the bleeding comes from just your gum area AND your tooth doesn't move around, you are probably going to be ok to wait a bit.  However, it cases of traumatic injury, we like to see our patients, even if it’s after hours, so we can take proactive measures to avoid pain.

Remember, one of our doctors is always on call for you.  Feel free to check our website for more dental emergencies and don’t hesitate to call us if you are uncertain about your situation.

Posted by Go Dental, Your Valencia Dentist