Dental Implants With Low Risk and High Reward

Our practice has been placing dental implants for over 25 years. Over the years, there have been many changes which have improved the implant process from the evolution in design of the implant to the methods we use to restore the implants. And with each step forward, the procedure of dental implant placement and restoration has become better, faster and stronger (apologies to Steve Austin aka the Six Million Dollar man). As a practice, we have definitely benefited from the improvements in design and technology through the years.

As discussed on this blog before, implants process of placing implants is quite straightforward. It begins by profoundly numbing our patients, carefully separating the gum tissue away from the jaw bone, placing progressively larger drills slowly into the jaw bone then finally torquing a titanium screw into the sites prepared by the drills. While the procedure was relatively straightforward, it involved cutting with a scalpel and sewing the site back up with stitches.

In the last 2 years, there have been 2 advancements which we have adopted, that have completely changed the way we approach doing dental implants.The first advancement was the improvement and cost reduction of a diagnostic tool called Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT). This device enables us to quickly and accurately see images of the jaw in 3 dimensions and in “slices”.  We are now able to plan the entire implant case on our computer workstation.  Instead of relying on visualizing anatomic obstacles and limitations at the time of surgery, we can visualize them at the time of planning. Placements of our implants are done accurately and predictably for every patient. We can even show you what your tooth will look like after the implant is placed before we even place it!

The second huge advancement, is the ability for us to fabricate a surgical guide. A surgical guide is fabricated with a special milling machine (located in Belgium!) and uses all the information we have generated from our implant planning software. We now can accurately duplicate the depth, angulation and width of the implant that we have planned on the computer.

What does this mean for our patient? It means that we are able to complete our surgery in less time with fewer complications. Our actual surgical time for a single implant placement is 10 minutes.  Most of the time, no scalpel or stitches are required. Our patients are very comfortable doing this under local anesthesia although nitrous oxide and twilight sleep is available for those whom are a little anxious. The healing process is very fast as well and we are able to achieve integration of the implant into bone in about 6-10 weeks.

Simply put, we are able to place implants more accurately and predictably than anyone in the world. That is a big statement, but we are able to do so because our amazing technological advancements. And you will be surprised that your cost will be less than most places that don’t have the CBCT and surgical guide technology.

If you or someone you know may be interested in getting a tooth replaced by a dental implant, have them come by for a free implant consultation from your Valencia Dentist at Go Dental  We’ll be happy to explain all their options.  And as always, no pressure or up selling.

I had a root canal. Why does my tooth still hurt?

Persistent pain following root canal (endodontic) treatment can be discouraging. Anywhere between 5% and 15% of patients will experience a flare-up of pain following a root canal. The good news is that the pain is usually not a sign of a significant problem.

When a tooth requires a root canal, there is commonly inflammation and/or damage to the bone and tissues surrounding the tooth. Like any other part of the body, this damage takes time to heal. During that healing phase, it is not uncommon to get short flare-ups of pain. For most people, this pain can be treated effectively with short-term oral analgesics like Ibuprofen (Advil^®, Motrin^®) or Acetaminophen (Tylenol^®).

 If your pain persists for more than about a week or does not respond to pain medication, you should have your tooth re-evaluated by a dentist. Common and easily fixed findings would be a recurrent infection that could be treated with antibiotics, or the tooth being ”high”. Severe or prolonged pain may indicate something more significant going on within the tooth, In these cases evaluation with a Cone Beam Computed Tomography scan (Cone Beam CT or CBCT), like the one we have here at Go Dental, is recommended. These 3-dimensional x-ray images can show missed canals, cracks, or other pathology that traditional x-rays cannot show. We are constantly amazed at how things that are invisible on a traditional x-ray are obvious on CBCT.

The most important thing to do, though, is to communicate with your dentist. Here at Go Dental - Valencia Dentist we are always willing and happy to take the time to discuss your concerns. We would much rather take a few minutes to tell you everything is okay than have you walk around for weeks with something we could fix.