Protect Your Dental Implants by Keeping Your Teeth and Gums Healthy

If you have lost a tooth, dental implants are an ideal solution for replacing it.  Many patients will have implants installed as a permanent solution for missing teeth or to correct challenges with teeth that orthodontics have been unable to correct.  This is a natural looking and durable solution that allows patients to eat their favorite foods and maintain an active lifestyle.

An implant does not depend on the surrounding teeth to stay in place.  In this way, it is like a natural tooth with its own unique root system.  By implanting a metal post under the gums and securing it to the jawbone, each implant has its own synthetic root system which is just as strong. This is what allows people to enjoy staying active and eating foods that may be considered too hard or sticky for dentures.

Generally, dental implants will stay in excellent condition over time.  They are created out of ceramic which is stain resistant and won’t become infected.  Additionally, since the root system is now a metal post, there is no risk of infection to the roots.  This is a benefit that patients get with an implant over natural teeth.

It is important to note that teeth still need to be maintained in good health.  While the implant itself cannot become infected, the teeth around it can.  Bacteria can still become trapped in between the implant and the surrounding natural teeth.  Brushing teeth twice a day, and flossing daily are important for ensuring that every tooth remains healthy.  Gums can also become infected and keeping bacteria off of them is the best way to prevent this.

Unhealthy teeth and gums pose a risk to dental implants.  If a cavity or small infection is allowed to spread, it can grow into a dental abscess which can reach into the jawbone.  This is extremely painful and may even require surgery in order to stop the infection.  The problem is that if the jawbone becomes infected, the implant will be in jeopardy.  Implants depend on the strength of the jawbone for stability.  In the long-run, this is an excellent solution, but it does mean that a dental abscess could create problems with the implant.

Having teeth cleaned twice a year can help to prevent an infection from developing in the first place or spreading if it does.  The key is to have a cavity or gum disease treated right away.  In the early stages, they are not painful, and the infection can easily be removed.  This is the most convenient option.  Problems arise when the infection is left untreated for a prolonged period of time.  Even if you don’t want to visit the dentist twice a year, doing so can prevent a lot of pain and suffering down the road.  The health of your mouth and your dental implants will be improved by taking this simple preventative step. 

How a Sleep Dentist Can Create a Pleasant Dental Experience

Have you ever wished that a sleep dentist existed? Well, they do.  As with many types of health procedures, not being awake or able to feel any pain is a major benefit for people that are afraid of pain or have anxiety when getting any work done on their teeth.

This is extremely common.  In fact, around 25 million Americans report having some level of dental anxiety.  This doesn’t mean that everyone is too scared to have dental work performed but it does prevent many people from getting the procedures done that are necessary for improving their overall health.

A sleep dentist can alleviate these fears by putting a patient to sleep while they are getting dental work performed.  This way they do not feel anything and are completely unaware of what is happening.  Oftentimes pain and fear will go hand in hand.  When a patient is scared of what is happening their body can naturally tense up which makes things even more painful.  This is why people that are relaxed tend to feel less pain and even recover faster after injuries.

Going to sleep can be particularly helpful when having major dental work performed like getting dental veneers or dental implants.  Implants, for example, have a surgical component to the procedure where a metal post is implanted under the gums and secured to the jawbone.  This can be uncomfortable and create anxiety in patients. Through the use of sedation dentistry, we can help patients relax and go to sleep while the metal posts are being implanted.  By the time a patient wakes up the procedure will be complete.

There are several types of sedation that are commonly used.  Laughing gas is used to simply calm the nerves and help a patient to relax and feel at ease during an appointment.  Oral sedatives can accomplish the same goal.  The challenge is that simply relaxing isn’t enough to eliminate the pain so many people want this in combination with pain relief

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Local anesthesia can be used to numb the specific area that is being worked on.  This is commonly done when a cavity is treated so that a patient won’t feel pain from the procedure but the rest of the area is not numb, allowing patients to move and respond to commands without assistance.

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Deep sedation can be achieved by delivering a stronger medication through an IV.  This can help a patient to fall asleep during their dental procedure so that they do not feel anything and are unaware of their surroundings.  Only expert dentists and oral surgeons can use this level of sedation because it requires additional training and the ability to monitor patients closely since in this state, a patient is unable to move or respond to commands on their own.  The benefit is that the procedure will be completely relaxing.

As a sleep dentist, we specialize in keeping our patients comfortable during oral surgery and can discuss the options for doing so in detail during a consultation.