TWILIGHT DENTAL SPECIALISTS
ABOUT DENTAL IMPLANTS
Technically, a dental implant is an artificial tooth root that’s placed into your jaw to hold a prosthetic tooth or bridge. Dental implants may be an option for people who have lost one or more teeth due to periodontal disease, an injury, or some other reason and who prefer not to wear dentures.Dental implants are intimately connected with the soft tissues (i.e., gums) and underlying hard tissues (i.e., bone) in the mouth.
Types of Dental Implant Procedures
Depending on your specific condition and the type of implant chosen, Dr.Reddy will create a treatment plan tailored to meet your needs. Here are some of the possible treatment plans depending on your situation:
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Single Tooth Dental Implants – If you’re missing a single tooth, one dental implant can replace it.
Multiple Tooth Dental Implants – If you’re missing several teeth, they can be replaced by multiple dental implants.
Full Mouth Dental Implants – If you’re missing all of your teeth, they can be replaced by full mouth dental implants.
Sinus Augmentation – A key to implant success is the quantity and quality of the bone where the implant is to be placed. The upper back jaw has traditionally been one of the most difficult areas to successfully place dental implants due to insufficient bone quantity and quality and the close proximity to the sinus. Sinus augmentation can help correct this problem by raising the sinus floor and developing bone for the placement of dental implants.
Ridge Modification – Deformities in the upper or lower jaw can leave you with and inadequate amount of bone in which to place dental implants. To correct the problem, the gum is lifted away from the ridge to expose the void where bone is missing. The void is then filled with bone or bone substitute to build up the ridge. Ridge modification has been shown to greatly improve the jaw’s appearance and increase the chances of successful implants.
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Dental Implant Procedure Follow-Up
Just like natural teeth, dental implants require conscientious at-home oral care and regular dental visits to preserve function and prevent peri-implant disease. In order to keep your implant clean and plaque-free, brushing and flossing are still necessary. After you’ve received your implant, your periodontist will work closely with you and your general dentist to develop the best care plan for you.
Gum Graft Surgery
Exposed tooth roots are the result of gum recession. Gum graft surgery will cover the exposed root and help prevent additional recession and bone loss. During gum graft surgery, your periodontist takes gum tissue from your palate or another donor source to cover the exposed root. Gum graft surgery can be performed on one tooth or multiple teeth, and may help reduce tooth sensitivity and improve the aesthetics of your smile. Dr Kamreddy performs different types of gum graft surgeries with minimally invasive surgical techniques.
Regenerative Therapy
When the bone supporting your teeth has been destroyed due to periodontal disease. These procedures can reverse some of the damage by regenerating lost bone and tissue.
During this procedure, your periodontist folds back the gum tissue and removes the disease-causing bacteria. Membranes (filters), bone grafts or tissue-stimulating proteins can be used to encourage your body’s natural ability to regenerate bone and tissue.
Crown Lengthening
Some individuals may have a “gummy” smile because the teeth appear short. In fact, the teeth may actually be the proper lengths, but they’re covered with too much gum tissue. To correct this crown lengthening procedure is performed.
During the dental crown lengthening procedure, excess gum and bone tissue is reshaped to expose more of the natural tooth. This can be done to one tooth, to even your gum line, or to several teeth to expose a natural, broad smile.
Your dentist may also recommend crown lengthening to make a restorative or cosmetic dental procedure possible. Crown lengthening adjusts the gum and bone level to expose more of the tooth so it can be restored.
Periodontal Pocket Procedures
Your bone and gum tissue should fit snugly around your teeth like a turtleneck around your neck. When you have periodontal disease, this supporting tissue and bone is destroyed, forming “pockets” around the teeth.
Over time, these pockets become deeper, providing a larger space for bacteria to live accumulate and advance under the gum tissue. These pockets can result in bone and tissue loss. Eventually, if too much bone is lost, the teeth will need to be extracted.
To treat this surgical procedure is performed to removes the disease-causing bacteria and in some cases, irregular surfaces of the damaged bone are smoothed to limit areas where disease-causing bacteria hide.
EXTRACTION AND BONE GRAFTING
When a tooth has significant decay or bone loss and cannot be saved. In these cases, the tooth will need to be removed to resolve the infection and pain. When considering tooth extraction, a bone graft for the area the tooth is being removed should be considered. A bone graft can help maintain the level of the bone that naturally resorbs away after an extraction. This can provide many benefits after healing for a better outcome when deciding to restore the area with an implant, bridge, or partial.
Scaling and Root Planing
Why do I need it?
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Scaling and root planing is a deep cleaning below the gumline used to treat gum disease.
Gum disease is caused by a adherent film of bacteria called plaque. Plaque is always forming on your teeth, but if they aren’t cleaned well, the bacteria in plaque can cause your gums to become inflamed. When this happens, your gums will pull away from your teeth and form spaces called pockets. Plaque then gets trapped in these pockets and cannot be removed with regular brushing. If untreated, gum disease could lead to bone and tooth loss. Loss of bone creates deep pockets which can usually be treated with scaling and root.