| The Monthly Minute
with Dr. Alan Smolen
July 2010 |
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| Did You Know...? |
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The effects of missing teeth can be detrimental to your long term oral and medical health. Replacing missing teeth can dramatically improve your smile and the shape of your face.
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Dental implants have a success rate of up to 98%. With proper care, implants can last a lifetime.
- In most cases, anyone healthy enough to undergo a routine dental extraction or oral surgery can be considered for a dental implant.
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| Greetings! | 
Last month, we talked about implants and how they can be used in a variety of situations. This month, I'd like to show you how implants can be used to avoid bridgework or to improve upon the traditional fixed bridge for a long-lasting and beautifully aesthetic result! |
| Do You Have a Missing Tooth? |
Traditional Bridge |
Often, when you have a missing tooth, your dentist will fill that space by making a traditional fixed bridge. This means reshaping the teeth on either side of the space (the abutment teeth) and making them a little smaller. Then, crowns are made to cover those teeth and attached between them is a false tooth or "pontic". For many, many years, this was the restoration of choice when replacing a missing tooth. It was state of the art dentistry...but not any longer! Now, we are able to replace that tooth with implants so that the healthy teeth on either side never need to be touched! |
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| A Better Way | |
Now, when that space needs to be filled, a dental implant can be placed into the bone. The implant integrates with the bone and becomes more solid than an actual tooth root. A crown is then placed on top of the implant. Using this method, no other teeth need to be changed structurally and it looks and feels like a natural tooth. Now that's real state of the art dentistry!
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| Advantages |  Osseointegrated implants have rapidly become the standard of care for replacing missing teeth, thus relegating all other treatment options to some type of compromise. The advantages of implants over traditional bridgework are many. Aesthetically they are better, first and foremost because they preserve the shape of the jawbone. When a tooth is missing, without the stimulation of chewing pressure on that area of the jawbone, the body resorbs that area of the jawbone. Also, from a hygiene standpoint they are advantageous because cleaning them is like cleaning any other tooth in your mouth. There is no need for the special threaders to carry dental floss under the false tooth of the bridge or to be able to clean the inner surfaces of the abutment teeth.
The most common reason for fixed bridge replacement is caries, or decay of the underlying tooth structure, which implants cannot develop since they are made of metal and porcelain. Once either abutment tooth of a bridge develops caries (decay), the entire bridge, which is at least three crowns, must be replaced. Often the abutment tooth will also need more treatment such as a core build up, crown lengthening or root canal therapy. |
| Other Options |
 Sometimes, there are too many teeth missing to support the span of a traditional fixed bridge or there may be no tooth behind the space to use as an abutment tooth. In these cases, implants can be used to fill all the spaces or they can be used as abutments on which to build a bridge. If many teeth are missing, implants can be placed in strategic areas to act as abutments to support the length of the bridge. Either way, healthy teeth are spared. |
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If implants sound like the solution you are looking for or if you have any questions about implants, please feel free to call or email me. I'd be happy to speak with you about ways to give you the great smile you deserve!
Sincerely,
Alan M. Smolen, DDS |
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