Why You Should Choose to Invest In Treatment From a Periodontist

A periodontist is a trained dentist that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases that affect the gums and bones inside of the mouth. Not only does a periodontist need to go to 4 years of dental school, but they have to complete a minimum of 3 more years of specialization courses. Throughout the extra education that is required, they learn the advanced techniques to diagnose and treat various forms of periodontal disease and how to properly place dental implants. Along with this, they are also typically trained in a lot of forms of cosmetic procedures as well. Below, we will be going over some of the reasons you will want to choose to invest in the treatment from a periodontist and what you should look for and expect.

Reasons Why You Should Choose a Periodontist:

1. Better Suited To Treat Advanced Disease.

One of the biggest reasons you will want to opt for the treatment from a periodontist is because they are much better suited to treat advanced diseases. Because a traditional dentist is not required to go through advanced training, they are not going to be in the position to help treat advanced diseases in the mouth whether it’s gum or bone related. They have the education and experience necessary to provide you with the best diagnosis and treatment in the industry. Whereas a dentist would only be able to tell you whats viewable from the surface, they will likely end up referring you to a periodontist anyways.

2. They Handle Cosmetic Issues Too.

Another reason to consider heading to a periodontist is that they are fully capable of handling cosmetic issues as well. You are going to be able to get some cosmetic work done if you so wish. This is great for those that are looking to get all of their dental work completed in the same place with the same dentist. Instead of having to travel from dentist to dentist, you will be able to choose a periodontist and get all of the necessary work done with them.

3. Customized Treatment Plan.

Because a periodontist is fully trained in providing custom treatments and solutions to their patients, they will x-ray your entire mouth including every single tooth, the jaw, and even the oral structures in your mouth. They will then fully examine it and come up with a fully customized treatment program that is designed to enhance the overall health of your entire mouth. They will discuss this treatment plan with you and you will be able to ask any questions that you might have available. If there is anything that you are unclear about, you can ask them about it.

What To Expect?

When you visit a periodontist, you can expect them to take x-rays of your entire mouth. They will also be examining your jaw joints, head, neck, mouth, throat, and your teeth and gums. They do this in order to get a full and proper interpretation of what is going on with your bone development, jaw, and everything else. By getting a full idea of what is going on, they will be in a better place to be able to properly diagnose you and give you customized treatment advice and options. Having everything they need to make a full and organized plan for your treatment is going to help you get the best possible results from your treatment.

During your visit, you will likely also be asked about any medications that you might be taking, your medical history, whether or not you are dealing with medical problems, any diseases that can be linked to your mouth and gums, and more. Medication that you might be taking can have negative effects on various parts of your mouth. Therefore, a periodontist needs to have an accurate understanding of it in order to fully and accurately diagnosis you and figure out what is going on. By having a full and clear picture, they will be able to better examine you and figure out what might be causing certain issues to present themselves. They will be able to treat you much better by having your history.

Overall, there are plenty of reasons to choose a periodontist for your needs. Not only will they be in the best possible position to assist you in bettering your oral care, but they are much better suited for diagnosing and treating advanced diseases that are occurring in your mouth whether it’s with your bone or soft tissue. Therefore, you will be able to get the best possible oral care by going to a periodontist with the extra 3 years of training if you are someone that is dealing with gum disease or any other advanced disease in your mouth.

How To Tell If You Might Need Dental Implants

If you have had teeth pulled or are likely going to have teeth pulled, you may be in the market for something called a dental implant. This is a replacement tooth that is put directly into your head, with a bit of re-enforcement, that keeps you from having to use dentures and from having bone loss that is typical when a large number of teeth are being pulled. This isn’t going to work for everyone and unless you know that you are a good candidate, your dentist might not even suggest it, however, you might want to bring it up the next time they talk about pulling a tooth.

The first requirement is, of course, going to be that you have some teeth missing or that at least one is going to be pulled. The minimum number of teeth that need to be missing for an implant is one, so if you need at least one tooth, then you will likely be able to get an implant done. People who are missing a large number of teeth may find that they have too many missing for the work to be done, so it is better to ask about them sooner rather than later.

Asking before work is done will allow a dentist to make the necessary adjustments to the work that they are doing to try and make sure that you are a good candidate. If the extraction is a particularly tricky one this might add a bit of time on to the procedure, and maybe a bit of cost, but it will end up saving you in the long run. The prep work will involve making sure that the bone is strong enough to handle the implant and that your other teeth are in good enough condition to have it put in place as well.

If you have generally good dental health you will likely be a good candidate as well. This is because the implant will need to be taken care of like other teeth. You will need to brush and otherwise take care of your teeth like you always would to prevent any issues from happening with the new tooth.

Finally, you will likely be a good candidate if you are able to bite hard foods without any problems. Jaw pain when you bite hard foods may indicate that you won’t be able to receive one of these implants. However, this is not always going to be the case. Jaw pain may just be from the cavity that you have, from swelling, or from other issues that don’t indicate an issue with your jawbone. X-rays taken by your dentist will tell you if there are any problems preventing you from getting an implant.

Implants are one of the best ways to preserve a smile and to keep you from having problems with eating and other tooth-related activities later in life. There is very little difference with how an implant and a real tooth act, and once the implant has fully healed most people can’t tell the difference.

At the end of the day, the only person who can truly tell you if you will be a good candidate for dental implants is going to be your dentist. However, most dentists will be more than happy to work with you to ensure that you can get an implant and that you can maintain your smile without the addition of dentures and the messy creams that accompany them in your life. If you are going to have a tooth pulled, ask your dentist if implants are the way to go.

What Is the Cause of Dental Bone Loss?

There are many issues that we may experience with our oral health but one of the more severe problems that can occur is a problem with bone loss. Understanding what causes bone loss can help you to avoid problems in many cases. If you are already experiencing dental bone loss, there may be some things that can be done in order to correct it or to keep it from getting any worse.

One of the more common reasons why people experience dental bone loss is because they are missing teeth. It could be that they were missing them from a young age or, as we get older, we may end up having teeth pulled and we never have an implant inserted in the area. If the tooth is not replaced or if there are multiple teeth that are not replaced, the bone is eventually going to dissipate and be reabsorbed into your body.

The bone is supported and preserved because your teeth are in place and they are used for chewing. As you continue to chew, it is that stimulation and the pressure that it exerts on the bone that keeps it in place and thriving. After your teeth are missing, there is nothing to keep the bone in place so you may lose up to 25% of your bone from that area in the first year after the tooth is extracted.

Another common reason why you may experience dental bone loss is because of a type of bacteria that leads to a problem known as periodontitis. The teeth may still be in place but there are ligaments that connect the bone that supports the teeth to the tooth itself. When you have periodontitis, bacteria that is in the area will eventually eat away the bone that supports the tooth and it will also affect those ligaments that hold the tooth in place as well.

Unfortunately, when you experience dental bone loss, it is a problem that is typically going to be permanent. You might wonder if replacing the teeth with implants or getting dentures is going to correct the problem because it would cause the chewing to take place again. In reality, the stimulation provided by dentures is only approximately 10% of what is experienced by your natural teeth. That isn’t enough to cause the bone to grow back.

When the teeth are removed from the upper jaw, it can even cause further problems because the bone is reabsorbed into the body as it is expanded further into the area of the sinus cavity. Since the teeth are no longer in place, the pressure that is inside of the cavity can cause the bone that is surrounding the sinuses in that area to be re-absorbed.

There are also additional reasons why you may experience a problem with bone loss. These include misaligned teeth, bone infections and facial tumors that would cause some of the bone to be removed along with the tumor itself.

Individuals with dentures may also experience a type of bone loss that is easily seen. This bone loss is so severe that it ends up collapsing the lower part of the face.

Although building back up the bone after it is gone is next to impossible, it may be possible to prevent bone loss by having a replacement tooth inserted immediately when one is lost. This type of a dental implant will act like a normal tooth and provide the stimulus that is necessary to keep the bone healthy. In addition, you may consider some other forms of treatment, such as bone grafting or a sinus lift. It isn’t as effective as an implant, but it may help.

Dental Implants ARE the Answer from a Prosthodontist

There is so much confusion on the Internet today regarding prosthodontics and the practice of teeth restoration.

Just like most other topics, everyone seems to have their own opinion on what they think is best.  Most of this information is inaccurate or just plain wrong!

That’s why I wanted to create this blog.  I wanted a place where I could share real information that’s backed by real studies and not just MY opinion.

Honestly, there might be a little bit of my opinion through the following months, but that’s not my main focus.

Hopefully you’ll be able to get some valuable information here from the blog and it will add to your life.

Again, I’ll be posting more soon!