Ask the Dental Experts

Friday, December 18, 2009

Three-Unit Bridge

A three-unit bridge is a good way to replace a missing tooth. A three-unit bridge works by connecting both ends of an artificial tooth on to dental crowns. These crowns are placed over adjacent teeth to hold the bridge in place.

A Houston dentist can make a dental bridge out of gold, porcelain, or porcelain-fused-to-metal. This bridge is custom made just for you in a dental laboratory. In most cases, it take two or more appointments to make the bridge.

On your first appointment, the dentist begins by numbing the gumline around your missing tooth in order to make the procedure comfortable for you. The dentist will also place a device called a rubber dam in your mouth that will keep debris from falling into your throat during the procedure.

The dentist then uses a hand piece to scrape away tartar and decay from the teeth that will later be used to support the three-unit bridge. The dentist then takes impressions of your teeth, which are used to make a model of your entire mouth.

This model is very important. It gives the dental lab something to work with when they are ready to create your dental bridge. Since the teeth in the model are identical to the ones in your mouth, it is possible for the lab to create a tooth replacement that precisely matches your bite.

Since it takes a while for the lab to do its work, your Houston dentist will fit you with a temporary bridge in the meantime. You will wear this until your permanent bridge is ready.

When you return for your second appointment, the dentist removes the temporary bridge and intitates a series of tests to make sure the dental bridge properly fits. The bridge is placed and the bite is tested. The dentist also checks your bite to makes sure that both your natural teeth and your new artificial tooth are all in alignment.

When everything is determined to be as it should be, the dentist bonds the bridge to the teeth so it will remain in place.

There are a number of advantages to three-unit bridges.

They replace missing teeth for biting and chewing.
They make it easy for a person to speak clearly.
The crowns that support the bridge actually help repair adjacent teeth that may have been damaged by cavities.
Crowns also protect adjacent teeth from new cavities.
Most importantly, a bridge keeps neighboring teeth from shifting our of alignment.

Overall, a three-unit bridge is an affordable, highly functional, and very attractive tooth replacement that will let a person live a normal life and smile with confidence.

Labels: cosmetic dental bridges, three-unit bridges, tooth replacements

Friday, September 4, 2009

Replace Your Lower Dentures With Lower Jaw Implants

If you have a lower denture it is a good idea to go ahead and get it replaced with a lower jaw implant. A lower jaw implant will look much more like a natural tooth and will provide you with a more effective chewing surface.

You already know how uncomfortable a lower denture can be. You have probably noticed that it hurts to choose sometimes. This is because when you lose teeth, the bone in your jaw starts receding. Nerves that run to the surface of the bone become sensitive when you bite down.

Partial dentures are not the best solution to the problem of missing teeth because they do not anchor to the jaw itself. Lower jaw implants do, however. Shaped like cylinders with screw-shaped bottoms, these tooth root replacements are embedded in the bone itself, which then believes them to be natural tooth roots. This stops the process of bone recession, and it provides a sturdy base to cap with a porcelain crown that looks just like a natural tooth.

You may be saying at this point that you have lost too many teeth to replace all of your lower dentures with implants. In this case, we recommend you schedule an appointment and at least start with a combination of dentures and implants. What we will do is to connect the new lower jaw implants with a bar, then clip the new dentures to the bar.. These clips snap down on the bar and keep the denture from moving around and making those obnoxious, embarrassing noises. You can still take out your dentures to clean them, however, and this will also help you better clean the bar and the porcelain crowns.

Regardless of the option you ultimately go with, be aware that any implantation procedure is the one sure way to take the pressure off of jaw bones and nerves. And, like we already mentioned, they give the bone something to grow around so that bone loss gets stopped in its tracks.

Lower jaw implants are placed in your mouth in a two-phase process. The first phase is the surgical phase. Patients are sedated during this phase to prevent them from feeling pain. The dentist makes a small incision in the gums and screws the titanium base into the jaw bone. Over the next few months the jaw bone grows around this base, thinking it is a new tooth root.

Lower jaw implants are placed using a two-phase procedure. The first phase is called the surgical phase and involves sedating you so you will not feel any pain. The dentist makes a small incision in your gum and screws the implant in to the jaw bone. A few months are needed for the bone to accept the implant and properly heal.

Once it heals, a porcelain crown is then made that looks identical in size and coloration to your surrounding teeth. This is placed over the artificial root to provide a hard, comfortable surface for chewing that looks so close to the real thing no one will even know you are using a tooth replacement.

Not only will this make eating more enjoyable, but it will make you feel more confident when you smile and talk to other people.

Labels: cosmetic dental implants, dentures, implant dentistry, tooth replacements

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Immediate Dentures

People loose teeth for many reasons, including tooth decay, periodontal disease, and accidents. Bone loss can occur from periodontal disease can even cause bone that will further loosen teeth in their sockets. When they become this loose, or too severely damaged to cap, many dentists will decide that extracting them is the only option. In these instances, immediate dentures can then be used as teeth replacements.

Immediate dentures are made and placed in the mouth within 24 hours of tooth extraction. This is why they are called immediate dentures, and the rapid placement of them offers a very good chance of speedy recovery and minimized infection.

Immediate dentures are made from impressions of the mouth that the dentist makes before teeth are extracted. A mold is made from natural a tooth that mimics their size, shape, and texture. Dentists then pinpoint the exact shape and color of natural and use this to color your dentures. Your immediate dentures are then made and unhealthy and loose teeth pulled. This will be done under anesthetic to prevent you from feeling pain.

As each tooth is extracted, it is replaced with an immediate denture. After the procedure, there are some side effects that will linger for the first 24 hours. Your gums will probably swell and make your denture(s) feel tight. You may also have problems associated immediately after your dentures are placed. Some may tip when you chew, and you may notice an increase in salivation.

Your dentures may feel bulky at first no matter how closely we match them to your natural teeth. If you have a strong gag reflex, it may be triggered at first, but not for very long. Some people report a slight difficulty speaking at first. Overall, though, all of these effects diminish as your mouth eventually adjusts.

Your jawbone will also heal over the six to nine months, and your gums will shrink slightly. We will correct this by using a temporary lining material to fill the small gaps between the denture(s) and the gum. After about 9 months, when the healing process is complete, your mouth will assume a final shape that we can then use to reline each denture for a final fit.

No one wants to have a tooth pulled, but sometimes it is necessary. One way to prevent further tooth and bone loss is to get immediate dentures that will not only help maintain your health, but will also work to restore and improve your smile.

Labels: cosmetic dental implants, dental tooth implants, false teeth, immediate dentures, teeth replacements, tooth replacements