In some patients, the lost of molars tend to move the remaining healthy teeth farther away from each other. This may cause a small gap to appear between the teeth. If the problem is a minor one, instead of having to wear braces, the dentist could custom-made a false tooth to fill in this gap and this is called the dental bridge. It is usually made of metal-free materials which create a natural look and also reduces the risk of gum disease. After the procedure, a minor tenderness in the area is expected but can be easily relieved by pain medications.
One of the types of dental restoration is the dental implant which involves the replacement of both the tooth and the root. An oral surgeon performs the procedure wherein surgical implantation of a screw into the jaw bone is done to hold the tooth. To fill in the space, a tooth that matches the size and shape of the patient’s healthy teeth is designed and fitted. Upon healing, the implant restoration is put in place with adjustments made to fit the patient’s bite. Initially there will be soreness and tenderness in the surrounding gums but will eventually return to normal once the implant has healed.
The implant classification system falls into 2 stages: the first covering the design of the prosthetics and its location for patients with full or partial loss of teeth; and the second covering the patient’s dental conditions to include bone volume and density, medical condition, occlusion, problems concerning the structure of the oral cavity, and psychological makeup. The first stage has the maximum bearing on how the patient will accept the procedure while the second tells the dentist up to what extent he can go with the treatment. Completing this assessment will give the patient and the dentist a clear picture of the program of treatment and they will be prepared for any problem that might exist prior to the procedure.
Patients are not affected with how many implants they need or about implant design, whether they are coated with calcium phosphate or not. They don’t care where the implants were made but what they think about is its appearance, function, durability and cost of the prostheses supported by it. If these issues were not given importance by the dentist, the patient may be disappointed. The patient classification system provides the dentist the information needed to determine the choice of treatment and the expected result and it is used to compute the complexity index that indicates how intricate the final treatment plan will be.
One of the most conventional treatments in dentistry today is dental implant which uses titanium, a biologically compatible material. The following are the most common reasons for using dental implants to replace missing teeth: can stop bone loss; use of healthy teeth as anchor is not needed because they are attached to the jaw bone; has very high success rate which varies according to the patient’s general health and bone quality; cannot not be affected by tooth decay; can prevent the movement of loose dentures; being biocompatible, it allows bone cells to grow on its surface; and can last a lifetime.
A form of restoration done if one or more permanent teeth is extracted or lost is the use of bridges. The gap is filled in to prevent the movement of the remaining teeth. This shifting will result to occlusion and can sometimes cause the jaw joint to become painful. Crooked teeth are harder to clean which in turn may cause tooth decay and other gum disease. If untreated, the decay may lead to loss of more teeth. Bridges are used as preventive measures and are non-removable appliances for one or more artificial teeth held on to the adjacent tooth by crowns. The pressure when chewing food is then placed on the adjacent natural tooth.
In one of the previous posts, Nano-materials were used to coat implants and have been shown to perform better in clinical trials. New studies are indeed showing that and it can mean more smiles than previously possible. The bone-like coating provided to be such a success that bone re-generation and blood vessels have started to grow right onto the implant as if they were natural teeth. The said process of osseointegration allows an implant to gain stability as if they were natural teeth as opposed to titanium implants of yesterday which have an inert quality thus is not rejected but does not encourage bone growth that could have otherwise stabilized them. The case of the Noble Pharma Implants that resulted in many documented failures would have had different outcomes if they were coated with the stuff. Stability has been one of the primary weaknesses of dental implants due to their metallic construction, coating them with bone like materials may be the key to better and stronger smiles built to last.
Studies are showing that the daily activities at work affect more men than they know and want to know. The daily stresses that pile up lead to jaw clenching which does not only wear down teeth but have the ability to cause migraines and other health problems. Cracked teeth, chipped and even dislodged implants are resulting form the stresses of daily life and the incidents just keep on piling up. Men usually have larger jaw muscles which gives them more power when they clench their jaws. Teeth clenching may also be a result of improper sleep hygiene which affects more than 70 million adults in America alone. Rehabilitative and cosmetic dentistry has long tried to address the problems and devices such as the NTI may prove to be a big help in alleviating the effects it has on teeth.
A clinical study sponsored by Ortek Pharmaceuticals and the Stony Brook University has shown that an innovative non-fluoride based product is showing extreme success in the fight against cavities. The product in gum form contains CaviStat a compound that fights cavities, preventing them from eating away at the tooth. The compound also hastens the re-mineralization of teeth allowing for better cavity control and longer lasting teeth. The study which was done under clinical supervision had children, half of which used the gum with the active ingredient and half of them without it in a placebo control. Final results showed a reduction of cavities by as much as 60% which is better than any decay control methods before.
There have been studies that show an increased success rate of dental implants that have been coated with Nano-bone materials that have been derived from microscopic shells from sea creatures. The probability of the implant for proper osseointegration is higher than with traditional implants which have used metals which prevents proper absorption. A coating of Nano-materials that have been mixed with glass beads allows the bone and tissue to grow into them allowing a better grip for the implant resulting in a more stable platform for the said dental procedure. The material called “Bonelike” is mainly hydroxyapatite mixed with small glass beads that is applied as a coating onto the implant’s surface which allows the gum and tissues to better absorb the implant lowering the risk of rejection and implant failure.
