Month: June 2012

Dentures

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What are dentures?
Dentures are false teeth made to replace teeth you have lost. Dentures can be complete or partial.
Complete dentures cover your entire upper or lower jaw. Partials replace one or a few teeth.
Advances in dentistry have made many improvements in dentures. They are more natural looking and comfortable than they used to be. But they still may feel strange at first. In the beginning, your dentist may want to see you often to make sure the dentures fit. Over time, your mouth will change and your dentures may need to be adjusted or replaced. Be sure to let your dentist handle these adjustments.

Do you need dentures?
If you′ve lost all of your natural teeth, whether from periodontal disease, tooth decay or injury, complete dentures can replace your missing teeth and your smile. Replacing missing teeth will benefit your appearance and your health. Without support from the denture, facial muscles sag, making a person look older. You′ll be able to eat and speak; things that people often take for granted until their natural teeth are lost.

Benefits of wearing dentures:
Masticatory – improving chewing ability by replacing the edentulous area with acrylic teeth. Thus enable better mastication and pleasure to enjoy food.

Aesthetic – providing the illusion of having natural teeth, providing support for their lips and cheeks, and correcting the collapsed appearance commonly seen between the nose and the chin.
Phonetic – Replacing the toothless area, especially the anteriors, to help patients to speak and pronounce certain words properly without air escapes.

How are dentures made?
Conventional dentures are made and inserted after your teeth have been taken out and the gums have healed.
A conventional denture can be made and is fitted typically within four or more appointments over one to two months. The process starts with an appointment with your dentist for an exam and a discussion of what will work best for you. In later visits, your dentist will take impressions of your mouth and establish the bite (the way your teeth come together). You and your dentist will select the teeth for your denture. The size, shape and color of the teeth will depend on many factors, including reference points in your mouth, your skin tone and the shape of your skull, photographs, etc.

At your trial fitting, your teeth will be set up and tried in your mouth. You can see how the denture looks and feels in your mouth, and your dentist can make sure it fits and functions correctly and harmonizes with the rest of your face. This is your denture preview, or “try-in.” If this goes well, you will receive the completed denture at the next visit, along with instructions from your dentist on eating, speaking, denture care and oral hygiene. Finally, you will need to see your dentist for a series of follow-up visits during the next few weeks and months to check the fit and comfort of your denture.

Crowns

18889190_xlWhat are dental crowns?
Crowns are a type of dental restoration which, when cemented into place, fully cup over the portion of a tooth that lies at and above the gum line. In comparison, fillings are dental restorations that fill in or cover over just a portion of a tooth. Since dental crowns encase the entire visible aspect of a tooth, a dental crown in effect becomes the tooth’s new outer surface.

Crowns can be made out of porcelain (meaning some sort of dental ceramic), metal (a gold or other metal alloy), or a combination of both. Other terms that are used to refer to dental crowns are “dental caps” and “tooth caps.”

Why do you need a dental crown?
A dentist might recommend placing a dental crown for a variety of reasons but, in general, most of these reasons will usually fall within one of the following basic categories:
Restore a tooth to its original shape.
Strengthen a tooth.
Improve the cosmetic appearance of a tooth.

How is the procedure done?
A dental bridge is fabricated by . During the crown procedure, your dentist prepares the tooth by reducing the teeth on either side of the missing tooth or teeth by a preparation pattern determined by the location of the teeth and by the material from which the bridge is fabricated, and makes a molded impression of the teeth to send to a dental laboratory. A fitted, temporary crown is created during this visit to temporarily protect the tooth while the final restoration is being made in the dental laboratory. Once completed, the crown is cemented at a later visit.

What is a crown made from?
The materials used for the bridge include gold, porcelain fused to metal, or in the correct situation porcelain alone. The amount and type of reduction done to the abutment teeth varies slightly with the different materials used. The recipient of such a bridge must be careful to clean well under this prosthesis.

Veneers

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What Are Porcelain Veneers?

Porcelain veneers are thin shells of ceramic that bond directly to the front and top surfaces of the teeth. They are an ideal choice for improving your smile and have become increasingly popular due to their simplicity and versatility. With veneers as an alternative, there is no reason to put up with gaps between your teeth, teeth that are stained, badly shaped, or crooked. A veneer placed on top of your teeth can correct these maladies, simply and quickly and help you achieve a beautiful smile!

Will They Look Like Normal Teeth?

When bonded to the teeth, the ultra-thin porcelain veneers are virtually undetectable and highly resistant to coffee, tea, or even cigarette stains. For strength and appearance, their resemblance to healthy, white tooth enamel is unsurpassed by other restorative options. Because they are thin, light can shine through them and they take on the natural color of the underlying tooth.

How Durable Are Porcelain Veneers?

With proper care, porcelain veneers will brighten your smile for well over a decade.
Dr. khaytsin will ensure that your veneers are crafted from the highest quality porcelains and are bonded with the most advanced and proven materials available.

The Procedure

This procedure will require three appointments:
• Diagnosis and treatment planning
• Preparation
• Bonding

Diagnosis & Treatment Planning

You will want to take an active role in planning your smile design. Dr. khaytsin will review the corrective limitations of this procedure and help you plan your new smile.

Preparation

The second appointment will take one to two hours. Although the porcelain veneer is very thin, the teeth are lightly buffed to allow for the added thickness. Approximately one half of a millimeter of tooth is removed. This may require little or no local anesthesia.

Then a mold is taken of the teeth and sent to the lab for fabrication. In some cases, temporary veneer will be placed at this time. The permanent veneer should be ready in approximately one to two weeks.

Bonding

At the time of your third appointment, Dr. khaytsin will first place the veneer on your teeth with water or glycerin to check the fit and color. At this point, the color of the veneer can still be adjusted by the shade of the cement used to adhere it. Once the color is determined and the veneer is ready to be applied, the tooth is cleaned with specific chemicals to achieve a bond. Special cement is placed between the teeth and the veneer and a visible light beam is used to harden the cement. This appointment takes approximately one to two hours.

Care & Follow-Up

Brush and floss daily. Return for a follow-up visit after one to two weeks.

Maintenance of Your New Veneers

Brush and floss as you normally would. Don′t be afraid that you will damage your veneers by doing so. Non-abrasive toothpaste is recommended. A good home care regimen will insure the best aesthetic success of your veneer.

You may experience some sensitivity to hot and cold after placement of your veneer. This is due to the amount of enamel left on the tooth after preparation. Sensitivity is totally normal and should dissipate in one to two weeks. If sensitivity persists, please call the office.

If you are a known clincher (bruxer), please be sure to let us know. Dr. khaytsin may recommend a night guard for you to wear to minimize stress placed upon your teeth while you sleep.

We hope that your new veneers fulfill your esthetic goal. With proper home care and scheduled visits, they are sure to provide you with a beautiful smile for years to come.

Bridges

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What is a dental bridge?
A dental bridge is a false tooth, known as a pontic, which is fused between two porcelain crowns to fill in the area left by a missing tooth. The two crowns holding it in place that are attached onto your teeth on each side of the false tooth. This is known as a fixed bridge. This procedure is used to replace one or more missing teeth. Fixed bridges cannot be taken out of your mouth as you might do with removable partial dentures.

In areas of your mouth that are under less stress, such as your front teeth, a cantilever bridge may be used. Cantilever bridges are used when there are teeth on only one side of the open space. Bridges can reduce your risk of gum disease, help correct some bite issues and even improve your speech. Bridges require your commitment to serious oral hygiene, but will last as many as ten years or more.

In what case do you need a dental bridge?
Restore your smile
Restore your ability to properly chew and speak
Maintain the shape of your face
Distribute the forces in your bite properly by replacing missing teeth
Prevent remaining teeth from drifting out of position

What kind of dental bridges are available?
Traditional bridges involve creating a crown for the tooth or implant on either side of the missing tooth, with a pontic in between. Traditional bridges are the most common type of bridge and are made of either porcelain fused to metal or ceramics.

Cantilever bridges are used when there are adjacent teeth on only one side of the missing tooth or teeth.
Resin-bonded bridges (also called Maryland bonded bridges) are made of plastic teeth and gums supported by a metal framework. Metal wings on each side of the bridge are bonded to your existing teeth.
How are dental bridges made?

During the first visit, your dentist examines the health of your gums and other teeth to evaluate if you are a candidate for a dental bridge. If you are a candidate for a dental bridge, you are given a local anesthetic so your dentist can prepare the teeth required to support the bridge. If the support teeth are decayed or badly broken down, your dentist may have to build them back up before they can be used as support teeth for a bridge.

Next, your dentist takes an impression of the prepared teeth with a putty-like material that is used to create a model of your teeth. Your bridge is fabricated based on this model by a skilled lab technician so that it precisely fits the prepared teeth. It is important that your restoration fit perfectly to avoid additional oral health problems such as tooth decay.

While your bridge is being fabricated, your dentist fits you with a temporary bridge so the teeth and gums can be protected from damage until your permanent bridge is ready.

To complete the dental bridge procedure, you return to the dental office for a second visit to have the bridge fitted and cemented.

Implants

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What are dental implants?

Replicating the natural function and appearance of your lost teeth can be very difficult to accomplish. Historically, dentures or bridge restorations would be used as replacements, but with limited positive results. Dental implants, however, are natural-looking replacements for missing teeth that also have the same function as your natural, regular tooth. They have also been used to anchor these other types of restorations with greater success and patient satisfaction.

A more natural approach

A dental implant is a small, sturdy, titanium cylinder that acts as the root structure similar to a natural tooth. A dental implant is placed into your upper or lower jawbone. After the bone has grown around the implant, it can hold a crown, bridge or over-denture just like roots hold natural teeth in place. Implants are very durable and usually last a lifetime. They do, however, require the same maintenance as natural teeth; this includes brushing, flossing and regular dental checkups.
A single tooth or a full arch of teeth which have been lost due to injury or disease can be replaced with dental implants. Titanium metal is used because of its compatibility with bone and oral tissues and due to its natural bacteria fighting qualities.

Untreated Missing Tooth

Dental-Implants

  • Unattractive appearance
  • Loss of chewing function
  • Accelerated bone loss

Traditional Crown & Bridge

Dental-Implants

  • Attractive appearance
  • Cuts down healthy teeth
  • Bone loss under bridge

Implant with a crown

Dental-Implants

  • Attractive appearance
  • Full chewing function
  • Prevents bone loss

Implant 3D simulation : View Animation

Dental implant history

Dental Implants were developed in 1952, in a laboratory in the university town of Lund, Sweden by Professor Per-Ingvar Branemark, who had a “lucky” accident. During bone grafting research, much to his dismay, Dr. Branemark discovered that it was impossible to recover any of the bone-anchored titanium microscopes he was using. The titanium plate had apparently bonded irreversibly to living bone tissue, an observation which contradicted all scientific theory at the time.
Dr. Branemark went on to demonstrate that under carefully controlled conditions, titanium could be structurally integrated into living bone with a very high degree of predictability, and without long term soft tissue inflammation or rejection. BrÃ¥nemark coined the name “osseointegration”, meaning the attachment of healthy bone to a titanium implant.
Thus, dental implants were born and the first application of dental osseointegration, as Dr. Branemark called it, was the implantation of new titanium roots in an edentulous (toothless) patient in 1965. Since then, dental implants have shown a 90 percent success rate and long-term studies continue to show improving success.

Reasons you would want to consider dental implants:

  • Replace one or more teeth
  • Provide support for a partial denture
  • Increase the support and stability of full upper or lower denture
  • Enhance chewing comfort
  • Increase confidence while smiling, talking and eating
  • Improve your overall psychological health
  • To improve aesthetic appearance and regain overall confidenc
Dental-Implants

Summary

In 1952, the first dental implants were developed and since that time technology has taken leaps and bounds to give us the most modern solution for missing teeth. Dental implants restore optimum oral health, as well as confidence and hope to those who have suffered tooth loss.